Page 42 of Palace of Betrayal

Leo smirked but nodded. “I’ll call her.”

“No need. We’ll handle Alain from here.”

He and Bebe turned guns raised as Brody James stepped out from behind a tree, his hands raised to show he was unarmed, or at least not pointing a gun their way.

“Can this day get any worse?”

“Alain!” He and Bebe both yelled as the man tempted fate with his stupid comment because everyone knew when you uttered those words shit always got worse.

Fourteen

“You should get back to the palace and meet with Wojcik. If he isn’t suspicious of you right now, we need to keep it that way.”

Leo looked down at his feet and huffed out a sigh. Bebe knew he didn’t want to leave her to deal with this, but she had a job to do and any feelings between them came second.

“I’ve got this, León.”

His eyes moved slowly over her body, taking her in to make sure what she said was true and she fought the shiver.

“Okay, if you’re sure. I’ll see you back at the palace later.”

He hesitated just a second and she could tell he wanted to say more but stopped himself in front of Alain and Brody. A tight smile was all she got as he turned and made his way back down the mountain, his gait agile and smooth.

“So, what about me?”

Bebe closed her eyes, placing her hands on her hips to stop herself from reaching for Alain’s throat and squeezing the life out of the stupid man. How in all that was holy could two brothers such as Alwyn and Alfred produce such different children? It was a question for another time because she had work to do.

Ignoring him, she angled toward Brody James who was glaring at Alain. “So, you can handle Alain?”

“We have a boat anchored a mile out to sea. We can hold him there until this is done.”

“And give me one good reason why I should trust you?” She waved her hand in the air. “It’s not like you’ve given me a single reason to. You were meant to stay out of this and let Zenobi handle things.”

Brody smirked but he didn’t back down or show her weakness, and she had to respect that to a degree. “And you think nobody else has eyes inside? It never occurred to you SIS has Emily Reynolds working this but from a different angle?”

“Fucking spooks. Can’t trust any of them.”

“Just doing my job.”

Bebe cocked her head. “Is that a line they brainwash you with, so you don’t question anything?”

“Whatever you need to believe, Bebe.”

She hooked her thumb behind her at Alain. “So, you heard what this one had to say?”

“I did and it’s a cluster fuck, but a workable one.”

Bebe shook her head. “No way. You stay out of my way on this or I’ll fucking shoot you.”

“Not gonna happen and let’s be honest, you need more bodies. I have the support and how are you going to explain those bodies down there unless I get rid of them? Your boss sent you on a suicide mission by letting you handle this alone.”

“I’m not alone and I have support.” She’d need Roz to send a clean-up crew and hoped one was close.

“Oh yes, Prince Charming going to save you if you get caught?”

Brody snorted and Bebe clenched her teeth to keep from reacting even though she wanted to. He was goading her to get a reaction and prove she wasn’t up to the task. “I don’t have time for this shit. Just stay out of my way.”

“We should work together.”