Page 54 of Warlord’s Empire

“Not on purpose,” Ayaan assured Shaun when she looked offended, “but you are very beautiful and you have this way of looking at men that makes them melt.”

“Even Havel has a soft spot for you, and he doesn’t have a soft spot for anyone,” Leeza chimed in.

“You’re telling me your husband has a soft spot for me?” Shaun asked skeptically. “That’s absurd.”

Leeza accepted a piece of chicken jerky from Ayaan. “It’s not. You have those big eyes with thick eyelashes. You’re smarter than all of us combined, except for Saskia.” Her voice faltered as she thought about her missing sister. “But you also have this helplessness about you that attracts the warrior in these men. If Jozef hadn’t claimed you when he did, I’m sure it would’ve been someone else in the organization.”

Shaun’s mouth opened but nothing came out.

Leeza pitied her. She was a professional woman who worked at the top of her field. She was well respected and used to being in control of herself and her surroundings. She hated being reminded that she’d been kidnapped by the mafia.

Shaun’s gaping mouth closed firmly, her lips pressing into an unimpressed line. Finally, her gaze swung to Jacob, who was now snoring. “Even if that’s true, what am I supposed to do about him?”

“Not much,” Leeza assured her. “Just be yourself. He’s already starting to think about you that way.”

“How do you know?” Shaun looked like she wanted to vomit at the idea now that she knew what kind of person their guide was.

“His eyes linger on you more than us,” Ayaan piped in. “He places himself either right behind you or next to you. He offered to carry your bag this morning.”

“I’m going to be sick.”

Leeza gave Shaun’s shoulder a quick squeeze. “You’re going to remember that you are as much mafia as the rest of us. You’re the one who pulled strings and got us into the Central African Republic so quickly. Now you’re going to buck up and take this hit for the team. Make this guy think he’s got the upper hand with the three of us, then when we’re done with him, we’ll relieve you of your burden.”

Ayaan laughed, taking a gulp from her water bottle.

“I don’t even want to know what that means,” Shaun muttered.

“You know what it means,” Ayaan said. “That’s why you’re going to do it. There’s an end in sight.”

“Just… don’t let him suffer, okay?”

Leeza suppressed a grin. A few years ago, Shaun would’ve been disgusted and horrified at the idea that they would kill someone. Now she was reluctantly on board with it as long as they didn’t let the victim suffer. She truly was a mafia wife now.

“Imagine if Jozef got hold of him,” Ayaan pointed out.

A collective shudder went through them as they imagined Jozef’s wrath, made so much worse if he found out the guide had developed a crush on his wife.

They went to bed after their discussion, though none of them slept much. Leeza wasn’t afraid of their guide, but she was alert and watchful. He would strike eventually; they just needed to manipulate him into waiting for the right moment.

It came four days later, after they’d made their way upriver by boat and then on foot through dense rainforest, stopping in several villages along the way to mine for information. They didn’t know exactly where to find Radik, so they were forced to do some backtracking using the information gleaned by locals.

They had stopped once again to reorient themselves. Ayaan was standing on a ridge above the others, talking on a satellite phone and looking around. She pointed at a mountain while she talked and Leeza thought she was discussing the terrain with someone who had the ability to fly a satellite over.

Jacob was watching Ayaan suspiciously. “Who’s she talking to?”

“Why do you need to know?” countered Leeza.

His hand went to the semi-automatic slung across his chest. “You could be leading me into an ambush.”

Idiot, Leeza thought, rolling her eyes. “Aren’t you supposed to be guiding us? Why would we lead you into an ambush?”

He eyed her with disgust and Leeza’s fingers twitched with the desire to take him down and cut his throat. The two had hated each other from the start. He despised Leeza’s lack of fear or respect for his leadership and Leeza hated men who chose to wield power over the helpless.

“I think you lied to me about why you wanted to come out here,” snapped Jacob, his finger finding the trigger on his gun. “You’re tricking me.”

Leeza dropped her backpack, pretending to stretch so as not to alarm him. She suspected this was the moment they’d been waiting for and she very much hoped whoever was on the other end of the phone with Ayaan would be able to take them the rest of the way to Radik because they were about to become guideless.

“Don’t be stupid,” Leeza taunted. “We told you, we’re out here looking for Ayaan’s brother and my sister. Why would we lie?” She inched her hand up her back, sliding it under her shirt, gripping the hunting knife she kept sheathed there. Nodding towards a stream, she said to Shaun, “Why don’t you go fill up our water bottles.”