Read Online All or Nothing by Catherine Mann - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: Catherine Mann
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France. He would do whatever she needed to feel reassured, but it needed to happen quickly for her personal protection.
One thing was clear. They had to leave Monte Carlo. Tonight.
Salvatore continued to explain to Jayne in even, reasonable tones designed to calm. “When you make arrangements for work and for your dog, you need to give a plausible story that also will lead Zhutov’s people in the wrong direction.”
She twitched, but kept an admirable cool given everything she’d been told. “My phone is tapped?”
“Probably not.” Salvatore shook his head. “And even if it is, the penthouse is equipped with devices that scramble your signal. However, that doesn’t stop listening devices on the other end. We can use that to our advantage, though, by scripting what you say.”
“This is insane.” She pressed a trembling hand to her forehead.
“I agree.” Salvatore played the conciliatory role well, one he sure as hell hadn’t shown a bunch of screwed-up teenagers seventeen years ago. “I sincerely hope we’re wrong and all of this will be resolved quickly. But we can’t afford to count on that. You need to tell them that you’re ironing out details of the divorce with Conrad and it’s taking longer than you expected.”
Nodding, she stood, hitching her evening bag over her shoulder. “I’ll step into the kitchen, if that’s not a problem.”
“Take your time, catch your breath, but keep in mind we need to leave by sunup.”
Jayne shot a quick glance at her husband, full of confusion, anger—betrayal—and then disappeared into the kitchen.
* * *
Conrad reined in his temper, lining up his thoughts and plans while his wife’s soft voice drifted out.
Salvatore cleared his throat. “Do you have something to say, Hughes?”
Oh, he had plenty to say, but he needed to narrow his attention to the task at hand. “With all due respect, Colonel, it’s best that I keep my opinions to myself and focus on how the hell we’re going to keep Jayne off of that megalomaniac’s radar.”
“I have faith you’ll handle that just fine.”
The colonel’s blasé answer lit the fuse to Conrad’s anger. He closed the gap between them and hissed low between his teeth so Jayne wouldn’t overhear. “If you have such faith in me, why the big show in front of my wife?”
“Big show?” He lifted an eyebrow.
What the hell? Conrad was not sixteen and a high school screwup. This was not the time for games. “Scaring the hell out of her. Springing the whole Interpol connection on her.”
“I still can’t believe you never told her. I thought you were smarter than that, my boy.”
“It doesn’t matter what you think. That was my call to make. I told you when I married her I didn’t want her involved in that side of my life, for her own safety.”
“Seems to me you’ve put her in more danger by not clueing her in. Even she picked up on that.”
There was no way to know for sure now. But the possibility chapped at the worst time possible. “Thanks for the insights. Now, moving on to how we take care of Zhutov? If my cover’s been compromised...”
The ramifications of that rolled over him, the realization that even once he had Jayne tucked away safe, this line of work and the redemption it brought could be closed to him forever. Later, he would sift through that and the possibility that without Interpol in his life, he could have his wife back.
Right now, he could only concentrate on making sure nobody touched so much as one hair on her head.
* * *
Sagging back against the polished pewter countertop, Jayne hugged her cell phone to her chest. The lies she’d just told left a bad taste in her mouth. Not to mention the fact she’d just been put on an unpaid leave of absence from her job.
This was supposed to have been such a simple trip to tie up the loose ends in her marriage...
Hell. Who was she kidding? Nothing with Conrad had ever been simple.
As if conjured from her thoughts, he filled
One thing was clear. They had to leave Monte Carlo. Tonight.
Salvatore continued to explain to Jayne in even, reasonable tones designed to calm. “When you make arrangements for work and for your dog, you need to give a plausible story that also will lead Zhutov’s people in the wrong direction.”
She twitched, but kept an admirable cool given everything she’d been told. “My phone is tapped?”
“Probably not.” Salvatore shook his head. “And even if it is, the penthouse is equipped with devices that scramble your signal. However, that doesn’t stop listening devices on the other end. We can use that to our advantage, though, by scripting what you say.”
“This is insane.” She pressed a trembling hand to her forehead.
“I agree.” Salvatore played the conciliatory role well, one he sure as hell hadn’t shown a bunch of screwed-up teenagers seventeen years ago. “I sincerely hope we’re wrong and all of this will be resolved quickly. But we can’t afford to count on that. You need to tell them that you’re ironing out details of the divorce with Conrad and it’s taking longer than you expected.”
Nodding, she stood, hitching her evening bag over her shoulder. “I’ll step into the kitchen, if that’s not a problem.”
“Take your time, catch your breath, but keep in mind we need to leave by sunup.”
Jayne shot a quick glance at her husband, full of confusion, anger—betrayal—and then disappeared into the kitchen.
* * *
Conrad reined in his temper, lining up his thoughts and plans while his wife’s soft voice drifted out.
Salvatore cleared his throat. “Do you have something to say, Hughes?”
Oh, he had plenty to say, but he needed to narrow his attention to the task at hand. “With all due respect, Colonel, it’s best that I keep my opinions to myself and focus on how the hell we’re going to keep Jayne off of that megalomaniac’s radar.”
“I have faith you’ll handle that just fine.”
The colonel’s blasé answer lit the fuse to Conrad’s anger. He closed the gap between them and hissed low between his teeth so Jayne wouldn’t overhear. “If you have such faith in me, why the big show in front of my wife?”
“Big show?” He lifted an eyebrow.
What the hell? Conrad was not sixteen and a high school screwup. This was not the time for games. “Scaring the hell out of her. Springing the whole Interpol connection on her.”
“I still can’t believe you never told her. I thought you were smarter than that, my boy.”
“It doesn’t matter what you think. That was my call to make. I told you when I married her I didn’t want her involved in that side of my life, for her own safety.”
“Seems to me you’ve put her in more danger by not clueing her in. Even she picked up on that.”
There was no way to know for sure now. But the possibility chapped at the worst time possible. “Thanks for the insights. Now, moving on to how we take care of Zhutov? If my cover’s been compromised...”
The ramifications of that rolled over him, the realization that even once he had Jayne tucked away safe, this line of work and the redemption it brought could be closed to him forever. Later, he would sift through that and the possibility that without Interpol in his life, he could have his wife back.
Right now, he could only concentrate on making sure nobody touched so much as one hair on her head.
* * *
Sagging back against the polished pewter countertop, Jayne hugged her cell phone to her chest. The lies she’d just told left a bad taste in her mouth. Not to mention the fact she’d just been put on an unpaid leave of absence from her job.
This was supposed to have been such a simple trip to tie up the loose ends in her marriage...
Hell. Who was she kidding? Nothing with Conrad had ever been simple.
As if conjured from her thoughts, he filled
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