Page 22 of Sublime Target

“Will Cooper Garner be joining us?” Kai asked skeptically.

“My apologies, but he has some prior engagements he needs to attend to first.”

The sound of Kai’s soft, humorless laughter chilled her to the bone. “Cut the shit, Miss Lee. Is your boss playing games with us?” He nodded in Jerik’s direction. “These guys are only acting nice because I asked them to, but there are many other ways we can do this.”

Clarissa silently cursed Garner for putting her between a rock and the deep, dark chasm of doom.

Once again, the thought of walking away from this job flitted through her mind, but she quashed it.

She had stability.

For stability, she could handle these mildly threatening aliens… right?

“I’m sorry, Kai, but—”

“If Garner refuses to see us right now, the alternative will be a thousand times more painful—for him.”

Clarissa racked her brain for ways to salvage the situation—and found nothing.

But then her salvation came unexpectedly, in the form of a deep, gravelly voice.

Jerik Garul, former High Commander of the most feared military force in the Nine Galaxies, held up an obsidian-gloved hand. “Kainan, it’s fine.”

Kai and Mavrel looked at Jerik in disbelief.

“Sir?” Mavrel especially seemed surprised.

“We will wait,” he said, locking eyes with Clarissa. “And avail ourselves of Ms Lee’s hospitality.”

That intensity of his was the strangest thing. The longer she spent in his presence, the more she felt his scrutiny wasn’t harsh or threatening. It was more… curiosity.

At least, that’s what she thought it was.

Her smile evaporated. How could she keep her professional mask in place when he looked at her like that?

Don’t overthink it. He’s a client, just like all the others. Just pretend he’s one of Garner’s irritating trillionaire friends.

She never felt intimidated by the humans Garner dealt with, so why should this guy be any different?

Well, aside from the fact that he’d probably colonized, enslaved, killed, and terrorized countless people across the Nine Galaxies.

Aside from the fact that he was probably still in charge of ships that had enough firepower to obliterate Earth.

Maybe… if she simply pretended he was an ordinary human being, just like all the other clients she’d handled, she could do this without losing her mind.

“Thank you for your understanding.” She tried to convey her gratitude through her tone. Out of all the unlikely people to give her a break, this Kordolian mercenary was the one to let her off the hook. “Rest assured, I’ll make it worth your while.”

“I look forward to it.” His voice softened.

Clarissas’ heartbeat quickened.

Well, that was rather charming of him, wasn’t it?

Why was he being so nice to her?

For a moment—just a fleeting moment—she allowed herself to drown in the full force of his presence.

Powerful. Masculine. Quietly intimidating and yet strangely reassuring.

---