“Either that or he’s in the ground.” There were technicallytwoways she’d be safe.
Jacqueline sucked in a sharp breath. Whoops. His bad. That bit about the ground had probably been something one of the good guys wouldn’t say.
Sue me. I can only pretend to be good for so long.
“I’m thinking a trip to New Orleans is in order,” Constantine added. “Good thing I live for road trips.”
A total lie. “You hate them. You get motion sick when anyone drives a car but you.”
“You are not wrong.”
He didn’t look at his friend. Jacqueline remained his focus. “This is going to be a major clusterfuck. You’re looking at several big players who are going to want Preston Guidry taken down.”
“Feds have been after him for a long time.” Constantine crept closer. “At least that’s what Eric just told me when I calledto update him. He did some of his own digging. The kind of digging where he calls in favors from the dozens of people in power who owe him. Turns out that Jacqueline’s fiancé—”
“Not my fiancé,” Jacqueline hotly denied.
“Not,” Remy growled even though he knew Constantine had only said that to jerk his chain.
“Well, it turns out the not-her-fiancé guy is suspected of money laundering. You know how the FBI hates that. So they’ve been trying to pin him down for lots of assorted naughty deeds. Now you go tossing that long-lost ring around and pulling some random CIA assholes in this…”
“Ty isn’t random. We can count on him.” Remy had recently worked a job with the operative.
“Since when the fuck are we teaming up with the CIA so eagerly?” Constantine fired back. “Wasn’t it bad enough when we had the Feds forcing us to do their dirty work?”
Shit.“Constantine. Enough.”
But it was too late. Clearly. The porch light fell on Jacqueline and revealed the confusion on her face.
“Why would you be doing their dirty work?” she asked with a shake of her head. Her hair slid over her shoulders. “You’reFBI. Why would they have to force you to do anything?”
Oh, damn.Was it time to give her the truth?
Because, sweetheart, I’m a criminal, and the only way I could keep my freedom was to make a deal with them.
Chapter Ten
So, the way he figured it, Remy had two options. He could come clean. That would be the right thing to do. He could tell Jacqueline that, well, technically, hehadbeen forced to do the bidding of the FBI, the CIA, and even a few other groups that weren’t supposed to exist. Why?
Because I’m a criminal.Not just any criminal, though. He prided himself on being anextraordinarycriminal. After all, he’d been raised to be the best art forger in the world. He’d been trained to be a master thief. He could infiltrate any organization, any residence, any business. He could get in and out and take what he wanted without leaving a shred of evidence behind.
But…
He’d bartered for his sister’s protection long ago. Started down a slippery slope that had involved more bad deals than he wanted to think about. Unloading all that on Jacqueline right then just didn’t seem right.
I am such a fucking liar. I just don’t want her to stop looking at me like I saved the damn day.
And that meant…option two seemed like the better choice. Option two meant he kept lying his ass off to her. Obviously, a great way to forge a relationship.
What the hell?Not like he was in a relationship. They’d had sex. He was helping her. That was all. Remy opened his mouth to tell her… “Sweetness, I’m not who you think.” Shit. Wrong words. Again. Why did the wrong words sometimes fly out of his mouth when he spoke to her? Remy tried again. “I’m—”
“Out of the FBI lifestyle,” Constantine inserted smoothly. “Believe me, that lifestyle is all about dirty work. The cases we handled, the people we hunted—none of that makes for casual dinner conversation.” He locked a hand around Remy’s shoulder and hauled him back from Jacqueline. “I recently switched employers, myself, and I’ve got to say it’s been an improvement so far. But I’m sure our old pals at the Bureau will be appearing in no time at all, so how about we beat them to the punch?”
“Uh, Con,” Remy began.
“Exactly. A con. That’s what we need to work.” His hold tightened on Remy’s shoulder. “This Preston individual doesn’t know me. He’s only heard Remy’s voice on the phone. He has no idea what we are capable of doing.”
Most people didn’t know. They had no idea just how dangerous Remy and Constantine could be.