Page 108 of Javier

“Fine,” Rozina spat.

Missy inclined her head. “Congratulations on making what I hope is the first of many good decisions.”

“Guzman!” Allen’s knock rattled the door on its hinges. “Are you in there?”

“Give me a sec,” I yelled, enjoying the spectacle of Missy unleashing her star power to right our very wrong universe. “I’llbe right there.” I glanced at Missy. “Are you done?”

“Um…” Her hesitation was as adorable as it was brief. “No.”

I swept a hand in the air. “Please continue.”

“As part of our agreement,” she said to Rozina, “you’ll compensate Pedro for damages in whatever amount Pedro and Allen decide is fair.”

“But—”

“Stop.” Missy shook her head. “This is a deal breaker for me.”

The woman groaned. “Okay, fine. Are we finished now?”

“I have one last tidbit of advice for you, because, well, why not?” Missy shrugged. “Hunks have souls, you know? Don’t try to use a guy to get what you want ever again. It’s not kind. Or right.”

Missy tossed me a discreet glance and I barely managed to smother the crazy cackle that wanted to burst out of my throat.Shewas protectingme, standing up forme, aggrieved onmybehalf.

“Also,” Missy added. “Give your fellow women a break. We’re not wimpy, or whiny, or mousy. We’re just fighting to be ourselves however we can.”

“You’re really weird.” Rozina eyed Missy as if she was an alien from another planet. “You look sweet and soft and tame, but you’re spooky. You know that, right?”

“I do now.” Missy tossed me a triumphal smile. “I’ll go open for Allen.”

I kept my weapon in play, but my gaze trailed Missy across the room, admiring how she’d handled the situation, in awe of her.

Rozina dragged her bewildered stare to me. “Is she for real?”

“Oh, yeah.” I widened my grin until my face hurt. “She’sfor real.”

And I was going to make her mine.

Chapter Twenty-seven

Javier

Dawn broke on the far horizon, jumpstarting a day mostly spent in clean-up mode. We worked with Allen to restore security, communications, and tie up the loose ends. We found and freed Pedro. He was embarrassed about falling prey to Rozina, but physically unharmed. Missy looked weary and yet she did her part despite the dark circles beneath her eyes. At some point, we went down to Allen’s office and witnessed the legal work that came before Rozina’s conditional release.

Once Rozina had been removed from the premises and we received verification that she was on her way back to the States, I came clean with Missy about the warning call from Bozeman and about King and the nuns being on the move. She took it much better than I expected.

“I have faith that Dash and Thena can handle anything together,” she said to me. “As to the nuns, even though I just met Kai, I trust him with their lives. Please, next time, just tell me the news, good or bad.”

Her equanimity was remarkable, and I promised to do as she asked. After that, Missy and I devoured a late lunch. Only when she announced she couldn’t eat another morsel did we trudge back to the treehouse. Housekeeping had tidied up the room while we were out. After Missy took a shower, she couldn’t keep her eyes open. She took a long nap. I spent what remained of the afternoon tightening the resort and the suite’s security, repositioning the cameras, and refreshing the motion detectors’ batteries.

We’d been here six days. Six life-altering days. A blink in a lifetime, and yet something had changed in me, a profound shift that had me questioning who I was, who I wanted to be.

Tactically, it was past time to move on, and yet I had strict orders to stay put. I tried to reach King, but he didn’t answer. I even tried to get a message to Mina through the encrypted video game King had used. No reply. It was a small mercy that Rozina, and not Bekker, had come looking for Missy.

The next time, we might not be so lucky.

I wasn’t taking any chances, so I tripled the guards for the night. I deployed them in such a way that they stood concealed by the jungle at the bottom of the hill, creating an impenetrable human cordon to back up my technology. I also made sure the guards were out of sight and sound range from the Treehouse’s back deck. Missy’s lessons had been rudely interrupted the night before, and now I had plans to finish what we’d started.

I made special arrangements before I hit the shower, shaved, and got dressed in the nicest outfit I found in the suitcase. I had one other goal I intended to accomplish this day and no one, not even the NWO was gonna stop me.

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