Page 53 of Lethal Torture

Correction: what Luke has flatly stated I will never have.

I force myself to focus on the personnel assessment Luke emailed me earlier, wincing at his brutal remarks on the condition of my staff.

How did I not notice how exhausted they all are? How overworked?

I stare at the notes Luke has sent me on his proposed changes. It’s all there in black and white.

The overtime that somewhere over the years became the new normal.

The complete absence of leave being taken.

The seven-day weeks, the gaps there is nobody trained to fill.

It all seems so obvious. And yet, somehow I missed it.

I ride in the back seat of the limo, staring out the window, fighting the urge to lower the barrier between me and Luke in the front.

Don’t do it, Zin.

Once I do that, it’s all over. That’s how it all starts. One barrier goes down, and before you can saypick-me girl, I’ll be laughing along with Luke like the rest of my staff.

Except that laughing is the last thing I want to do, and I know it.

In the end, Luke puts it down anyway.

“Building out the team is easy enough,” he says, glancing at me in the rearview mirror. “But it would help take the load off Anatoly if we brought in another senior operative. The man I’ve suggested was in Myanmar with Dimitry and me, and we fought together in the army before that. Paddy’s a little rough around the edges, but he knows what he’s doing. He was also virtually raised in gambling rooms, so he can spot game from a long mile. I can get a clearance from Mak, if you’d like.”

“No need.” My eyes touch his briefly in the mirror. “But he needs to get along with Anatoly, or he’s gone.”

“Copy that. And there’s one other thing before we get to your apartment.” His tone is carefully neutral, his eyes on the road ahead. “I understand you asked Enzo to set up a date with Simon Lowbridge’s private secretary. Was that request anything to do with this morning’s article in theDaily Truth?”

“That’s business.” I fold my arms, my eyes narrowing in the mirror. “Not security.”

“When it comes to a gutter rat like Simon Lowbridge, there’s not a lot of difference.” His eyes meet mine briefly, his mouth twisting in that half smile that does complicated things to my insides.

“True.” I bite my lip to stop myself smiling back. “The home secretary said it was Lowbridge who leaked the article,” I admit. “She thinks if I invite him to the Winter Ball, he’ll back off.”

“But you disagree,” Luke says, glancing at me again.

I tilt my head to the side. “Yep.”

He nods. “Feed a rat like Lowbridge, and he’ll just try to steal the whole cheese.”

“Exactly.” I’m surprised he isn’t trying to argue. “Did Enzo tell you about him?”

“I did a deep dive after I saw that article.”

In what spare time, exactly?

From what I can tell, Luke’s been going harder than me all day.

“I’ll talk to Enzo about his date, see what he found out,” he says. “But let’s be careful how we go about digging up dirt on Lowbridge, agreed? I’ll keep you up to speed on what Enzo finds out, and I’d appreciate the same courtesy.”

I have a childish urge to argue the point, but unfortunately, his request is perfectly reasonable.

“Fine,” I mutter.

Luke doesn’t answer, but that annoying half smile doesn’t go anywhere either.