Mine To Protect (Mine #6)(49)

Like a stun gun that looked just like a smart phone. A pen in his coat pocket hid another knife. He’d always been a fan of extra weapons—they’d sure come in handy for him plenty of times. Spy tech was one of his obsessions.

“Cameras are watching us, right?”

He gave the briefest of nods. His gaze scanned the room. A desk waited a few feet away. Were they in the boss’s office? Sure looked that way. So come on in for our private meeting.

As if on cue, the door opened once more. Victor’s muscles locked down as another surge of adrenaline shot through him.

“Hello, Zoe.”

Victor recognized the jerk standing in that doorway. How could he not? He’d been introduced to Xavier Winters and he’d even shook the guy’s hand. A hand he’d wanted to break at the time. He’d held back, barely.

This is the bastard who hurt Zoe so badly. This is the guy who broke her heart.

Wasn’t a broken hand the least the guy should expect in the way of payback?

“Tom?” Zoe took a step toward the other man, then stopped.

Tom strolled into the room, then paused to shut the door behind him. “Hello, Zoe. It’s been a long time.” He pulled a small black box from his coat pocket. “I like privacy,” he said. “And while you both did pass the security search, I want to make absolutely sure that neither of you managed to smuggle in a listening device.”

Victor didn’t let his expression alter.

“There.” Tom pressed a button on the box he held. “Now, we don’t have to worry about anyone overhearing our conversation, do we?”

Audio jammer. Victor knew exactly what that little box was.

Tom paced toward Zoe. His gaze locked on her face. “How is it possible,” he asked her, “that you’ve grown even more beautiful?”

The * was not flirting with her. Victor took an aggressive step toward the lawyer. “I didn’t come here to talk to some middle man.”

Very slowly, Tom’s gaze left Zoe and drifted over to Victor. That faint smile—that annoyingly smug one—curved his lips. “Ah…so that’s the way this scene was supposed to play out, hmmm? I have to confess, I was curious. Especially after I saw you talking with Roy at the police station. I wondered just what plan you might be spinning.”

Victor’s hands had clenched into fists. He hated this jerk. “You’re not the kind of guy who gives orders. You take them. Just like you’ve been taking them from Luther Bates. How many years have you been on his payroll? Five? Six? I would’ve thought that you’d be tired of being Luther’s errand boy by now.”

Because he was watching so closely, Victor saw the way Tom’s eyelids jerked at his jab. He’d figured a guy like Tom would have one big, overinflated ego, and an ego like that could be his downfall.

“Zoe…” Tom sighed out of her name. “I’ve tried to reach you many times over the years. Tried to talk to you again. I have so many regrets.”

Oh, hell, no, the guy wasn’t about to try to stir up that particular part of their past, was he?

Tom side-stepped so that he could stare at Zoe. “I’ve missed you.”

She didn’t say a word.

Victor focused on breathing, slowly and easily, and keeping his control. This little meeting was important. Too important to let his emotions rule. “I want to talk to your boss.”

“I thought you just said my boss was Luther Bates,” Tom murmured. “In case you didn’t realize, he’s still in prison. For the moment, anyway. If you want to talk with him, visit him there.”

For the moment, anyway.

“I’m so curious about what plan you have going on here.” Tom motioned toward them. “You bring her in here and—what? You act as if you’re selling her out? That is what my client is accused of doing, correct? You think that Roy Duncan was going to trade Zoe for the two million dollar bounty that’s on her head.”

The guy was so damn controlled and cold. Emotion only flared in Tom when he looked directly at Zoe.

“He wasn’t just doing it for the money,” Zoe said, her voice husky. “A woman named Michelle Lane is missing. She was part of the deal. Roy said that if he brought me in, Michelle would be set free.”

A faint furrow appeared between Tom’s perfect brows. The guy’s whole face was too sickeningly perfect. He needed a broken nose. Something to make him look more human. Victor would be happy to oblige the broken nose need.

“Michelle Lane?” Tom repeated as his brows furrowed even more. “Can’t say I know that name. Why was she important for a trade? Is she a cop, too?”

Tread f*cking carefully. Victor was afraid they’d already revealed too much.

“She was my friend. Is my friend,” Zoe said, voice still soft. “And I want her back.”

Tom laughed and the sound was bitter. Angry. “Oh, Zoe, you and I both know that you don’t have real friends. You have people who want to use you. And you—because you are too damn good—you let us all do our worst.”

She retreated a step.

“Take for instance…this man at your side.” Disgust curled Tom’s lips. “I imagine he’s lied to you over and over, ever since the first moment he walked into your life.”

Fucking hell.