"Carla. Carla? Have you heard a single word I've just said?"

"Huh?" I glanced at Sarah in the passenger seat, her brow furrowed in frustration, before quickly returning my focus to the road as I steered the car into our potential client's parking lot.

"So, you agree?" she asked.

"With what?"

"I knew you weren't listening to me. Listen, Carla, if you can't keep your personal problems out of work maybe you should think about–"

"Sarah." My voice held a warning tone sufficient for Sarah to quit the topic of my personal life and return to pressing matters.

"Are you happy for me to lead the meeting?"

"As long as you stick to the figures I worked out, okay?"

"Of course."

"I've built in a five percent negotiating buffer based on the original quantities. You can drop the price ten per cent if they double the order. But no more. Got it?"

"Got it," Sarah agreed, unfastening her seat belt and resting her hand on the car door handle, "shall we?"

"Umm…" I hesitated, unsure how to play this without arousing Sarah's suspicions.

"I can handle this, Carla."

"I know you can, I trust you. Listen, why don't you head inside and set up, I need to make a quick call to the silk supplier, I'm worried they won't deliver that special printed lavender fabric on time."

"Oh, sure."

"Can I, umm, can I borrow your phone?" I asked, adding, "mine's playing up, think it's time for a new one."

"I guess." Sarah unlocked her phone and handed it to me.

"Thanks," I smiled at her, "you go on, I won't be long."

I watched as Sarah exited the car and, her arms full of presentation images and files, entered the client's office. I immediately got to work. I had no intention of calling the silk supplier, though, I'd already called them multiple times to make sure they'd deliver as promised. Instead, I went into Sarah's contacts and pulled up Damon's number, checking it against the number Adam had sent me. They did not match. Not that I had expected them to. But I needed to make sure before I made any moves against him.

Just because Damon hadn't sent the incriminating photographs from his own number didn't mean he hadn't sent them from a burner phone. As soon as Sarah and I got back to Underworld after a successful presentation – whatever I thought of Sarah's actions in her private life, I had no fear when it came to her ability to charm our clients; together we managed to secure an order for double the original quantity – I set to work tying the mysterious phone number to Damon.

As it turned out, it was easier than anticipated.

"Do you mind if I take off early tonight?" Sarah asked me not long after we'd settled back into our office work routine. "I need to take Harry into town to buy some new shoes, although I don't know why, the rate he's growing they'll be too small for him in no time. I could go after work, but Damon wants to take me out to dinner, so…" her voice trailed off, no doubt she was questioning the wisdom of talking about Damon in front of me. "I wouldn't ask, except…"

"I get it," I reassured her, forcing myself to smile.

"You do?"

"Yeah, it's a new relationship and all, you want to spend quality time together."

"Well, yeah," Sarah stammered, surprised by my understanding, "thanks."

"Going somewhere nice?" I asked in what I hoped was a casual tone.

"Just Speed Daal, nothing fancy."

I dropped the topic and focused on my work, but it was unsurprising when, later that evening, I made the suggestion to Adam that we order dinner from the very same Speed Daal that Sarah and Damon were due to visit.

"Sure," he agreed, "I'm starving, let's go."

"Actually, I was thinking we could get take away and eat at home? Relax, have a glass of wine, snuggle on the sofa."

"Ooh, I'm convinced," he said, planting a soft kiss on my lips as proof of his willingness, "especially to the snuggling part."

I couldn't allow the promise of snuggling to distract me from my mission. "So," I said, matter-of-fact, placing my hands on his chest, pushing him away – for now, "why don't you pop on over to Dev's and pick us up a nice bottle of wine and I'll get the food. You want your usual?"

"Yes, please."

Having successfully kept Adam from coming into Speed Daal with me – the last thing I wanted was to raise Damon's suspicions by having Adam present – I hurried downstairs into the restaurant and placed our order. While I loitered out of sight, waiting for the chef to prepare our meals, I put my plan into action.

Pulling out my phone, I set my number to private, dialled the mysterious number, and prayed that Damon not only had the phone on him but didn't have the ringer on mute. I watched with bated breath the table where Sarah and Damon were seated and silently praised every god I could think of when the coat hanging on the back of Damon's chair began ringing.

Clearly rattled, Damon pulled a phone out of his coat pocket and quickly declined the call. As his eyes swept suspiciously over the restaurant, paranoia over his caller's identity settling on him, I stepped behind a handy pillar, not wanting to be seen. The longer I kept my plan from him, the better.

"Who was that?" I heard Sarah ask him.

"No one important," he replied, "business. They can call back tomorrow; this is our time."

"Hang on a minute," Sarah said, reaching across the table and snatching the phone out of his hand, "this isn't your phone."

"Of course it is."

"Damon, I know what your phone looks like. Whose phone is this?"

"I told you, it's mine. It's my phone for…"

"For what? Explain yourself."

"For business," he repeated his lame excuse, "for business associates I don't want to give my personal number to."

"Do you really think I'm gullible enough to believe that?"

"Sarah, babe, you know how some people can be, they get hold of your number and won't leave you alone. Call you at all hours, can't get rid of them without changing your number. I should've muted this." He flicked the mute button on his mystery phone and tucked it back into his coat pocket. "There, no more interruptions. You do believe me, don't you?"

I didn't hang around to find out if Sarah swallowed Damon's lies. Frankly, I didn't care, I'd got what I came for: confirmation that it was indeed Damon who was threatening Adam. I wasted no time filling Adam in on my discovery while we were sat across from each other at my dining table not half an hour later, tucking into our dinner.

"That scumbag! I'm gonna wring his scrawny neck!" Adam bellowed, his face turning an angry red at the thought of Damon's treachery.

"You will do no such thing," I laid down the law, "I'm serious, Adam, you do not get involved in this."

"But–"

"No. You need to keep your hands clean. Do you want to be disbarred? Blow up your whole career?"

"Of course not, but that doesn't mean I want you doing my dirty work. You do realise he's dangerous?"

"Don't worry," I reached across the table and took his hand in my own, rubbing my thumb gently over his skin, "all I'm going to do is make it worth his while to steer clear of the both of us."

Adam was unconvinced. "And how do you plan on doing that?"

"The way I see it, right now, he's got the upper hand."

"No joke," Adam couldn't mask the sarcasm in his voice.

"He's got the information," I continued, "he's got the leverage. All of it. So, all we – I mean, I – all I need to do, is get enough leverage of my own to cancel out his. I need information. I need the kind of information on Damon that will destroy his life if it ever comes out."

"Where though? Where are you going to get that kind of information?"

"I've got an idea. But it means asking a favour of someone I really don't want to be indebted to."

"Who?"

"My brother," I sighed, memories of our last disastrous meeting flooding my mind, "I need to see Rob."