Page 40 of Smoke

“He’s got something else he needs to deal with, so you got me.”

Chapter

Twenty-Five

Tenley

Not that I know Stone much, but the way his brow is furrowed and his top lip curls back, I get the impression that he’s not a fan. Before I take the seat waiting for me, I notice that the chair on the opposite side is already pushed back against the wall, the angle as if recently abandoned with some urgency. There’s a partially drunk mug of coffee on the desktop that, still hot by the looks of the steam coming from it. However, Stone is holding a mug of his own, and there’s a distinctive aroma that I recognize instantly.

Smoke was here, right before I walked in. I’m surprised I didn’t pass him in the common room.

“Charming,” I tut. My gut tells me that Smoke has ducked out, probably so he doesn’t have to face me. “Wow, his Lordship summons me here, yet hasn’t even got the decency to turn up?” I shake my head at theaudacity. “So, what’s so important that couldn’t be handled over the phone?”

“We need an update on Dunne.” Stone pulls the chair away from the wall and slides into it, pulling it close to the desk.

“I have nothing more to tell.” I shrug my shoulders at him. “All that I have was in the message I sent to Smoke.”

“Humor me.” he shuffles forward on the leather upholstered seat and then drops his elbows to the desktop. He has such a gigantic frame, shoulders, arms, and chest, that it looks like he’s sitting rather uncomfortably in a kid’s chair. “From the beginning. What exactly did he say?”

“This is ridiculous,” I huff, but the glare he gives me in return, the chances are I’ll be held here until I do. I relent. “We were meant to be going on a date tonight, so he was calling to cancel. Like I said in the message, his reason behind it was that he had some business contacts flying in from overseas in the next few days.”

“Did he say where they were coming in from?”

“Actually, I asked that question, but all he said was Europe. He was being vague. Didn’t name any specific country. I assumed it would be Ireland with him having a connection to it.”

“Why cancel if their arrival wasn’t imminent?” Stone brows knit together in question.

“Said he had to prepare for them arriving and that he’d be busy for the next couple of weeks.” My mind goes over the conversation, and I find myself frowning, too. “He also said that I might not hear from him for a whilebut not to worry… Do you think he’s planning something?”

“Did he mention any names or how many he was expecting?” Stone asks without responding to my enquiry. “A date they’re due to arrive?”

“No, like I said, he was being vague and when I tried to gain more information, every question I put to him he avoided.” I stare him in the eye. I don’t know Stone very well, but he seems a little on edge. His posture too, the way he’s leaning forward over the desk, his head slightly down. “Much like you’re doing with me.”

“Whatever,” he fires back at me, then quickly drops his gaze to his coffee cup. “You sure that’s all you have for us?”

“Every word, unless you want me to recite back to you the part of the conversation where he told me how much he’d enjoyed taking me to his hotel room and stripping me out of my dress?”

“Does that mean you can report that despite Dunne playing the part of the big man, he actually has a micro dick,” Stone chuckles at his own joke.

“Actually, the handgun that he carries in the waistband of his pants isn’t the only powerful weapon he carries.”

“No way,” he gasps. “You actually fucked him?”

“A lady never tells,” I throw back at him haughtily as I stand up from the chair. With my fisted hands resting on my hips, I look him right in the eyes. “Seeing as I have nothing of any further importance to tell you, can I go now?”

Stone’s hand comes up the side of his head andpresses against his ear. With furrowed brows and lips firmly together, his eyes glaze over as he hesitates to respond to me.

“Well?” I ask when he still doesn’t answer me. His vision focuses on me and when he realizes that I’m watching him intently, he quickly drops his hand from the side of his head. He looks decidedly guilty, as if caught with his hand in the cookie jar. “Where’s the listening device?” I demand. It hadn’t taken me long before I realized that his unnatural posture was to make sure that he got nearer to a hidden microphone somewhere on the top of Smokes’ desk. That’s why I’d thrown in the suggestive comment about Dunne and me in the hotel room.

“What are you talking about?” he tries to come across all innocent, but I’ve got to his number.

“You’re so full of bullshit,” I throw back at him before turning and opening the door. I start to walk towards the exit, although when I notice Stone isn’t right behind me but hovering in the office doorway, I take a sudden veer off to the left toward the room that they use for the club meetings. Church, as they call it.

I’m pulling the door open before Stone reacts.

“Hey, where the fuck do you think you’re going?” he yells, dashing across the room to stop me.

I step into the room, and with absolutely no hesitation or fear; I walk straight up to the man who, I have no doubt, was on the other end of the earpiece that had been placed in Stone’s ear.

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