Page 46 of Danger Close

Was I taking a page from Jericho’s book? Yeah. But if it worked, I didn’t care.

“Whatever bad blood there is between Teri and Trinity is hurting my kid.” My hands clenched around the mug.It’s hurting my Princess as well.But I didn’t mention that. “I need to fix that, because I’m pretty sure I played a part in causing it.”

“You think fixing their relationship will make up for thirty years of absence?”

Ouch. Way to soft ball that one in, Beaufort.

“No.” I let out a long sigh. “But it’s a start.”

He scanned my face, from my brows to my jaw, to the veins on my throat, down to the fingers around my coffee mug.

“And you want to get back with her, too, I assume.” He said it as a statement, not a question.

“Yes. But that’s nothing compared to my need to just make the women in my life happy.” I shrugged. “She told me no last night. That’s fine. If she really doesn’t want me, fine. That doesn’t change the fact that she doesn’t deserve whatever happened to her.”

The way she put distance between us… it was… it was heartbreaking.

“Guilt’s not a good look on you, bud.” Beaufort relaxed, leaning back into his seat. “You’ll never get your lady back with that sour puss.”

He pulled an envelope from his pocket, put it on the table, and pushed it toward me. I frowned.

“Nothing’s for certain,” Beaufort said, his tone losing any traces of humor. “I haven’t found much more than this…yet. I just thought that this should inform how you treat her from here on out.”

“I owe you,” I said, quietly, ripping the envelope open and reading the contents inside.

“You do.”

“How much?” I lifted a brow, wondering if we’d gotten to the negotiation segment of our interaction.

We hadn’t discussed his fee yet, so I wondered exactly how many zeros would be on the end of that check.

He smirked, his thick lips pursing to one side, as he lifted his dark, arched brow. Shit. He was going to charge more than dollars.

“Fuck,” I said under my breath. “Really?”

“Money, and resources, I’ve got. But a favor from Cobra Guerro?” He lifted his fingers, rubbing his thumb and index finger together. “That’s worth its weight in gold.”

I let out a long-agitated sigh and reached into the pocket of my MIT sweatshirt, since my leather jacket was still with Teri. The oversized, heavy garment looked good on her slender frame. I was like a high school punk, giving his girlfriend his varsity letterman jacket.

I palmed a heavy coin in my hand. I twisted it between my index and middle finger. It was a simple enough thing. It was the size of a silver dollar, but three times as thick, covered in black lacquer. The border was a serpent, eating its own tail, and the inside was a cerulean, three pointed Celtic knot. My coin.

My blood chit.

A symbol of my I.O.U.

I didn’t have many of these floating around in the universe. I’d handed one to President Andrew Lau, but that debt had already been paid. A Scottish baron, and founder of Caledonia Security, had one in his pocket at all times as well. One had been assassinated before he could cash it in, so I assumed it was lost. Each one was a debt that I was obligated to repay. It wasn’t something we took lightly. If you reneged on one, then you were persona non grata. If you didn’t have your word, you were nothing. A vulnerable place to be in the world of espionage.

We shook hands across the table, the coin between our palms. When our hands parted, he had the coin, my payment for everything he could tell me about Teresa Louise Guerro.

“Pleasure doing business with you,” he said with a smile.

Chapter 19

I’m Tired

Teri

Charlotte heaped bacon, toast, and eggs onto a plate and offered it to me.