Page 9 of Unleash Hades
“Well breastfeeding takes a lot out of a woman, so she’s not going to be fighting ready for at least another year.” Philippa kept talking as if I wasn’t trying to keep my food down. She had a habit of ignoring things she didn’t like. Sometimes that was people. “So, of course, I reached out to Brett’s people, but…”
“We’re suffering, somewhat, because our chief financier has had to disappear for a time,” Brett inspected his nails.
What the hell were they even talking about? And why was I being forced to listen? English speakers love to hear themselves talk…
“So, they were out. They can’t just very well drop everything while they’re in dire straits, which brought us here.” Philippa leaned forward, placing her chin in the palm of her hand, leaning her elbow against the table. “Turning to my favorite security company.”
“Rose isn’t going near this operation, except as a trainer,” Brett said, as if he was still in negotiations with Philippa for… whatever the hell this was. “It’s not the time to send her back into the field as a primary.”
He looked at his daughter with pained, sympathetic eyes.
“She won’t even go as a trainer!” Alastair quipped. He was uniformally ignored by everyone.
Philippa rolled her eyes. “So sentimental, these daddies.”
“I feel like we’re off track here,” Alastair said. “Rose can’t go anywhere.”
“That’s why I’m here,” Brett said, pounding his chest. “To take care of my grandbabies, while my little girl helps train this one.” He nodded his head towards me.
“No!” Alastair leaned forward, ready to claw his father in-law’s eyes out. “I’ll go with her, at least.”
“You don’t ever sendbothparents on a mission.” Brett smacked his forehead. “You shouldn’t send both of them on the same flight, as far as I’m concerned. What if something happens, huh? Then who will parent the babies? Or do you wantmeto take the kids full time? Because I will. Just say the word.”
“No.” Alastair seemed to be in love with that word today.No, no, no…
“Rose is a capable trainer, but probably not ready to get back in the ring just yet, right Juju?” Brett smiled lovingly at his daughter, before turning those brown eyes back to me. “I’ve seen this one fight. We don’t need him to win the Underground Circuit. Not everyone can be a champion like my kiddo. We just want him to be good enough to not look like a fraud.”
“What…?” I was confused.
Somehow, I was back into the mix.
“We have some people in the Underground, of course,” Brett said, as he speared his fork into the food in front of him. “Backup, to make sure nothing happens to my kid.” Then he looked at me and shrugged. “You’re on your own, though. I’m not letting them get distracted to save you, Frenchy.”
Gracious of him.
“Why can’t your contacts in the Underground Circuit get you the information?” I interjected, leaning forward with my elbow on the edge of the table. “Why do you need one of us?”
The table looked at me like I had grown a dick out of my forehead.
“You’re speaking an awful lot during this dinner,” Rose observed with a smirk.
I hadn’t seen her smile in a few months. Maybe the presence of her father rejuvenated her.
“Right?” Brett agreed with her, even though he had just arrived, and hadn’t been privy to the previous conversation. “We have two assets in place in the Underground, and we can’t compromise their cover. The job they’re doing is too important.”
“What do you want?” I asked, again.
“Okay, Hugo,” Rose said, with a teasing glint in her eye. “I’m going to need you to calm down. You’ve said at least three sentences and that’s… that’s a lot.”
The sparkle was back, and I don’t think that was lost on her observant father. Another reason for him to hate his son-in-law.
“What do you need from me?” Obviously, they were asking me to do something. That was the point of all the staring.
Why the fuck couldn’t these idiots ever justsaywhat they meant? Why was everything so complicated? Bloody spies!
“The Underground Circuit is being used to traffic as part of the Triangle Trade,” Brett said, leaning back into his seat. “We think we have a potential asset. But we need to make contact.”
“Why?” I interrupted, as he opened his mouth to speak more.
