She frowned. “Um, yeah, I’ll go have a look. I’ll be right back.”
As she scurried off, I turned my attention back to Garreth. He was also dabbing at his tuxedo. “Jesus, the staff they hired for this event leaves a lot to be desired.”
I reached inside my pocket and grabbed the device. It was small enough that he wouldn’t notice. All I had to do was place it.
From behind me, my father called out, “East, is that you?”
That was bullshit. He knew it was me.
I took a step toward Garreth and tapped him on the shoulder to distract him. I slid my hand inside his jacket, placed the device, and pulled my hand free as I pressed my other hand firmly to his shoulder. When I turned, he was already nodding to my father, pleasantly distracted.
I muttered into my com, “Start the transfer.”
“Fucking finally. You took longer than Ben the first time.”
“I swear to God, I will kick your ass.”
Bridge only chuckled.
Ben’s voice came next. “All right, let me arrange a distraction for your father.”
I sighed. “No, I have to deal with him.”
Garreth and my father exchanged pleasantries, and I forced myself to nod at my father.
“Where have you been, lad? I was hoping to speak with you, especially now that one of your own is currently our Director Prime. There are a few initiatives that I’d love to talk through with you.”
Of course, you would have something to further your own agenda. When did my father ever not think about himself?
“Well, we’re right here.”
The old man looked uncomfortable, as if he were desperate for privacy. I knew better than to let Garreth slip out of my sight, but the old man looked like he wasn’t going to let it go. He wanted some alone time, and he wanted it now. “East, I’d like to speak to you alone for a minute.”
Garreth tapped me on the shoulder. “Mate, I see Davis over there. I have a question for him about a player. I’ll catch you later.”
Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. I had no control of the situation. If he left and found the device before we recovered it, we were blown. But Ben was on it, it seemed. “You deal with the old man. I’ll run interference with Garreth. East, just plant the next one on Middleton, and I’ll do the same thing.”
Bridge’s voice was clear. “All right, we have thirty seconds before we’re done. Ben, you take over. East, try to shake the old man so you can plant the second device.”
“Yup, on it.”
My father leaned forward. “What was that?”
There was more swearing from Bridge. Then he said. “Fuck it. I’m coming in. Data from the first device is transmitting smoothly.”
Dammit. I didn’t need his help. I could get this done.
Can you? The old man isn’t going to let this go.
“What I said, Dad, was that we have nothing to talk about. I have zero desire to engage with you. If you want to bring me to the table to take my place as a Hale, then you know what you need to do. Until then, we’re done.”
He frowned. “East, I know things had been tense between us for some time, obviously. But I thought now that Covington had been named Director Prime, your feelings would have eased a little.”
I forced a tight smile. “What does Ben being the Director Prime have to do with anything? He’s my best mate. He should be Director Prime. He’s the only one who’s going to lead us in the right direction. It doesn’t change how I feel about you.”
He winced.
The vote for a new Director Prime had been filled with tension. The most powerful man in all of Britain, if not the world. And that was now Ben, so of course, everybody would want a piece of him. And they were going to do it by getting as close to Ben as they could.
“Look, things have been difficult between us, but it’s time to put that aside. I’d like to talk to Ben about—“
“Dad, I’m not going ease a path for you. If you want to talk to Ben, then talk to Ben. I have more important things to do.”
He frowned at me. “You really plan to hold a grudge?”
I shrugged. “Yes. I am going to hold a grudge. That’s how this works. I will do my damn level best to destroy you. So let me be clear in case, somehow, it’s not. You severed any relationship we had a long time ago. And there is no recovering from that until you decide to repair the damage that you’ve done.” I then turned and walked away. I had another device to plant.
4
East
Where the hell had Middleton gone? I could have sworn I saw—
Instead of Middleton, a dark-haired woman crossed my path. She wore vermillion red, and her dress dipped in the back, displaying an expanse of skin. I turned toward her to get a better look. Was that—
"Eyes on the prize, mate."
I snapped back to attention at the sound of Bridge's voice.
When our gazes met, he grinned at me. “My eyes are on the damn prize. I got caught up with the old man. Where’s Middleton?”
“You can relax. I tagged him already. Ben will collect that device too.”
“Shit.” I hated being the weak link.
“All good.” He nodded his head in the direction of the brunette. “You got distracted, mate.”
“Shut it. I can do more than one thing at a time.”
He smirked as he sipped his scotch. “Sure you can. That's why you're staring after that woman with your tongue hanging out of your mouth."
In a perfect world, he would have withered under the look I shot him. "I am not. It's part of the facade."
My best mate grinned at me. "Sure. I get it. You're just getting into character."
"Exactly. Matter of fact—” Another beautiful brunette approaching us made me stop in mid-thought. “Emma! What are you doing here? Shouldn’t you be somewhere having fun?”
She gave me a warm smile, and I enveloped her in a tight hug. Emma Varma was sort of our adopted little sister. Her brother Toby had been part of the squad. Back in the day, the five of us had big plans to take over the world.
But then he’d died.
No, he was killed. There’s a difference.
There was in fact a difference, and Toby’s death was why we were here tonight. For vengeance. For blood. For justice.
She pulled back. “Well, don’t you look nice in a tux?”
“I look good in anything.” I said, winking at her.
She rolled her eyes at me. “Of course you do.”
She turned her attention to Bridge, but there was no welcoming smile for him. I couldn’t quite explain it, but the two of them looked like they were sending heat lasers at each other, daring one another to eviscerate.
“Bridge.” Her voice was tight as she addressed him.
“I thought you went back to the States for your new job.”
I watched with rapt attention as she squared her shoulders and pushed out her chest. What in the ever-loving-Prada fuck was going on here? It was like I was watching some weird praying mantis mating dance. I wanted to shout at Bridge that he was out of his depth and that he’d get his head bitten off. But for the two of them in that moment, I didn't exist.