The room I was brought to had no windows, and no other doors besides the one we came in through, but it wasn’t as sterile as the others. A roaring fire in the fireplace joined the overhead chandelier in lighting up the space, and there were a couple of cream couches and leather chairs set up that gave the impression that this was a far cozier meeting than it was.
As we drew closer, the lone figure in the room rose from one of the chairs, tall and dark-skinned, with a powerful set to his shoulders that told me without words he was the man in charge.
My fingers twitched at the savage urge inside, the one that said to hell with the consequences and to take every one of them down. If they thought they had me trapped in a cage, they should think again. All it would take was a spark and I’d burn their world down.
I narrowed my eyes at the man as he turned to face us.And just who are you, motherfucker?
“Dimitri Stavros,” the man said, stepping into the light so I could see his face.
And right there was my second surprise of the night—the big boss, the one orchestrating this whole thing…was Tyrone Kingston? One of my high-profile clients? Or, rather, my mentor’s client. He’d been on my list to contact when I headed to the States, but it seemed he’d grown impatient.
“No shit. And you’re Tyrone Kingston.”
“Indeed.” Tyrone moved closer, his eyes shifting to the others in the room. “You can leave us.”
“Boss?” The one who’d threatened to blow my head off my skull stepped up beside me. “I don’t think?—”
“Isaid, leave us, Lachlan.” Tyrone’s eyes came back to mine. “I don’t think Dimitri here wants any trouble. We’ll be just fine.”
Iffinemeant the second they were out the door I’d have him incapacitated, then yes, we’d be just fucking peachy.
Lachlan looked unconvinced. “He seemed to want plenty of trouble earlier.”
“Is that true?” Tyrone asked, his stare unwavering as he took my measure.
“What do you think? I had two guns pointed at my head.”
“Only because you pulled a weapon on Benoit.”
“And what wouldyouhave done if you found out you were fucking a traitor?”
“The same thing.”
“Yet you sent him in anyway.”
Tyrone shrugged. “I sent him to watch you, not?—”
“Fuck me?”
“Correct. That was”—Tyrone looked to Benoit, who had been silent longer than I could ever remember him being—“his decision. Lachlan, Alessio, out.”
The two muttered something, then reluctantly turned to leave, and Benoit backed up a step, about to follow.
“If it’s all right with you, King,” he said in that lyrical voice that was so familiar, “I think I might go with?—”
“Youstay right where you are.”
“Oui, okay. I wasn’t sure what you wanted.”
My ass he wasn’t sure. Benoit wanted to make a quick getaway, that much was clear. He’d done what he’d been sent in to do: seduce the schmuck, fuck his brains out, then leave once he was finally caught. It made sense he’d want to cut and run now.
As the muscle exited the room, and the door clicked shut behind me, I looked at Benoit. He still held my gun in his hand, but that would be easy enough to wrestle back. I had him by a good couple of inches—and I had a feeling that if he were to shoot, it wouldn’t be to kill. When I’d mentioned doing just that earlier, he’d practically turned green.
“Now, where were we?” Tyrone said. “Ah yes, introductions. You are correct, my name is Tyrone Kingston. But most call me King. Business associates included.”
“And why the fuck would I care about that?”
“Because that’s what I’m hoping we will be.”
