Banan met her gaze. “What’s that?”
“This is about more than stealing a recipe for scotch, isn’t it? I need to know, because I’ve this feeling that this isn’t just my job on the line.”
“You’re no’ wrong,” Banan said.
“Damn. Have you gathered any information on who could be in it with Richard?”
Banan leaned forward so that his forearms rested on his thighs. “Nay. Elena is making her way through those closest to Arnold. So far, she’s found nothing.”
“If I’m going to do this, how do I contact you if I find anything?”
“I’ll give you my, Rhys’s, and Elena’s mobile numbers. And wherever you are, I’ll be close by. I can reach you quickly if you’re in danger.”
Jane grabbed for her wine and drained it in three swallows. It burned as it slid down her throat, but she needed something to steady her after all she’d learned.
“The fact you just said that, Banan, tells me how dangerous this is going to be. Richard is connected to influential families. Money, politics, and God only knows what else. He’s not a man to be messed with.”
“Let us worry about that,” Banan said with a smile that promised Richard would suffer.
Jane just wished she knew what was so important that Banan, Rhys, and Elena would risk their lives to protect Dreagan for it.
Rhys touched her shoulder, and she turned, startled, because she hadn’t heard him move.
“You are doing a brave thing, Jane,” Rhys said.
Jane swallowed, wishing she had more wine in her glass. “Stop talking now or I might chicken out of this whole thing.”
Just as she was about to get up, Banan leaned over and placed his hand atop her. “Thank you.”
Her heart skipped a beat at his husky timbre. It hurt that he wasn’t attracted to her, but the letdown wasn’t anything she wasn’t accustomed to. She was Plain Jane after all.
Jane managed a small smile. “Don’t thank me yet. I’m not exactly brave, Banan, and Richard has a way of making me feel an inch tall when he talks to me.”
“So doona allow him to speak to you that way,” Rhys said matter-of-factly.
Jane looked down at Banan’s large hand, his warmth sinking into her. She liked his hands, liked how it felt to have him touch her. “Easier said than done.”
Banan settled into the shadows as he watched Jane walk into PureGems the next morning. He had followed her from her flat, and it was pure hell. All he’d wanted to do was walk beside her and listen to her amazing voice. Instead, he had to keep his distance.
“Arnold hasna arrived,” Rhys said from beside him.
Banan nodded. Rhys kept watch on PureGems while Guy stayed with Elena, and Banan did his best to ignore the growing need to kiss Jane.
The disappointment in her eyes when she thought he’d only wanted information about Arnold had been like a kick in the balls. He hadn’t liked the feeling, but nothing could make it go away.
Banan had given Jane everyone’s number except Guy’s. He had purposely left out Guy’s name. Just in case. Not because he thought Jane might be working with Arnold, but if she was put in a position where she had to give information in exchange for her life, she wouldn’t know everyone from Dreagan who was in London.
“She’ll be all right,” Rhys said.
Banan leaned a shoulder against the brick of the building. “I hope so. I also hope we uncover who it is that’s giving Arnold intelligence about us. The sooner we can find that wanker, the better.”
“Aye. No’ to mention being around all these humans makes my ass twitch. I long to return to Dreagan.”
Banan did as well. The only thing that helped to calm him was Jane. Beautiful, intelligent, amazing Jane.
Jane couldn’t stop shaking as she walked into PureGems and rode the elevator up to her desk. When she discovered Richard hadn’t yet made it into the office, Jane was able to breath a little easier.
She didn’t waver from her normal routine and hastily got to work, rarely looking up. It wasn’t until she was coming back from the copy machine that she found Richard’s office door open. Her knee gave out, and she nearly dropped her papers as she tripped.
“I got you,” Elena said as she steadied her.
Jane looked at Elena and smiled. “Thank you.”
“I’m here, just two offices down, Jane. If he does anything, give me a shout, and I’ll come running. So will Banan and Rhys.”
Elena squeezed her arm, and then she was gone. Leaving Jane to face Richard alone.
She returned to her desk, waiting to hear him scream her name, but as soon as he saw her, he stared at her for several minutes before he shut his office door. Which was just fine by her.
Jane didn’t see, or hear, from Richard until it was time for lunch. Once more, she was buried in work and saw him leave out of the corner of her eye.
When he was in the elevator, she rose and walked into his office. She’d already sorted out how she would search it. She’d do it a bit at a time so no one noticed how long she was in there.
She checked his desk first, and found nothing. A trip back to her desk, and fifteen minutes later, she returned to his office. This time she went through the credenza behind his desk.
Again and again she repeated her process, but found nothing that didn’t pertain to anyone who wasn’t a client. She shut the last drawer in his filing cabinet and was turning to leave when she spotted the cell phone he’d been on the day before.
With shaking hands, Jane picked up the phone and quickly scrolled through to the Incoming Calls. She matched the times from the day before and his calls and found the call she was looking for.
Jane wrote down the number and had just replaced the phone when Richard walked in.
“What are you doing in here?” he demanded.