“I should have known you were involved in this,” Cambridge bit out.
“We were merely the Uber driver. Your man had already escaped,” Cosmos replied.
“I should be court-martialing his brother and the others, instead of reassigning their asses,” Cambridge said.
Cosmos chuckled. “Technically, they didn’t disobey any orders. You sent them out on a scouting mission?—”
“—and they somehow ended up in the middle of a gunfight with a group of mercs wanted across half the damn planet who were running arms,” Cambridge snapped.
“Looks like everything worked out.”
“Yeah, it’s just strange how there are no witnesses to tell how that happened… except for you, Raines. You’re driving along in enemy territory in the middle of a Goddamn desert and come upon a missing soldier,” Cambridge retorted.
Cosmos chuckled again and shrugged. “Strange how things work out sometimes, isn’t it? Have a great day, Colonel.”
Two
New York City
Present Day
Nikos suppressed an irritated sigh as Sherry Contessa’s fingers curled around his necktie, her lips brushed the edge of his jaw. Her perfume clung like a promise—heady, expensive, but not quite enough to distract him from the warning itch crawling between his shoulder blades.
“Nikos, you aresogood at being bad,” she purred, her breath warm against his skin.
“Hold that thought, my dear,” he murmured smoothly.
He gracefully slid out of the semicircular velvet booth before her sister, Sabrina, returned. He adjusted his cuffs with a flick of his fingers, his expression cooling as he stepped away from the booth and into the electric pulse of the exclusive VIP lounge atThe Rocks.
The beat of the music thudded through the floor, steady and primal, designed to intoxicate. Lights stuttered like heat-lightning, dancingover the darkened dance floor below. The bursts highlighted the silhouettes of bodies moving in sync, lost in the rhythm and each other.
Above them, the VIP mezzanine glowed like a golden halo of indulgence—where secrets were whispered over a steady supply of expensive alcohol and decisions that changed fortunes were made between shots of aged whiskey.
The Rockswasn’t just a nightclub. It was an empire of temptation. And Nikos owned a third of it.
He paused when a shadow detached from the glass-paneled railing. Rhys, the upstairs bouncer, loomed toward him—unusually stiff. Nikos narrowed his eyes.
“Sir,” Rhys said, holding out a folded sheath of paper. “Two men at the velvet rope. They say you gave them VIP passes.”
Nikos took the paper with a frown, his gaze shifting toward the entrance of the mezzanine lounge where the dark curtain parted just enough to reveal two figures waiting. He recognized one man immediately—and winced.
Harvey Delaney.
Of course.
No good deed goes unpunished,he thought grimly. It seemed tonight’s entertainment was about to take a sharp turn sideways.
He pasted on a smile and nodded. “I’ll handle it.”
The bass dropped behind him, sending a wave of cheers through the crowd. Nikos slipped past clusters of socialites and trust-fund adrenaline addicts, all dressed in a curated mix of haute couture and feigned apathy. The VIP lounge shimmered like champagne poured over secrets—too expensive to waste, too dangerous to indulge in for long.
“Harvey,” Nikos greeted as he reached thetwo men.
“Mr. Aeto.” Harvey smiled with a flicker of nerves. “Thanks again for the passes. This is my partner, Jim.”
Nikos shook hands automatically, his eyes already skimming beyond them. “Pleasure. And… your sister?” he asked.
Jim tried—and failed—not to laugh. Harvey looked like he’d bitten into a lemon.
