Page 61 of Power's Fall

“No, I buried it. We won’t be able to listen to the call live, but once it’s over, we can access the recording.”

“And what if it’s in person? What if he’s getting information from someone in Crimea, or maybe in Russia and he’s driving to meet with them. Will we be able to tell where he is?” Dahlia asked, though Montana had answered almost this same question yesterday while they talked through the plan.

“Yes, this mirroring essentially acts as a GPS tracker too, since a phone always knows where it is.”

“It’s both impressive and terrifying that all he had to do was hold your phone near his own,” Dahlia said.

“Thank you,” Montana said.

“Not sure that was a compliment,” Vadisk pointed out.

“It wasn’t,” she assured them, causing both to laugh softly. “Now all we need to do?—”

Vadisk groaned and leaned back, one arm over his face. “This is a bad plan.”

“It’s a great plan. Now that we can track our presumed blackmailer and monitor his conversations, we need to give him a reason to blackmail us, and, hopefully, check to see if we’re Masters’ Admiralty,” Dahlia said.

“Even if we do have sex on the balcony—” Vadisk started.

“Pool. Way more fun if we have sex in the pool.” Montana grinned.

“—he might decide to just blackmail us, and never ask his presumed informant if we are Masters’ Admiralty.”

“True,” she conceded. “And it sounds like he waits for people to leave before sending the blackmail letters.”

“This mirroring won’t last forever. A million things can affect it,” Montana said. “We need to make sure he sees enough that he’s going to try to blackmail us.” He paused, smiling. “So we have sex on the balconyandin the pool.”

“He thinks trinities are immoral. People who think like that are dangerous.” Vadisk was smiling at Montana’s remark, but his words were serious.

“We talked this through, multiple times. It’s too dangerous to ask more pointed questions. Breaking into his house—which, admittedly, now we know the layout of—is high risk with a low probability of us finding anything.” Dahlia kept her voice gentle. Vadisk knew all this, but understandably, he was worried about their safety.

“He’s never physically attacked any of the people he’s blackmailed,” Montana said. “And this plan means we get to have sex.”

Vadisk grinned, and his gaze was hot as he looked first at Montana and then at her. “I don’t want to share the two of you with whatever fucker is watching.”

“Then you can be on top, so most of the shots are of your bare ass.”

Dahlia snort-laughed at Montana’s comment, while Vadisk chuckled.

“Okay,” he relented. “Tonight, we fuck, tomorrow, we get blackmailed.”

ChapterEleven

Dahlia stepped out onto the patio in her bikini, the sun dipping low on the horizon. It was going to be a beautiful sunset, the sky already awash in orange and pink. She turned on the lights illuminating the pool, not because they needed them at the moment but because…if this interlude lasted as long as she hoped, it would be night before they finished, and she wanted to make sure…

She swallowed heavily.

If the blackmailer was watching, she wanted to make sure they got their shot.

While this had been her idea initially, she worried about being able to “perform” like this. They would be out in the open, exposed.

Butterflies fluttered in her stomach, though she wasn’t sure if nervousness or excitement were the cause. She’d never set out to deliberately do something inappropriate or insensitive when traveling. Being a good citizen of the world meant being mindful and respectful of other people’s cultural norms. An argument could be made that since the villa was secluded, and privacy was specifically mentioned as a feature, this wasn’t inappropriate. That argument didn’t lessen the anxiety that made her shoulders tight. Taking a steadying breath, she forced her shoulders down.

Dropping a towel on one of the lounge chairs, she walked to the edge of the deep end and dove in, hoping the cool, refreshing water would calm her down. She swam a few laps back and forth across the pool, only emerging to suck in a quick breath of air before going down again.

There was something about swimming that soothed her. She enjoyed the way the water muted the sounds surrounding her, bringing peace not only to her world but to her thoughts as well.

By the time she’d swum a dozen or so laps and reached out for the edge, Vadisk and Montana were there. Both of her men were sitting on the edge of the pool, watching her. Every trace of anxiety vanished as she soaked up their hungry, powerful looks.

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