Page 75 of When He Protects

He started the video again. “Who the hell is recording this?”

“Probably the Feds. Or the CIA. Or?—”

Louis’s voice stopped her. “I’m telling you, she doesn’t know.”

“Fucking clear feed,” Tyler rasped. “Someone sure had perfect audio.”

“It’s because he’s wired.” She swallowed. “I knew he was wired on some of our talks. It only made sense that he was wired that day, too.” The day the world burned.

Tyler tilted his head. “So is Thaddeus the one he was giving the intel to? The bastard is right there—Louis could give it to him at any time?—”

“Esme isn’t guilty,” Louis said at that moment. He spoke in perfect English.

In the video, Thaddeus shook his head. “All signs say that she’s guilty as sin. We just can’t get anything to stick to her. Just like it can’t stick to her father.”

Her father.

There it was. The ugly suspicion. Big and bold and breaking her heart.

“I want the proof you’ve gathered,” Thaddeus ordered. “This operation has been compromised.You’recompromised. We need to get the hell out of Paris before it’s too late.”

Louis glanced around the café. “I’ll bring everything I have to you tonight.”

“You were supposed to give it to menow.”

“It’s not safe now. I’ll rendezvous with you later. Okay? Now, look, you need to go. You shouldn’t even be here. We can’t be seen together.”

“You’re planning another meeting with her, aren’t you?You are compromised.”Thaddeus stood up. “If I know it, others will, too.”

“I’m in control.”

“The hell you are.” Thaddeus spun away. He marched for the exit.

Esme sucked in a sharp breath. Her heart stopped.

Louis remained at the table. His fingers drummed on the top. There was a faint vibration of sound. The softest peal right before Louis pulled out his phone and looked down at his screen. A moment later…

The whole café exploded.

Tyler cursed.

She realized she’d dug her fingers into his shoulder. Too hard.

“Esme…”

She couldn’t seem to relax her grip. “He was there.”

“Thaddeus? Yeah, but he got clear before the blast.”

“He was there.”

Tyler had closed the file.

“Open it again,” she ordered, voice frantic. “Play it again.”

He did. He reopened the file. He played it again. She heard Louis’s voice, and the past washed over her once more. They’d been using each other. Love? No, not love. But something that might have been close if they’d had a chance. And there it was…right after Thaddeus left.

A moment that would change everything. An image that would seal her fate. And Tyler’s.

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