Page 64 of Sublime Target

But she held some power over him, so he released the man’s neck-string and let him fall backward.

“Clarissa,” Garner hissed, locking eyes with her. “How could you allow this to happen? Call security, now.”

You dare find fault with her for this?

Jerik was on the verge of eviscerating the man, but Clarissa grabbed his arm and pulled him backward until she was standing in front of him.

Nobody had ever done that to him before, either.

“Ordinarily, I would have felt obligated to salvage this situation—like always—but this is something far beyond my capabilities. Haven’t you been following the news? Didn’t you know that this Kordolian is a member of the very same group that was behind the revolution on Kythia? They’re the people that caused the downfall of the Kordolian Empire, Mr Garner.”

The human got to his feet, smoothing down his crumpled suit jacket. Outrage was written all over his sharp features. “What are you trying to say? That you would so very easily give up? That you would relinquish human sovereignty without offering even a scrap of resistance? I expected better from you, Clarissa. And you should have anticipated a situation as fraught as this. I told you to do your research.”

Jerik’s killing urge grew even stronger. He feared he might explode from the pent-up tension and violence.

Clarissa looked over her shoulder—at him.

In her brown eyes was a silent entreaty. Let me handle this, she seemed to be asking him.

Jerik let out a small puff; a sharp exhalation of pent-up tension. Very well.

If Garner did anything stupid, he was here to back her up.

“I did my research,” Clarissa said quietly. “But you never gave me a chance to tell you my assessment of the situation. If you allowed me to handle the Kordolians, things would have turned out differently. As of now, I’m officially allowing this to happen because I no longer work for you. Mr Garner, I’m tendering my resignation, effective immediately.”

“I refuse to accept it.”

“It isn’t like you have any choice in the matter.”

“You signed an agreement, Clarissa. There will be severance pay—from you.”

“No, there won’t. In light of the extreme and unusual circumstances, you won’t get anything from me.”

“You’ll be blacklisted from every organization on the planet. And if you disclose any single detail about my company to the media, my competitors, or even a mere acquaintance, you will be going to jail.”

“I doubt that.” She glanced at Jerik.

Her estimation of his power and capabilities warmed his hard, black heart. Of course there was no way he would allow Garner and the human authorities to enact some scheme to imprison her.

Never, ever, ever.

Even if she turned his advances down, he wouldn’t allow this pathetic human to wield power over her.

She was under his protection now, and that would remain for as long as he was alive.

He only hoped she could see beyond everything that he was on the surface and perceive his true intentions.

He glared at the human. The man called Cooper Garner held pure malevolence in his eyes. His expression was a mixture of outrage, disbelief, and arrogance.

You’re just lucky I’m not allowed to kill you, bastard.

“You can’t do this,” the human said coldly. “Did you conveniently forget that your man’s life is in the balance? If you want him to walk out of here alive, you will put down your gun, walk away, and leave Clarissa Lee to me. There will be no further discussion about the land at Copernicus.”

For a terrified human, he really was good at pretending to be composed, but Jerik had encountered enough of his kind to know a bluff when he saw it.

“I’m not concerned about Mavrel,” he said lightly. “You have no bargaining power here. You will release Clarissa of all her obligations and duties. You will swear never to come after her for any single thing. If I so much get a hint of a whisper that you have attempted to contact her, I will personally destroy you. Call off your mercenaries, Garner, unless you want to be responsible for the injuries that will occur beneath your roof.”

This time, it was Clarissa who gave him a look of unbridled disbelief.

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