Page 4 of Rhys

“Let me guess,” Rhys interrupted. “They’ll kill you?”

She shook her head. “They’ll kill us both.”

“Oh, well…even better, right?”

“Would you give it a rest?” she blurted, Rhys’s obvious sarcasm fueling the flames of her frustration and fear. “I get that you hate me for the way we ended things, but this isn’t about that.”

Once this was over and everyone was safe, then maybe—just maybe—they could have that particular conversation. But for now, their focus had to be on—

Rhys chuckled humorlessly as he rested his hands on a set of narrow hips. “The way we ended things?Wedidn’t do shit, sweetheart. That was all you. But you know what? Things are different now. Right now, right here…I have the chance to do what I should’ve done the day I met you.”

“Yeah?” She arched a brow. “What’s that?”

“Walk away. Have a nice life, Ne…” He swallowed “Vanessa. And don’t fucking call me again.”

Turning his back on her, Rhys headed for his car.

“Rhys, wait!” Vanessa’s chest tightened and her heart began to race with desperation as she gave chase. “You can’t leave! Not until I’ve had a chance to—”

“To what?” The man who’d once loved her spun on his heels, his next words escaping between a set of clenched teeth. “To humiliate me? To pull me in with more of your bullshit lies? You seem to have forgotten we’ve already done that little dance. And it’s not one I care to repeat.”

Turning his back on her a second time, Rhys made it back to his car before Vanessa caught up to him. She grabbed ahold of his bicep, forcing herself to ignore the electric pull that still arced between them after all this time.

“Damn it, Rhys, would you just stop for two seconds and hear me out? This is serious!” Her voice quivered slightly when she added, “We’re talking global disaster.”

The infuriating man rolled his eyes, and she justknewhe was going to walk away. But when he locked eyes with her once more, something in his disbelieving gaze seemed to change.

Jerking his arm free, she expected him to tell her to go to hell. She deserved nothing less, after all. But by the grace of God, he didn’t.

Instead, his deep voice growled out a curt, “Fine. You’ve got two minutes, and then I’m outta here.”

Relief had Vanessa’s legs wobbling beneath her. “Thank you.” Some hair blew across her eyes, but she swept it back. “Look, I can’t go into a lot of detail. Not here. Not out in the open like this. But…I-I need you and your team to look into Austin Avionics.”

Rhys’s dark brows turned inward with a frown. “As in Austin, Texas?”

“As in Kenneth Austin. He’s the creator and CEO of Austin Avionics.”

“Fine, I’ll bite. Why do you want my team to look into him?”

“Because I have reason to believe he’s involved in a plan to develop and sell nuclear weapons to the highest bidder.”

It was the first time in her life that Vanessa had revealed classified information to someone on the outside. It was a prosecutable offense that almost guaranteed a prison sentence. Of course, the men who were after her had no intentions of sending her to jail.

“What makes you think this?” Rhys asked, his tone that of genuine interest.

Pulling her plump bottom lip between her teeth, Vanessa hesitated only slightly. Once she read him in on everything, that would be it. He’d be just as much a target as she was. And the thought of something happening to him because of her…

I’d rather die.

“Guess all that stuff about you trusting me was just another one of your lies, huh, Ness?” Rhys spat out his old nickname for her.

Ignoring the pain his tone caused, Vanessa shook her head. “Idotrust you. It’s just…once I tell you, there’s no going back. If you know what I know, that makes you a target, too. The last thing I want is for anyone else to get hurt.” She purposely softened her gaze. “Especially you.”

Rhys kept his focus on her a second longer before glancing down at his watch. With a click of his tongue, he said, “Would you look at that? Your two minutes are up.” His cold gaze met hers once more. “See ya around, Vanessa.”

With a half-assed salute, he turned and reached for his door.

“I have an asset!” Real, honest-to-goodness panic began to settle in. “Well, I…Ihadan asset. But she got too close. Found out too much. And they—”

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