Page 76 of The Bad Wedding Date

“You’re damn right I do,” he said, his voice rising. “She thinks I voluntarily let her down on the day she needed me the most. She thinks I’ve ignored her attempts at contacting me ever since, no doubt.”

“Ray has been handling her messages on your behalf.”

“What the hell does that mean?”

“He’s an intelligent man as well as strong. He can study someone’s mode of communication in written form and imitate it to a relatively high standard. All it would have taken was for him to read over some old messages between you and Charlotte for him to get your tone of voice right.”

“You son of a bitch.”

“Careful, Jonah. I don’t want to turn this in a different direction, but I will if I have to.”

“By doing what? Knocking me out again.”

“I prefer something less physical. I’d probably just go after someone you hold dear. A new girlfriend, perhaps.”

His face paled, and I mentally thanked Charlotte for that titbit of information she’d unknowingly let slip.

“You can’t keep me here.”

“That’s the last thing I want.” I leaned forward, staring into his eyes. “The moment you give me your promise of silence, you’re free to go.”

He swallowed, not saying a word in response.

“You keep this between us, and we’ll even throw in a little compensation for you to recover with. Take a holiday. Go visit those relatives you have in Bath.”

His breathing picked up, and he looked like he wanted to kill me.

“We’re not playing around here,” I assured him. “We do our research and get our insurance no matter who we’re dealing with. Unfortunately for you, luck wasn’t on your side, and you had to take the hit for this job. I promise you it was worth it. Charlotte is safe. You’re safe. That’s what’s important, isn’t it? Everyone is where they’re meant to be.”

“Except that Charlotte is out there now thinking that I let her down. Thinking you stepped in to save the day, not knowing that you were the reason I couldn’t be there for her in the first place. And now you’re the hero?” He huffed. “Guess you’re the winner then.”

“I guess so.”

“And she has no idea who you are?”

“She knows exactly who I am,” I said, not looking at the other men’s reactions when I said it.

I’d never told anyone about the real me. That admission wasn’t going to go undetected by my team, and I’d no doubt get a grilling off each of them before I could leave the apartment again.

“The only thing Charlotte doesn’t know is what we’ve done to you. How the rest of that goes is entirely down to you.”

“Is that another threat?”

“Threats aren’t my thing.” He stared at me, seeing my intent.

There wasn’t anything I’d let get in the way of keeping Charlotte happy and safe.

Jonah sighed and looked down at his lap. His hands white-knuckled the arms of the chair he sat in. I had to give the guy some credit; he wasn’t as much of a pushover as most would be in these circumstances, which meant Charlotte really did have a true friend on her side. That filled me with comfort, despite the glint of hate in his eyes when he looked up at me again.

“What happened last night between you and her?” he asked.

“That’s none of your business.”

“It is if you expect me to stay quiet.”

I shook my head and played my best poker face. “Nothing happened. She’s a client. There isn’t anything else I’m interested in but keeping her safe.”

“Does she know she’s a client?”

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