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“Sadist,” I said under my breath.
Ashley tilted her chin, her dreads swishing. “I heard that.”
I thought I’d said it under my breath.
I struggled to hold form, silently cursing her—but this time I made sure I actually kept silent. I made it for another full minute and collapsed against the mat, my arms shaking, my legs jelly. My heart thudded in my chest, a fact I kept to myself.
“Wes?” Ashley actually sounded a little worried. “Are you okay?”
“Oh, I’m great. I can barely do a plank without feeling like I’m going to die, but really, I’ve never been better.”
“Good.”
Now she sounded like her smug, punishing self.
“I’m pretty sure I don’t like you,” I said.
“I get that a lot.” She came over and smiled down at me, offering her hand. “How about we make a deal? One year from now, you’re running a half marathon with me—and by the way, I hate running. It’s sooo boring. But I’ll do it for you so we both have something to work toward.”
“Half marathons are for weenies,” I croaked, knowing this would piss her off. “If you want to talk about running a full, I’m in. Because I’m no weenie.”
“Fine. But sit up. It’s time for leg raises.”
“Are you trying to kill me?”
She shrugged. “If you ever call me a weenie again, I just might.”
Chapter 9
Hannah
“Isn’t there any legal way to proceed against her?” I asked Levi soon after the meeting started.
Levi sighed and rubbed his eyes, which were bloodshot from his overnight flight, as we all waited for an answer. Ten of Betts Security’s top agents crowded the living room, along with myself, Wes, Ash, Gabe, and Lauren. Timmy, Lauren’s longtime personal security guard, and Gabe’s and Lauren’s attorneys, Kami Robards and Bethany O’Donnell, were also present.
“Yeah, there’s a legal way,” Levi said. His carefully pressed pink button-down shirt strained against his powerful chest, a striking juxtaposition of expensive Italian style and unadulterated, Boston-homegrown-street-fighting brawn. “We could get her prosecuted here in California in federal court, and we can ask for her extradition. But do I think that the Chinese government’s going to cooperate with that? No, I do not. Even if they did, Li Na would know far enough in advance that she could go into hiding. The other issue is that even if we managed to get her into an American court, the evidence against her is strictly tangential.”
Kami, immaculate in a navy suit, raised her hand. “I would think there’s enough circumstantial evidence at this point to get a conviction.”
Bethany shook her head, shoulder-length blonde hair swaying. “I don’t know.” She frowned. “Reasonable doubt is a tough standard. We would need at least one strong connection, one solid piece of evidence tying Li Na to the men she’s hired over here to commit the crimes. I’m guessing it’s not going to be easy to locate corroborating evidence—she’s shown over and over again that she covers her tracks. So even if we get her extradited and indicted, which sounds like a long shot, we might not be able to make charges stick.”
Levi watched Bethany with interest, finally tearing his gaze away to address the rest of us. “Right. Attorney O’Donnell is correct, and I don’t think we can look for an extradition and a court proceeding as Plan A. I wish it were different, but that’s not the world we’re living in.”
“What about a private strike against her?” Wesley asked. “Is your firm equipped to handle a mission like that?”
“We’re equipped for all sorts of things, but Lauren and Gabe have made it clear in the past that they don’t want to physically harm Li Na. They don’t want blood on their hands, and I support that.”
“What other options do we have?” I asked, near outrage. Li Na can’t get away with murdering my friend’s husband! After everything she’s done—killing Clive Warren, terrorizing my sister, what she did to me, Wesley, and now Jim Pace—she needs to pay. My blood boiled at the injustice. Now I felt like the Hulk, abou
t to burst.
“Not many.” Levi shrugged. “Right now, our focus needs to stay on security. Security at home, security at Paragon and Dynamica, and security for Fiona Pace and her family.”
I clenched my hands into fists, frustration rolling through me. “I don’t…I don’t want to just focus on defense. We need to go after her. She can’t just keep getting away with what she’s doing. She’s a criminal. She’s a corporate terrorist. We need justice, not babysitting!”
“Hannah,” Lauren said in a low tone.
“No, she’s right.” Levi scrubbed a hand across his face. “But we still need to start with security. I’m imposing a curfew, and I need a daily agenda from each of you—Hannah, Lauren, Gabe, Wesley, Kami, and Bethany. I need to know where you are every second of every day, and who you’re with. We’ll be screening any unknowns, so you need to be prepared for that.”
