He wrote,Need help to secure the weapons.
Sarah held out her hands, flapping them to signify,Give me the goldarned paper, you lug.
Blaze held out the notepad and pen.
She wrote,No, youcan’t.She’ll know you talked to them! She spp said Rogue S!
Blaze shrugged and took the paper pad back.I need them to make contacts for weapons purchase. Theycan’tcome. Op in Europe.
She snatched the stupid paper out of his hand.Youcan’t. When I was on the plane…
He grabbed the paper away from her.
“What are you doing?”she said and covered her mouth with both hands.
Blaze grabbed both her phone and his from his pocket and stuffed them under a pillow, mashing it down before striding over and taking her hand to drag her into the bathroom. He cranked the shower to its max before wrapping his arms around her.
Leaning against his chest, safety surrounded her, and just for a second, the screams resounding in her skull faded away.
She whispered, “Does the shower thing really work?”
“Somewhat, at least. Don’t say anything important,” he whispered from above her ear.
Dagnabbit,that meant she couldn’t tell him about the coup problem.
Heneededtoknow.
Thegovernmentneeded to know.
Blaze said, “You’ll be safe back on your farm. I’ll give Bell the weapons she wants, and then she’ll leave you alone.”
“Youcan’t.There’s areason.They can’t have those weapons. The guys on the plane said—”
He covered her mouth with his hand and slouched, resting his chin on her head.“No.The shower isn’t enough. If I deliver the weapons to her, she won’t have any reason to go after you. You’ll be free to live your life.”
“After she has the weapons from you, she won’t need you anymore.”
“Yes,” he sighed.
“My dude, I have read enough dark mafia romance online to know what will happen to you!”
“Yes,” he said, his voice lower. “But you will be free.”
Sarah tightened her arms around his broad chest. “I don’twantto live my life without you.”
“Don’t.This is how it’s going to work. It’s theonlyway it’ll work.”
“You made the deal, that horrible deal with my aunt, thatdevil.She won’t be around forever. We can dosomethingto wait her out.”
“Your grandfather ruled with an iron fist for decades.”
“My dad told us stories about his father. My grandfather, your Mal—Maleff—”
“Malefactor. Like a benefactor, butmallike in malignant.”
“Right.My grandfatheronly survived in the position for so long because peopleowedhim, not because people feared him. Peoplefearher. She doesn’t inspire loyalty or mutual respect. She’ll be gonesoon.Fear and violence never win.”
Blaze chuckled. “The history of the world might beg to differ.”
