Page 136 of Javier

“You better make her happy,” Omega grumbled as he mounted the stairs to the back deck. He came to a stop at the top, and whirling around, settled his cane’s pommel on my chest. His stare would’ve sent chills down the spine of most men. “If you break her heart, if you hurt her in any way, you’re gonna answer to me.”

“Copy that.” Coming from Dagger, this was no idle threat. I walked a thin line, but if Missy wanted me, I was willing to balance on a high wire without a net to be with her.

Dagger removed the pommel from my chest, parked before the veranda, and took in the view. I climbed the last stair and stood next to him.

“Just so that I’m clear,” I ventured because I was me and I always pushed the envelope. “Does this conversation mean you are okay with this?”

“This?”

“Missy and me.”

“Okay? Ha!” His bitter chuckle echoed over the jungle. “No. I’m not okay with any of this, but Thena seems to be on board, and Missy gets to make her own choices. If it’s you, then I’ll work with that. I’m not welcoming you into the family just yet if that’s what you’re asking. The way I see it, you’re on probation. You better perform at the top of your range or else—”

“No need to elaborate, boss,” I said. “I know what I’d do if I were in your shoes and Missy was my sister. It ain’t pretty. Or survivable. But still, I’m all in.”

“Unless or until she kicks your ass out of her life.” He glanced at me. “Agreed?”

I sighed. “Agreed.”

I was gonna fight like hell so that never happened.

“Thanks for the pep talk, boss.”

“Whatever.” His lips twitched. “I should say I’m sorry for the bruises, but I’d be lying.”

“I’ll wear them with pride.”

He barked out a laugh that turned up my lips.

“You’re making it very hard for me to hate your guts, Guzman. Keep up the good work. Glad we had this talk. Don’t make me do it again. Ever.”

“Understood.” I gave him a brisk salute.

“Back to business,” he said. “You got the intel on Bekker, so let me bring you up to speed on the rest. We caught the comms intercept that allowed him to attack you in Nicaragua.That’s why we went silent. Since then, we’ve been under cyberattack day and night.”

“I figured that much.” A spark of worry flared for our team’s cyber-hunter-in-chief. “Is Mina okay?”

“She’s fighting with all she’s got and giving as good as she’s getting.” Dagger allowed for a small smile. “Trev’s fighting alongside her, and so is Max Battleson.”

“Wow.” The top hackers of the free world against the top hackers of the not-so-free-world. “That must be something to see.”

“It’s impressive,” Omega agreed. “These attacks have been a pain in the ass, but they’ve also given us an opening to get into their systems and opportunities to analyze their methods.”

“Have we made any progress figuring out why the NWO is so obsessed with killing the Astor sisters?”

“We know Richard Astor had something on Xao Li, something damning. We just don’t know what it is. We’ve searched Astor House and The Astor Group’s headquarters from top to bottom. So far, we’ve got nothing.”

“Well, that sucks.”

“It does, which reminds me…” His face set into a scowl.

Uh-oh. I knew that scowl.Incoming.

“Don’t think for a hot minute I’m gonna forget that you sidestepped my orders not to go into the compound by fudging with your radio signal.”

I should’ve known. Nothing escaped Omega. I lifted my shoulders. “Sorry?”

“You’re not fucking sorry and I fucking know it. You’re lucky that, when you went on independent study, you found Missy. You kept her alive. So, this one time, I’m gonna give you a pass on the insubordination shit. Do you read me, Guzman?”

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