Chapter 10

"Dove." Amani stood and greeted me with a smile. "Always beautiful."

The man looked out of place in his suit. Though, with how well he dressed, his freshly shaven face, his close-cropped dark hair, every time I'd met with him he'd looked like he didn't belong. Not in a swanky hotel lobby and certainly not in this dinky little house with crap furnishings.

"Mr. Carver," I returned with one of the professional smiles I'd mastered. "Thank you for meeting with me. I'm sorry for the inconvenience."

"I believe I have inconvenienced you a time or two," he said looking over my shoulder. "Shall we sit?"

I glanced at the rickety chairs and wondered if they were sturdy enough to hold up under the weight of the hulking men in the room. Although I knew from experience Amani's three bodyguards wouldn't sit; they'd strategically position themselves around the room.

"Let me introduce—"

"Easton Spears and Smith Everette," Amani interrupted. "Yes, Mr. Lewis warned me they'd be joining us."

I wasn't sure if that was good or bad. What I did know was I was extremely annoyed Zane had made the call without informing me. Not that I wanted a phone call from Zane.

Amani skirted around a beat-up, splintering wooden table that once upon a time might've been a decent coffee table but now looked like its best use would be for firewood. He sat in an equally tattered chair minus the splinters.

Once I was seated, Easton standing behind me to my right, Smith the same but to my left, Amani launched straight in. "It seems you have a problem."

Boy did I.

One of those problems was Easton's hand resting on my shoulder.

My second, bigger problem was I didn't know how much Zane had shared with Amani, which meant I was unprepared, something that never happened. I always knew the state of play before I entered a meeting. I always knew who the players were, their motives, and had already worked out several possible outcomes.

This time, I was flying blind.

Before I could respond, Easton did. "Have you looked over the files Zane sent over?"

Files?

Zane sent files.

The vastness of my irritation grew to extreme anger.

Amani pinned me with a sharp look that made me uncomfortable. "I wasn't unaware Maddon Judd was playing both sides."

Well, fuck a duck.

Amani went on, "I'm not unfamiliar with people underestimating me. Actually, I prefer it. That is precisely how and why I remain as successful as I am."

He wasn't wrong about that. I picked up on that easily during our first negotiations. Amani sat quietly throughout the meeting and allowed the other party to speak to him as if he were some uneducated desert nomad. When in reality he went to the best schools in Egypt before he finished his secondary schooling in London then went on to study at Harvard. I pushed aside thoughts of his successful business dealings because they weren't something to be proud of or something I condoned. But my job wasn't to judge or stop the criminal activity. It was simply to keep it contained. Right or wrong, Amani Carver was a reasonable man.

"The problem, Dove, is not me. It's you."

"Me?"

"Yes, you."

I felt Easton's hand on my shoulder tense.

"Care to elaborate?"

Amani's gaze shifted to Easton when he answered.

"I'd like to understand why Mr. Lewis has entered the game," Amani demanded, though his easy posture suggested it was a request when in reality it was anything but.

"That's not up for discussion," Easton bit out.

Amani's eyes dropped back to me. A brow rose and his fingers drummed on the cracked wood of the chair arm.

"Maddon needs chaos," I rejoined. "He sent me to Zane to offer him assurances Bridget Keller was in no danger. As a show of good faith, I was to give Zane the news the sale of the drone plans had gone through and you were in possession of the prototypes and had a team of engineers working through the glitches."

"Dirty work," Amani muttered.

"Yes. Maddon has GB team at the ready to take you out if Zane didn't bite."

Amani didn't flinch at the news. Neither that Maddon had a team of highly trained CIA trigger pullers at the ready to kill him, nor that I was sent to enlist Zane to take him out.

Such was the life of a man who was essentially a terrorist.

"This meeting is what?" he prompted.

"A warning," I went on. "You are the last person alive who can connect Peter Brady as Maddon Judd. The rest of the men he had face-to-face meetings with have been taken out."

At that Amani cracked a smile.

"For a man as arrogant and prideful as Maddon is, it is ridiculous he uses a name from a poorly written television show."

It was ridiculous, but if you knew Maddon the way I did, the absurdity made sense. He believed he was clever. He liked knowing he could run powerful men using a name that was associated with the not-so-smart middle-child.

"Undervaluing Maddon's reach would be a miscalculation, Mr. Carver. He's becoming impatient. He has other plans he wants to set in motion but cannot until he ties up the loose ends and you are the last of those tethers he needs to dissolve. As you're aware, desperate men are unpredictable. Impulsive and arrogant is a dangerous combination."

Amani relaxed in his chair.

He also didn't shift his stare even though I knew he was addressing Easton.

"You'll keep Dove safe?"

Easton's fingertips curled tighter and dug into my shoulder.

"Yes."

Three letters strung into one word that he vowed through gritted teeth.

I don't know why my belly did a strange flip-flop and my chest grew warm. I'd never had anyone make an oath such as Easton had. And make no mistake; that one word in that tone was a promise. I shouldn't have felt the flip-flop or the warmth, but I did, and try as I might not to acknowledge it I could not. It was there. I felt it, along with his strong hand anchoring me, claiming me in front of a man whom he'd viewed as a threat to my safety.

Interesting.

No, not interesting, alarming.

I couldn't allow myself to get involved with Easton or any man.

My life was not mine.

Plus it was dangerous.

There would never be a time when I would be free to be loved.

Not that I knew what that meant exactly.

Amani nodded and held my eyes.

"Word is Maddon has put out a bounty on you."

That warmth in my chest turned frosty.

"You and your father," he went on.

I wished I could say I was surprised but I wasn't. However, I didn't anticipate Maddon going to the extreme of a bounty this soon. This wasn't good. This meant he'd cottoned on to my plan earlier than I'd thought. He'd need time to plan, time to get the right people in place, time to whisper in the right people's ears I had defected. It wouldn't do for him to put a hit out on the Mediator without reason. I was well liked and trusted. I had been for years. A bounty out of the blue would draw suspicion. And Charlie, his best friend? That widely known relationship would be even more dubious.

"Thank you for that information."

Amani dipped his chin.

"Do you have anything else for me?" he asked.

"He'll hit you from the inside. He doesn't like to get his hands dirty. He knows you're untouchable so he'll find your weak link and set the trap to find himself a rat. My advice is to close ranks to only your most trusted men." I paused and drew in a breath knowing this last piece of information was going to anger a man I had no interest in angering. "The sparrow prototype has a tracking device embedded in the software. Tracking and listening."

A ruddy color tinged Amani's face.

Yup.

Angry.

"CIA?"

"No. Maddon."

Amani nodded. "Out of respect you have one week to handle this situation. After that, I will step in and take care of our problem."

I knew there was no use in arguing.

"That's—"

"That's appreciated," I cut Easton off. "I'll be in touch. Until then, stay safe."

Amani stood.

I followed suit and extended my hand. Amani's eyes dropped to my offering and he frowned. I knew why, I'd never shaken the man's hand before. I never touched him in any way. The truth was, I didn't offer any external signs of respect when I was mediating a situation.

I was neutral.

Switzerland.

Amani finally accepted my hand and squeezed.

"Please be careful, Dove. There are some who would be all too happy to have you taken out. Without you in play, Dutch and his team would have to rebuild. The chaos that would ensue could mean the end of Black."

Good Goddamn it.

I needed Amani to stop talking. He was dangerously close to saying too much.

Not that he knew Zane was behind the Black Team. The face of the team was Dutch, always had been. But Easton and Smith would have questions.

Ones I was never going to answer.