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I told him what I needed.
As I staredat the ten men in the living room, I quickly calculated money. Michael had told me what this was going to cost.The men. The time. The guns. The plane.I had it, thanks to Muffy. She hadn’t known she was giving me the money to bring her child back from a life worse than death in a foreign country, but that was what she had done.
Because of her complete mismanagement of money.
I’d spoken to her mother and told her my plans. She agreed I should do as I planned with Muffy’s money, even emailed me a signed and notarized document giving me permission to do so as Muffy’s living relative and guardian of the child who was missing.
I hadn’t thought about needing that, but she had.
Ten men. Michael looked different than I was used to seeing him. Only when he’d plotted to get Layla back had I seen him so completely focused. With him, he brought a medic, Mitch, and the snipers Jefferson and Clayton. His fighters had other roles, but that’s how I thought of them. I couldn’t quite remember their names yet.
It was Clayton who looked up from the plans and spoke. “This is a child. He’ll be terrified. That adds an element to this I don’t like.”
“How do you imagine countering any possible problems that arise from his age? Intel tells us he’s here.” Michael pointed at the document in front of him. “We grab him, and we go.”
“Ever grabbed a kid, boss?” Jefferson chewed gum thoughtfully. He blew a bubble, then sucked it back into his mouth before continuing. “Not so easy. They’re small and squirmy.”
Michael sighed. “Are you saying you want out?”
“No.” Clayton sighed. “I want in, but I think we need to bring someone that the kid knows. Make a huge difference in possible outcomes, I think.”
All the eyes in the room turned to me. Michael shook his head. “Absolutely not.”
“If she were anyone else, would you say no?” Mitch questioned. “I know you’ve known them a long time, but she hired us. Maybe she wants to help? We can keep her safe. It’ll make a big difference with the kid.”
Michael had been born in Hong Kong, but he’d moved to the US when he was three. His father was American, and his mother had been a Chinese citizen until she’d become an American citizen some years ago. That was about all I knew of his background. Right then, he looked less like a serious security officer and more like an absolute warrior.
“You’re right—I’ve known her since she was sixteen, and I won’t put her life at risk.”
I shook where I stood. God, I was such a coward, because I absolutely didn’t want to go. Terrible, but it was true. I didn’t want to go to that country and have what happened to Muffy happen to me. I wanted to pay these brave men to do it for me.
“Out of my way, Luke,” Max said, storming into the room. He had a bag under his arm and a bottle of wine. He stopped short as he took in the room. His gaze found mine at last, holding me in its intensity. “What the fuck is going on?”
“L.T.” Clayton jumped to his feet. “It’s you. Look, Mitch, it’s Max.”
Max pulled his gaze from mine to the other two men, who were suddenly in front of him, embracing him tightly.
“Hope,” Michael said, catching my attention. “Who the fuck is this?”
“He’s my friend,” I supplied. How else was I to explain my strange connection to Max?
Luke cleared his throat. “Sometimes they spend the night together, boss.”
My cheeks heated up. That was really not anyone else’s fucking business.
“I’m supposed to be told if those things develop.”
I held up my hand. “He’s my friend.” I couldn’t stress the point enough.
“We served together for a long time.” Clayton seemed downright joyful. “The L.T. is good people. Tough. And we didthat other shit together too, until he lost his taste for it. Some bigtime chef now.”
“Hope?” Max ignored Mitch to speak just to me. “What the fuck is going on?”
I sighed, exhaustion hitting me like a ton of bricks. I needed a vacation. “Muffy and her husband were killed. Tim is a prisoner of some very bad people. I’m getting him back.”
There, I explained it.
“What?” He set down what he was carrying and walked over to me. “When did this happen?”
