“A stash house for a stash house.” I straighten my back, a small smile on my face. “I like the sound of that.”

“There’s only one problem with all this,” he said.

My smile faded. “I know. The mole. We don’t know who they are, or if they really exist. But if they do, they could alert the Desaltis that we’re coming.”

He nodded.

“Damn, that means we can’t make a move until we flush out the mole.” And how would we even find that person? “It could take too much time to wait for that. If I don’t tell my men why I’m gathering them and take away anything that could be used for communication from them, then that might put their lives at risk, and the mole might be someone who’s not even going with us, but they’ll see us leaving and be sure something’s up.”

“You could fake that you’re making a move, then pretend you’ve changed your mind or that Meg found something that prevented your attack. Every communication system would have to be monitored so you’d know exactly who tried to contact the Desaltis.”

I made a face. “Too complicated.” As I leaned forward, I accidentally pushed one of the figures off the table with my hand. “Shit.”

James caught it and placed it back, his arm grazing me, his eyes never leaving mine. I found myself leaning toward him. The scent of pine, musk, and ocean filled my nostrils, and his body’s warmth seeped into me. I could feel his breath against my face as I kept looking into his eyes. The door swung open, and we looked toward it.

Brent glared at us from the door, his shoulders stiff, his jaw tense. “I found our mole,” he said.

Chapter 17

“ALREADY?” MY EYEBROWS shot up.

“Yes,” he snapped. “The guy came to me asking weird questions and then I figured him out. Why is he in here? This is sensitive info.”

“He’s helping me plan our retaliation attack,” I said. “Where’s our mole? I want to speak to him.”

“You can’t. He’s dead.”

My jaw went slack. “What do you mean he’s dead?”

“He attacked me. Tried to pull a gun on me. I got him first.” He stepped forward, pointing his finger at James. “You shouldn’t be here. Get out. Arianna and I need to plan the retaliation attack and you have nothing to do here.”

“I’m not going anywhere,” James said.

“I already dealt with one mole today. I don’t need you too.”

“Brent!” I got in his way.

“No, Arianna, this ends now.” His eyes flashed dangerously. “He’s whispering who knows what in your ear and manipulating you. I’m your second. I need to take care of you, and I can’t allow this to happen.”