I subtly shook my head, clearing the nagging thought. I needed to focus.
Once in the car, Amir drove us to the same warehouse where Jacqueline’s entourage had been eliminated. Two men followed in the car behind and there’d be two more waiting for us there.
When we arrived, we were met with the head of Black Oil, Baron Madoc, and his three brothers. Only a year separated each of them in age, and yet the four moved through the world as if they were a singleentity—inseparable and dangerous. That fact alone made this meeting a reckless gamble. If this was a setup, it wouldn’t just be a hit; it would be the erasure of the entire clan in one stroke.
Looking at them now, you’d never guess they were oil moguls who thought nothing of stepping over the law when it suited them. Power clung to them in subtler ways. In their stillness. In the way their gazes weighed a room.
Rumor had it they cycled through women like they were competing in an Olympic sport, though I couldn’t see the appeal. Maybe it was the confidence, or the danger threaded beneath their casual smirks.
They wore jeans and plain white T-shirts. Cowboy hats shaded their eyes, and their scuffed and well-worn boots called to attention their Texan roots.
The charged and restless silence between us hummed. One wrong word, one wrong move, and it would snap.
“Kian,” Baron said at last. As the eldest, his voice carried the most authority. “I was surprised when you demanded a meeting on Albanian soil.”
“Take it as a gesture of goodwill.” I let a thin smile curve my mouth. “Besides, you were practically in my backyard.”
His brow lifted beneath the brim of his hat, skepticism sharpening his gaze.
“Have you been following us?”
“Yes.”
“And what of this goodwill you speak of, Kian?” Baron retorted wryly.
“Oh, it’s there.”
“Meaning?”
“Meaning I had my men watch your backs while we hunted your cousin down.” I put my hands in the pockets of my suit, studying him. He didn’t seem overly upset, so it might be best to cut to the chase. “I’m willing to offer you something in return for Jacqueline.”
Their shoulders stiffened.
“You have her location?” Baron asked.
“I don’t yet, but I will.”
“So you expect us to find her and deliver her to you?” he questioned, eyeing me suspiciously.
“If you know where she is, I want her location. I can get her myself.”
“And you’ll kill her?” his youngest brother questioned.
“I will. She hurt a young, innocent woman by snatching her off the street and trying to traffic her. Not to mention she put a gun tomywoman’s head.”
It didn’t matter that it happened before I met Sophie. The bottom line was that Jacqueline would pay for her sins, and nothing but her death would be satisfactory.
“What does that have to do with us?” Baron demanded.
“You have her on a do-not-kill list.”
“And?”
“That’s not an option,” I drawled. “Jacqueline’s a dead woman. It’s only a matter of time.”
The four shared a fleeting glance, then a barely noticeable nod.
“And what do we get in return?” Baron asked slowly.
