You Only Love Twice (Masters and Mercenaries #8)(115)

“Thank god.” Erin started for the door. “I’ll have that f*cker up here before you know. Please let me do irreparable harm to his man parts. It’s been a long time.”

Theo practically stumbled, trying to run after her. “I’ll just go and make sure she doesn’t need backup.”

Ten stared after him. “That is the single dumbest boy I’ve ever met. Did he not hear her talk about man parts?”

Hutch sank back into his chair. “The course of true love never did run smooth, boss. I’ve got a list of properties in the UAE owned by al Fareed Oil and its many, many subsidiaries. Adam’s trying to pull them up on CCTV, but there’s a lot of blind spots.”

She looked over Hutch’s shoulder. It was a long list. “Dismiss the large buildings. I need something small and possibly deserted. He works in private.” And she was going to have to work the same way. “Simon, could you please set up a room where we can meet with the senator’s aide?”

Simon stood up and adjusted his tie. “Of course. We’ll use the back bedroom. Have Kamdar’s guards keep the cleaning staff out.” He started to walk away and then turned. “Give me your list of questions, Phoebe. Write it down. You won’t be involved in this.”

“I will.”

Ten shook his head. “No. Simon and I will take care of it.” He stepped up and put his hands on her shoulders. “You don’t understand how this can affect you. Murdoch does and he would be the first person to beg one of us to save you from this.”

“Phoebe, I can’t allow it,” Simon explained. “I know what my partner would want and I know what he would do for me. This isn’t some game. This is torture and pain, and if there was any other way, I would take it because it’s not what humans should do to one another.”

“He’s right. This is a sacrifice you don’t have to make.” Ten’s face turned grave. “I took these sins on my soul a long time ago. I’m not going to let you do it. Hell, I wouldn’t let Murdoch do it and Simon, you can be in the room, but I’ll handle the actual questioning.”

“Ten…” Simon began.

Ten shook his head. “You haven’t done this before. You have to be able to go home to your wife and sleep at night, brother. Hell, I don’t sleep at all anyway.”

She could see this was a losing battle. “I’ll listen in and feed you questions if you really think I can’t handle it.”

Ten frowned. “I know you can, but I don’t want you to see me like that. Can you understand?”

She hugged her brother and wondered how much he’d sacrificed over the years. He was giving up his career, possibly his freedom, for her and Jesse. “I do. I love you, Tennessee.”

He nodded and he and Simon went back to set up the room.

Phoebe sat and did the one thing she didn’t want to do. She waited.





CHAPTER NINETEEN





Phoebe stared at the clock. Four hours twenty-two minutes. How much had he been forced to endure already? What had he been through in the hours she’d been sitting in this hotel room?

“Stop thinking about it.” Erin’s head fell back with a groan. She was sitting on the couch, the same place she’d sunk into an hour and a half before.

Theo stopped his pacing. “How is she supposed to stop thinking about it? I’m not in love with the dude and I’m thinking about it.”

Kamdar crossed one leg over another and sat back. “I am thinking of this as well. Mr. Murdoch did me great service once. I don’t like the idea that he’s being tormented in a non-sexual fashion.”

“Yeah, well you would know all about the other,” Theo muttered under his breath.

Erin brought her head up and sent Theo a glare that could freeze water. “Give the dude a break. He’s now bankrolling this whole enterprise and he put his butt on the line, too.”

Kamdar looked as innocent as a decadent royal could look. “My buttocks are strong and completely at your disposal, Miss Argent.”

Erin sighed before turning to Phoebe. “Think about nice things. Get your head out of whatever horror show is playing through it and picture something nice.”

“I’m not going to be able to think about puppies and babies right now.”

Erin’s face screwed up in distaste. “Eww. Both of those things poop. I was thinking about what’s going on behind that door. I bet they’ve ripped off his fingernails by now. Maybe waterboarded the f*cker. I don’t care what the Agency says. That shit is awful. And beautiful in its own way.”

Theo shook his head, a look of horror on his face. “What is wrong with you? Were you deprived of love as a child? Did someone drop you on your head and destroy the center of your brain that controls your humanity?”

If Erin was offended, she didn’t show it. “Nah. I grew up with three brothers and a four-star general father. Ma left when I was two. Hooked up with some academic type. I was the youngest and I was raised by a barbarian horde. Hit the military when I was eighteen and haven’t looked back. Look, some chicks dig rom coms and quilting. I study torture techniques, and that’s why it’s so f*cking unfair that I get left out here at the kiddie table.”

Kamdar leaned toward her. “When we return to my island, I will bring you many men to torture. I will begin with my cousin. He annoys me greatly.”