Was that the correct word to use? They’d invited me to the wedding, but I hadn’t done a damn thing right by them. The CIA was even worse. Using Jason’s wife as a pawn. Failing to protect the Dunns when the Agency lost control of an obsessed hitman. That Juric mission was supposed to be my last for a good, long while.
The familiar, crushing guilt stormed in, but it was interrupted when my phone vibrated. Giovanni’s door alarm.
My SIG Sauer slipped easily back into its holster, and I darted out into the night.
It took all of five seconds to spot Giovanni, who stumbled along the path lit by his cell phone’s screen. All alone. He was risking an animal attack over asking his private security for an escort. Now, why was that?
The skin on the back of my neck grew hot when he bypassed the lodge and worked his way toward Olivia’s cabin. It made sense why he hadn’t called for me. It’d be easier to attempt seduction without me in the way.
What the hell was I going to do, I wondered as I followed silently behind, fading into the landscape. Just watch this play out? Things with Giovanni could quickly get out of hand with her.
Would I blow my cover to help a woman in need?
You didn’t last time.
Giovanni abruptly swung left and scurried behind one of the vacant cabins. I flattened myself against the side of the building and inched to the corner, keeping my breathing quiet.
“Good evening,” a deep voice said in Italian.
“You’re Amin’s man?” Giovanni answered back, sounding skeptical.
The man’s Italian was weak and heavily accented. “Yes. Is this a problem?”
“No.”
There was shuffling, and I risked a glance around the corner. Johannes, the driver from the other resort. He didn’t look anything like a gentle creature now. There was a menacing gun tucked in the waistband of his pants. I slipped back against the wall before I was detected.
The name Amin meant nothing to me, so I repeated it in my mind, committing it to memory.
“My boss wants to do business,” Johannes said. “You have?—”
“A taste.”
There was more rustling, then quiet. One of the men let out a long breath, followed by the sound of metal sliding against itself. The bolt of a gun was cocked. A magazine ejected and slammed back into position.
“Like I told Amin,” Giovanni said, “I have crates of these and can arrange transport. What do you have for me?”
“Boss...” Johannes sounded worried. “He doesn’twant this.”
“I understand,” Giovanni spat out. “But I don’t have that kind of partnership with Amin yet. We start here and work up to that.”
There was a long pause. Finally, a zipper rang out, and the Italian made a noise of annoyance.
“What the hell is this? Rocks?”
“Diamonds,” Johannes answered. “Not cut.”
My focus shifted abruptly and air halted in my lungs.
Someone or something was coming down the path.
8
ETHAN
Not enough time to move,but I wasn’t going to get ambushed either. I drew my weapon, the blood racing in my ears. If I had to put a bullet in someone right now, this would fuck everything up.
Lit only by the moonlight, I saw Olivia first, then the security guard who walked beside her. And she noticed me before the guard did. Or perhaps she noticed the gun I had fixed on her.
