This time, the mob boss herself sat at her desk, her long legs crossed under the icy glass edifice as she watched them approach.
Tristan King and Micah Shine stood behind her, hands held in front of them at ease.
Logan Bell stood beside them, also at ease, but his eyes were unflinchingly cold as green sea ice.
Twist blinked as he looked down from the pedestal at Blaze and Sarah, a flicker of nerves.
Micah was absolutely unaffected, as blank as the white-decorated room.
He might have sold them out.Fifty-fifty chance.
Or maybe Twist’s twitches were guilt.
Fifty-fifty chance.
Black-clad mercenaries, new ones, lined up behind them, silhouetted against the bright skyscraper glass like the stiles of a razor-wire fence at sunset.
Blaze and Sarah reached the end of the trek through the office.
This time, no chairs were placed before Bell’s desk.
The New Guy mercenary laid a heavy hand on Blaze’s shoulder, forcing him to his knees.
Skull Trim did the same to Sarah, and Blaze breathed evenly through his nose lest the frustration roaring through him escape.
Mary Varvara Bell regarded them with icy-pale eyes and ordered him, “Report on the status of our weapons acquisitions.”
“Yes, Dr. Bell.” Blaze mimicked what Logan and the other guys had been calling their boss. “The liquidation of my assets is proceeding according to plan now that Tristan King has reinstated them to my accounts. I have the previous list you provided. Are there any other items you’d like to add before I start final purchase agreements?”
Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Sarah’s face crumple, and she hung her head and stared at the floor.
“No. I was complete the first time. Timeline?” Mary Varvara Bell asked, picking up a pen and glancing at a notepad on her desk.
“Deliveries should begin next week after the Fourth of July weekend. Some items must be shipped from overseas, especially the heavier munitions, and will take months to arrive.”
Blaze wasn’t lying. His backup plan was to give her the weapons, secure Sarah’s safety, and let Bell kill him.
He’d had a good run. He’d done all he could to improve matters.
It was time to join his brothers-in-arms.
Bell’s swift glance was piercing. “How many months will shipping take?”
“Four, most likely. They’ll definitely arrive before Christmas.”
“You’resureit will bebeforeChristmas?”
“Yes, ma’am. If shipping goes as expected, they’ll arrive before the end of November. If there are any delays, they will arrive in December but before Christmas.”
“That will be acceptable.” Her voice remained deceptively amiable. “You realize that Sarah Bell will pay the price if they don’t arrive.”
“I understand, and I have ensured thateverythingyou wanted will arrive on time.”
“Excellent. In that case—” She lifted her head and began a hand gesture to someone behind them.
“Those are a lot of weapons you ordered,” Blaze said. “Enough to take over a small country.”
Her amused look back at him confirmed what Sarah had overheard. “You don’t have to go to war with a country to conquer it.”
