“Pot meet kettle. You like good designers too, Ms. Lockwood.”
“I like to shop, and I love getting a good deal.” She paused. “You didn’t call to discuss clothes.”
He sighed. “I want us to find a lead. I want L’Orage to pay for Archie.”
“I know.”
“I want Kitty to pay as well. They broke him. He’s a good kid.”
“She will.” There was sympathy in Hadley’s voice. “And I do understand.”
“You do?”
“Yes. L’Orage was responsible for the death of a fellow MI6 agent. We’d almost caught him, got too close, and his men shot Olivia.” Hadley’s breath hitched. “She was only a year younger than me, and a good friend.”
He heard the pain in her voice. Wished he could comfort her. “I’m sorry, Hadley.” His fingers tightened on the phone. “I wish you were here.”
Silence. “We both know that’s a monumentally bad idea.”
“I don’t think so. I think it’s a very good idea.” His voice turned gritty. “We’d be good, Hadley. You know it.”
“I have self-control, Bennett. Sex tends to complicate things, and be a distraction. It makes you blind. Just look at Archie.”
But Bennett detected something else in her voice. Something she wanted to keep hidden. “Is that what happened with the dickhead agent?”
More silence. For a second, he thought she’d hung up.
“He betrayed me.” A whip of anger in her voice. “I was young, and I’m not anymore.”
“Who was he?” Bennett’s hand curled into a fist. This bastard had used her, betrayed her trust.
No, broken it. And now, Hadley Lockwood didn’t trust any man.
“He was sent here to infiltrate MI6 and spy. He was handsome, caring, paid attention. I thought I was the luckiest girl in London.”
Bennett already hated the guy.
“I was twenty-one, and had just started working at MI6. He’d been embedded in the UK for years. Educated here. He had a posh British accent, and a charming demeanor. I fell hard.”
Bennett tasted oil in his mouth. “You loved him.”
“I thought I did, but in that young, shiny way when you’re twenty-something. It’s not very deep, and it’s not very real. He wasn’t real. I caught him trying to break into my work laptop.”
“What happened?”
“I told him I was calling the authorities. He attacked me.”
Her voice was devoid of emotion and Bennett cursed.
“I’m alive and he isn’t. I learned a very valuable lesson.”
And that was the day she built her formidable armor.
Armor Bennett was determined to get through. He’d earn her trust, dammit.
“Sex with me is going to complicate things…in a good way,” he said. “And it’s definitely going to be pleasurable. We can fuck each other’s brains out and still get the mission done, Hadley.”
“Bennett—”