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Marshall shrugged. “Jackson calls me a fun-sucker.”
Joey laughed. “Yeah, that sounds about right. Okay, fine. Even though you stole the fun of my announcement, I’ll tell you anyway. I found a contract buried in the PrimoPak servers. A government contract.”
Marshall narrowed his eyes.
“PrimoPak has a small government contract to provide 20% of the annual purchase of MREs through one of their subsidiaries. But there is a wartime stipulation. If the US deploys forces, PrimoPak gets the surge production to cover the additional MREs needed. Five million extra cases per year.”
Marshall whistled low. “That’s…”
“Four hundred million dollars at eighty bucks per case.” Joey shook her head. “Morris Foods bought the struggling company for pennies on the dollar, knowing that the war Syndicate is aiming for will funnel money straight from DC into their pockets at huge levels.”
They already suspected that the Syndicate was aiming to pull the United States into some sort of global conflict. But this helped explain just why others had allied with the organization. If you knew war was inevitable? You could make a fortune with the right investments at the right time.
And Senator Morris and her husband were war profiteers. Along with every single person in the Syndicate web.
“We need to re-evaluate every sector. Who has the most to gain from war? They’re our targets.”
Joey nodded, then looked back at the room. The sound of laughter and conversation ebbed around their little bubble of intense concentration. “Not tonight, though.”
The distinct clink of silverware on a glass rang through the room. Marshall found Tank standing in the center, looking more confident with the attention on him than Marshall had ever seen him. Tank was still trying to quiet the group, most notably Jackson and the other two he’d left behind at the bar.
“I’ve got something to say,” Tank thundered. His eyes widened slightly and he lowered his gaze toward Lia. She just beamed up at him, completely unfrightened by the large man’s volume.
Marshall glanced back at Joey. “Not tonight,” he confirmed. Tonight, he’d celebrate with his team and watch the seemingly emotionless Tank make some sort of declaration of love to the woman he’d fallen for.
But come Monday? They still had work to do.
BONUS EPILOGUE
Kaylie held her daughter in one hand and her drink in the other as she watched Anthony take control of the room. Would she ever grow used to looking at him and knowing that, somehow, he was hers?
She didn’t think so. He seemed to see directly into her soul, his hard eyes somehow drilling past all her insecurities and filling her with a confidence she’d never truly known before. He loved her.
Anthony’s love wasn’t a weak imitation, with grasping claws that kept her strangled, lest she escape. That was the only kind of love she’d known before. But his love was deep and pure and selfless. Sacrificial and endless.
It made her stronger. And somehow, it also made it okay for her to admit she wasn’t always strong.
He ran a hand over his face, glancing around the room once more before his eyes settled on her again. “I can’t tell you all how much I appreciate everything you did last week. I know, with everything else going on, it would have been more convenient to—” His voice caught, as though he couldn’t bear to say the words.
The alternative to Lia’s rescue was unthinkable. Kaylie felt her own tears resurface. She owed Tank and this team everything, and yet she knew he’d never hold it over her the same way Paul had with the things he’d given her.
Anthony cleared his throat. “Anyway, what I’m trying to say is that I never expected Kaylie and Lia to enter my life and mean so much to me, but now, I can hardly imagine my life without them.”
Kaylie’s smile broadened. The feeling was most definitely mutual. She wasn’t going anywhere. No more running. Whatever obstacles they faced in the future, they’d face them together.
The room was still silent, but apparently Anthony was finished talking. Not that it was surprising, since it was possibly the most words she’d heard him say at once. With a curt nod, he raised his glass and stepped back toward her. Flint clapped a hand on his shoulder and stepped forward, taking the attention of the room with ease.
She reached out and took Anthony’s hand in hers, following him to a secluded corner as Flint talked to the rest of the team, congratulating them on a job well done. Or, at least that was what she assumed he was saying. All her focus was on the man next to her.
She tucked herself into his arms, her head barely reaching his chest. “I love you,” she said, unable to resist after that declaration he’d made in front of everyone.
“Kaylie,” he said, his voice ragged.
She squeezed him tightly for a moment, then looked up to meet his dark eyes. “What is it?”
She knew his expressions now. She recognized the slight differences between emotions that everyone else still mostly saw as anger. But this was sorrow, unmistakable, despite the hardness of his features. “I have some news,” he said. “Drew…”
Her heart caught, fearing the worst about her brother. “Tell me,” she pleaded in a whisper.
