Page 38 of Harper’s Renegades

“Fuck off, Mag,” Ghost spat back. “I don’t like this plan of yours, and if we can send her in with something that might keep her alive, we should.”

“No. We. Can’t,” Magnus bellowed. “If they find her with a gun, she’s dead, no questions, just dead. Then that leaves us killing all of them in broad daylight, so the rest of the family knows just who to come after. We would have lost the woman we love and be on the run forever. It’s not worth it.”

Ghost looked like he wanted to argue, but Jaxson placed a hand on his shoulder. “Calm it down, you two.” Then he looked over at me. “Go get ready, gorgeous, while we talk about this.”

Not wanting to cause another blowup, I left to get ready.

“You’re not wearing that,” Ghost announced when I joined them in the living room twenty minutes later.

I looked down at my outfit, confused. I had a flowy cream wrap-around skirt with ruffles on the edge and a soft pink T-shirt that fit snuggly. “What’s wrong?”

“You look good enough to eat, and there will be lots of men at this meeting who I don’t want looking at what’s mine,” he grumbled as he pulled me onto his lap to kiss me.

I nuzzled his nose, finding his reaction endearing. “Then I guess it will be good motivation for you to make extra sure people mind their manners.”

“Tease… I like it.” Ghost grinned, giving me another quick kiss before putting me back on my feet. “All right, let’s get this over with so we can do something fun.”

Leaning against him, I looked up and whispered. “I’m guessing you lost the fight about me going in with a gun?”

“Yeah, but they’re right,” he answered with a sigh. “It would be more trouble, and your safety would be far more at risk.”

Jaxson scooped me up once I reached the Jeep and placed me in the back, hopping in after me. “Ghost got you twice in a row. It’s my turn now.”

“Damn, you guys keep track of everything, don’t you?” I teased, plopping the large sun hat on my head that Ghost handed me.

“With it being the three of us all the time, it’s the only way to keep things fair. Even as kids, it’s how we worked out our issues if we could. Split everything evenly unless there was a reason not to,” Jaxson said, spreading his arms out wide on the back of the seats. “Guess you could say the habit stuck.”

Magnus didn’t say much as we pulled out onto the road. He only looked back at me to double-check I was buckled in, then all but ignored me.

“Don’t take it personally,” Jaxson whispered into my ear. “This is how he gets when we are on a job. Right now, to him, keeping you safe during this meeting is the most important job he’s ever done.”

I nodded, knowing there wasn’t much I could say on the matter or change what was going to happen. When they told me we would be meeting at a coffee shop, I assumed it would be in the same town we’d gone to last night, but we took a different route and ended up in a bigger, much more populated city. I could easily pick out the tourists wandering the streets dressed for a day at the beach. Many of the signs were in more than one language so you could find your way.

Jean-Claude had revealed I was in Bali with them, but I hadn’t really contemplated what that meant for us now. I’m sure it’s something they will discuss with me after this is all over. Magnus had to drive at a snail’s pace with so many people darting across the streets, disregarding any form of right of way or crossing at a light. Finally, we pulled into a parking lot in the center of a shopping area.

Shops boasting the best souvenirs littered the space and made me curious to see what they were selling.

“Come on, angel, maybe we can talk grumpy pants into letting us do some shopping while we’re here,” Ghost suggested as he took my hand.

Magnus led the way while Jaxson took up the rear. In a way, I felt like I was with my bodyguards instead of the guys I was kind of dating. The reality of what I was about to do started to creep up on me, and sweat broke out on my forehead. I was going to sit across from a man who’d just lost his son for touching me. How could he not be furious at the loss?

We walked up to a cute-looking building that reminded me of a tiki beach hut, only much larger. There was seating inside and out back on a large patio covered by fabric tied between palm trees, giving it an almost shipwrecked feel.

Jaxson ran a hand down my back as he passed to walk up to the register. “Shouldn’t we go with him?”

“Trust us, angel, we’ve done meetings like this a million times. The only thing that’s different is having something we can’t risk losing being here with us,” Ghost explained in a low voice. “The drinks are for show, but no one will drink them. Too much risk of them being tampered with. It’s so we give the right illusion to everyone else around us.”

“What if I want a drink?” I shot back, my insecurity at this whole thing making me cranky.

Ghost looked down at me with a bemused look and squeezed my hand. “When this is over, we’ll get you whatever you like… from a different coffee shop.”

I blew out a frustrated breath, moving a strand of hair off my face. “I’m gonna hold you to that. I might even demand ice cream for the emotional stress I’ve been put through.”

“You know you’re getting far better at this negotiation thing,” Ghost teased. “Soon, we’ll be having you make all our deals instead of Magnus.”

“I’ll have you know I’m a master at bartering and brokering a deal. It’s something I had to learn fast when dealing with the fashion world. Everything is about what you can offer and what they can offer you in return,” I shared, trying to keep my mind off the fact we were now following Magnus out onto the back patio.

“Then I suggest you apply that to this situation. We are having a meeting incredibly similar to your experience,” Ghost pointed out. “We want something, and so does he. We just haven’t figured out what his real ask is yet.”