“Where the hell do you get off drugging me? Are you fucking insane?”
“You were scared, exhausted, and in pain. I knew you needed rest and I knew you wouldn’t be able to get it on your own, so yes, I had a sedative placed in your water.”
“That’s so fucking creepy!”
“But don’t you feel much better?”
“That’s not the point.”
“Rested?” I lift my eyes from my phone to her. “And the pain in your ribs is less because the morphine cream got to work. I’m right, aren’t I?”
“That—” She cuts herself off and seems to be evaluating how she feels, then she straightens up and glares at me. “That’s so not the point.”
I mask my proud smirk. “I understand it may be strange, but I did it because it was best for you.”
“You don’t know shit about what’s best for me.”
“On the contrary, your improved energy levels and lack of intense pain prove otherwise.”
Her mouth opens and closes for a few seconds, then she crosses her arms over her chest. “That doesn’t make it okay to drug people.”
“You’re right. I apologize.”
“I… well, good.” She deflates somewhat and stands there looking much brighter and healthier than she did last night.
“Sit.”
A simple, gentle word brings her to the nearest chair and she slumps down in the seat, stifling a yawn now that her anger has subsided enough to make her tired again.
“Zira, I’ll make this as clear as I can. The situation you are in is complicated. As I said last night, you stole from very dangerous people.”
A shadow moves across her face and her fingers curl hard into her arms as they remain crossed over her chest. “I know.”
“It gives me two choices.”
“Which are?” Zira meets my eye and then tucks some of her black hair behind her ear.
“You stole from an Irish family. That family is the one who requested my help in investigating what was happening at their chain.”
“What are you, the Mafia police?”
I bite back a smile. “Not quite. Now my two choices, while drastic, are fairly clear-cut.”
She shifts in her seat but doesn’t speak.
“Either I hand you over to them, in which case they will torture you until you give up the location of the rest of the diamonds and in the event that you truly don’t know, they will torture you and kill you to make an example out of you to anyone else who dares to steal from them.”
All color immediately washes out of Zira’s face, including her lips that part as she stares at me. “A-And the other option?”
“You work with me to recover the rest of the missing diamonds and return them to the Irish, thus saving your life.”
“Hardly seems like a choice,” she replies hoarsely, and her fingers once again curl tightly into her arms. “What… what will you choose?”
“That depends on you,” I reply softly. “And whether you are willing to work with me.”
Zira’s gaze falls to the table, and she studies the sloping grains and swirls in the wood for a few long seconds before she speaks. When she comes to a decision, her brows twitch and she slowly lifts her head.
“Will working with you get my brother back?”
