Ben couldn’t stop the snort that escaped.
“Your reputation as an honorable dealer in, shall we say, strategic information precedes you. And it seems we have mutual interests,” Ronoff continued. “Well, aside from a beautiful photographer whom we both seemed to share a love for. Such a pity about her early departure from this earth.”
This time Ben actually snarled at the screen.
Ronoff held the card between two fingers to scrutinize it. “I believe this belongs to you. I’ll admit, I’m a little curious about what exactly all those formulas mean, especially since you are so eager to get it back. But I find I cannot be bothered with this jumble of numbers.” The Russian’s face grew hard. “You are trying to sell something that belongs to me. Something I’ve already paid for.” His lips formed a sly smile. “I propose we make a trade. I’ll be in touch with the logistics.”
“What?” Quinn shouted, practically launching herself at the screen.
“Easy.” Ben wrapped his arms around her waist and hauled her back against his body.
But she refused to remain still, instead turning and hitting him with the same fury she’d just directed at Ronoff.
“How could you?” she hissed. “You promised me Ronoff would never see that list.” She punctuated each word with a fist to his chest.
“Hey!” He gripped her by the wrists. “Stop it, Quinn. The list is safe. You’re safe. And so are your parents. This is just a ruse to get my AI back.”
“Oh, yes, your ever-important artificial intelligence.” She actually rolled her damn eyes. “Forgive me if I don’t see a computer program as comparable to that of seventeen human lives.” She shook off his hands. “For such a smart man, you really are a dolt. You can’t program a solution to this, Ben. So, you and Alexi bond as black hats and he gives you back your AI and you give him a fake list. Then what? In the meantime, someone with access to the real list is still floating around out there and my mother’s life hangs in the balance!”
It took everything Ben had to keep his composure. “I agree.”
Her jaw dropped. “Then what the hell are you doing?”
“The traitor has been posing as the Phoenix on the dark web,” he explained as patiently as he could. “And we know he’s been posing as other identities as well, including mine. From what I found last night, Ronoff hasn’t paid up for the list. All I have to do is have the Mariner do a little boasting about the trade and the traitor will surface for the rest of their money. In the meantime, I meet with Ronoff, arrest him for your attempted murder as well as a bevy of other charges the Treasury Department has been building against him.”
She was silent for a long moment.
Too bad it wasn’t long enough.
“That’s the stupidest plan I’ve ever heard!” She pivoted on her heel to face the others in the room. “Mr. President, I demand to speak to the British ambassador. Better yet, the prime minister.”
“Well, hell, why stop there?” Ben taunted her. “How about we call the Queen?”
She whirled around. He was expecting her to be wearing a look that would have his balls shriveling to raisins, but, once again, he’d misread her signals. Her face was so pale it was nearly translucent. And her green eyes were wide and unfocused.
Damn it.
Quinn was frightened out of her mind. He was an ass for provoking her. The sting of her distrust faded a bit while his chest tightened at her obvious distress.
He wrapped his fingers around her wrist and tugged her toward the door. “Will you excuse us a minute, Mr. President?”
Ben didn’t wait for an answer. Instead, he towed her past the marine guards and down the hall to the first empty office he could find. Pulling her inside, he slammed the door shut behind them.
“What the hell was that back there?” he demanded.
She crossed her arms mulishly. “Call the Queen? Really?”
He clenched his fingers into a fist to keep from reaching for her. She was as prickly as a stray cat right now. There was no way she would tolerate any tenderness.
“Okay, yeah, that took things too far. My bad,” he apologized. “I know you’re a little freaked out about your name being on that list, but what happened to us working together? We’re supposed to be partners on this mission, Quinn. This is a damn good plan. One I’ve played out hundreds of times.”
“Well that’s too bad. Because I’m not playing any longer. You can piss off, Ben Segar. Go back to the safety of your keyboard. I’ll take care of this myself. I’ve been doing it for years.”
His chest began to ache at the thought of her drifting back into the shadows. No doubt she could do it easily and he’d never find her again. And as much as he wanted to give her everything her heart desired, he wasn’t going to let her have her way. Not without giving her the facts.
“I don’t know how many times I can tell you I’ve got your back before you’ll believe me. Better yet, trust me.” He sighed heavily. “But no matter how angry you make me, I won’t give up on you. On us. I won’t let anyone hurt you, Quinn Darby. Ever. You want to know why?”
She remained silent, her only response a peeved glare.
“Because I love you,” he confessed. “I always have and I always will.”
Quinn sucked in a heavy breath that sounded almost like a sob.
Not exactly the reaction he expected, but he pressed on anyway. “I hope that deep down you love me, too. But, right now, I’ll just settle for your trust,” he continued softly. “You told me you trusted me last night. Was that just a lie?”
The air in the room grew thick as he waited for her to say something. Anything. Slowly, she shook her head from side to side.
“No, it wasn’t a lie?” he prodded. “Or no, you don’t trust me?”
Her eyes shimmered with moisture when she finally raised her gaze to meet his. “No, it wasn’t a lie.”
“Good. I can work with that.”
“I hope so,” she whispered. “Because I’m new to this.”
“Clearly.”
“It’s just—”
“No,” he said. “There aren’t any qualifiers, Quinn. This is an all or nothing proposition.”
She nodded resolutely. “All. I want all of it.”
A slow smile threatened to spread over his lips, but he bit it back. Her admission had cost her, he could tell. She’d been a one-woman show for so long, trusting wasn’t going to come easy at first.
“Good, because I want all of it, too.”
“You have it all wrong, though,” she whispered.
“Come again?”
“I’m not freaked out about my name being on the list,” she explained. “I mean, I am, but I’m more freaked out about you meeting with Alexi face-to-face. He agreed too readily. It’s him I don’t trust.”
Understanding dawned. Her outburst from a moment ago was driven by fear. Fear for him, in particular. It was a heady feeling to have proof she actually cared for him.
“I don’t trust him either,” he reassured her. “That’s why I’ll have a handpicked team backing me up.”
“But the traitor. It could be someone you know.”