I lift my chin. “I can do it again if you want a matching set.”
Vas chokes on a genuine laugh, unable to repress it in time. Matthias shoots him a killing look that would have turned lesser men to ash on the spot.
I don’t look away. If I blink, even once, he’ll take that as an opening to bulldoze right through this entire meeting. I’m not the meek woman he forced to marry him. That woman is gone and has been since the accident.
Liam clears his throat again. “Shall me move to business?”
Matthias leans back. “By all means. Tell me what your daughter believes she has that is worth my time.”
My skin prickles.Your daughter.Not Ava. Not my wife. Not even Ward. He’s done the one thing he knew would get under my skin. Referred to me as Liam’s property instead of giving me the independence he knows I’ve always craved.
To his credit, Liam’s jaw tenses at the phrasing, but before he can speak, I cut in.
“Actually, this ismymeeting, so I will be the one telling you what is so important,” I say, folding my hands on the table. I don’t raise my voice. There is no need to. The command in my voice threads through it. “You are here because of me. Not him.”
His eyes slide to mine, boredom painted across them. “Am I?
“You’re here,” I say simply.
For a split second, something flickers behind his expression. But he smothers it as fast as it appears. Finally, he huffs and says, “Fine. Speak.”
Oh, he’s in a mood. A king granting audience. Lovely.
I pull one of the folders toward me and flip it open. “Christian has two containers moving on Wednesday. Ammunition and modified weapons. Courtesy of whoever was backing Elias and isnow puppeteering Christian. Somehow, Archer is also involved in all this, I just can’t figure out what he is getting out of it.”
His jaw tightens at the agent’s name. Good.
“Mark hacked the port camera,” I continue, gesturing toward Mark’s laptop. “We traced the truck manifests. Christian’s been routing his shipments through warehouses not flagged under Ward accounts. Which means his supplier has money and infrastructure independent of anything the DEA froze.”
“You’re assuming a lot,” Matthias replies, uninterested. “You don’t know who his supplier is. Or why Christian trusts them.”
“I know enough to know they are not small-time,” I counter. “And I know Elias didn’t have the reach to pull this off alone. Someone with muscled stepped in long before either of us realized it.”
His gaze hardens like a door slamming shut. “How do I know you are telling the truth and not backing me and my men into a corner?”
“You think everyone is conspiring around you.” I scowl at him.
“You think no one ever is,” he shoots back. “And that is why you never see betrayal until it is choking you.”
Vas subtly drags a hand down his mouth and shakes his head.
Matthias ignores him.
Liam interjects. “We want to coordinate efforts. Hit the convoy, grab the driver alive, squeeze intel out of him, and commandeer the weapons. But we need numbers. Firepower. Manpower. Timing.”
“And I assume this is where I’m expected to step in.” Matthias rests his elbows on the table, fingers steepled. “Yet you have not told me why I should trust anything she says.”
Liam stiffens at the implications. “Ava hasn’t lied?—”
“She lied the moment she stepped into my home.” Matthias’s voice is sharp, ice-crusted steel. “She lied by omission. She lied by cooperating with that fucking FBI agent.”
I slam my hand down on the table so heard the beer glasses jump.
“Enough.”
Vas goes still. Nikolai’s hand drops to his jacket. Would he honestly shoot me?
Matthias lifts a single brow, expression daring me to try him. My heart races but I force myself not to look away.
