He entered the room and let his mere existence do the introduction.
Ex walked in behind him, going toward the French doors that opened onto a balcony and checked each corner.
The woman filming gaped at him before she asked shakily, “Who’s that?”
Graham opened his eyes. When he saw Meridian, he didn’t answer her question—fear always stole the first words.
“Out,” Ex gritted at the women. “Drop the phone and leave. Do not turn around.”
The tone his partner used conveyed they should either obey or forfeit any chance of making it out of there alive.
The phone hit the rug. The women didn’t bother to search for their clothes. They wrapped their arms around their privates as they took wary steps toward the door.
Meridian stepped aside and allowed them to pass.
Graham swung his legs over the side of the bed and found Ex already in front of him. He pressed the barrel of his Glock in the center of his sternum and guided him back down.
“Stay there,” he ordered.
He stayed.
Meridian cut off the music.
“Do you know who we are?” he asked in a low voice.
Graham’s breath stuttered. “I’ve, um…I’ve heard…stories.”
“Of course you have,” he said, glaring. “Then you must’ve also heard that I don’t enjoy repeating myself or being fucked with.”
He glanced past him, noting the alarm panel on the headboard, the 9mm on top of the nightstand that Graham had glanced toward twice already.
“Don’t,” Meridian said calmly.
He didn’t.
Ex moved around the room, hood low, searching for anything usable, before he stopped in front of the safe concealed behind a painting and took a few pictures to send to their intelligence officer.
Meridian sat on the arm of the chaise, close enough so Graham could feel how near he was to danger.
He clasped Whisper’s onyx handle and unsheathed her the way a viper would reveal its fangs.
He let the blade rest flat against Graham’s naked thigh, the tip terrifyingly close to his flaccid cock. Meridian felt a tremor run through the muscle and radiate up the steel into his palm.
His mark’s eyes blew wide. “Wh—what do you want?”
“Everything,” Meridian said. “But we’ll start small.”
“What was your affiliation with the Ravens organization?”
Graham swallowed. “I was only an investor. I didn’t do anything, I swear it. I was never allowed inside.”
That was a lie. Footage recovered before the servers were destroyed showed Graham having multiple meetings with other investors and the former director inside the headquarters.
Meridian slid his dagger up an inch, making Graham’s breath hitch.
He leaned in, his voice so low and calm it almost sounded kind.
“If you lie to me again, I’ll make sure the last thing you experience is your brain trying to remember how to scream.”
