Page 175 of Wild Mustang Security Firm

“Settle down, Zara, or I’ll strip you, and you’ll find yourself in position at my feet.”

“You’d want them to see me naked?”

“Not particularly. I’ll make sure the video shows enough, it’s obvious you’re naked and kneeling at my feet, but nothing overtly sexual.”

Zara relaxed back into his lap, sitting gingerly. The camera at Wild Mustang Security drew back, so all of those gathered at the conference table could be seen. She was glad to see Finn in attendance as well.

“You all right?” Finn asked.

“As well as can be expected when I’m being held against my will,” Zara replied, eyes shooting daggers at Noah, who merely smiled benignly at her.

“They said some kind of team assaulted your home? Jesus, Zara, I’m so sorry. I never should have involved you.”

“Are you kidding? This story could be huge. I’ve already been able to confirm parts of what you told me,” Zara said excitedly.

“I’m surprised you’d tell them that,” Finn said, laughing.

“Didn’t they tell you? The bastards hacked my system and have downloaded all my stuff.”

Finn turned on Croft.

He really was easy on the eyes. In some ways better looking than Noah. Croft had those East Coast patrician looks, like oldmoney or nobility. She smiled to herself as she remembered how Finn had once described Zara’s taste in men as tall, dark, and voted most likely to take a life. She wasn’t all that far off the mark—Noah certainly filled that bill. The man was likely the most dominant alpha male she’d ever encountered, yet he seemed to have a sensitive side that called to her.

“You hacked her system?”

“Sure did,” Croft said, grinning at her. “Thom’s finishing up in London but said he should have all the data compiled, including what they found at Zara’s overnight. If there’s anything significant, we’ll contact you at the same time tomorrow.”

“So, nothing really new to report?” Noah asked.

“I’m afraid not,” Mac said. “Springer had flown the coup, but Bestwick was able to get the French police to check the farmhouse where Finn was held. Aside from the dead bodies, the place had been cleaned out and wiped down. He said it was very disconcerting as the bodies were laid out neatly in a row, and the rest of the house appeared to be untouched. Bestwick said their forensic techs were a bit spooked by it. They obviously took their time clearing out.”

“What about Fariq?” Noah asked.

“He’s been pretty forthcoming. Problem is Springer knew everything and moved swiftly to consolidate his stranglehold on Fariq’s operation. Fariq seems fairly resigned to letting him have it and retiring someplace safe where he can die an old man.”

Zara listened but said nothing. They were fools if they thought Fariq would simply fade away. They may have had business dealings with him, but Zara had dined with him on several occasions. The dinners had covered different aspects of stories she was writing, as well as giving her finely-honed reporter’s instincts an incredible breadth of knowledge about what made the man tick. And tick he did… much like anexplosive device. She very much doubted Fariq would have revealed that side of himself to the Wild Mustang Security people.

Fariq would not walk away without a fight. He presented himself to the world and to those who dealt with him as a sophisticated businessman, when in fact, he was a ruthless killer not above using whatever means he could find to re-establish his supremacy in the international community of arms dealers and terrorists.

The video conference ended with Noah’s assessment of their situation. He was content to stay at their current location until they checked in the day after tomorrow unless new information came to light. After that, he’d be inclined to move. Even as remote and secure as they were, no safehouse was truly safe if those hunting you were willing to pay whatever it took for someone to find you.

Chapter

Eight

Noah kept his eyes on Zara for most of the conference call. She’d been snarly to start with, genuinely happy to see Finn, then quiet. With most women, he might chalk up the last part to having reality sink in and fear along with it, but not Zara. She knew, or at least thought she knew, something they didn’t and had no intention of telling them. He’d let her keep her own counsel for a bit to see if she would come clean.

He hadn’t been joking when he’d said he would never hear the end of it from his team. He’d always been pretty vocal about the kind of woman he wanted—one he could go home to, take to bed, spend the evening seeing how many orgasms he could wring out of her, then kick back and have her fix him a nice meal before taking her back to bed. Well, he’d gotten the sex part right, but that was about it. He doubted Zara even knew how to cook. Zara had no intention of surrendering without a fight, but he was certain, in the end, she would. Mac was right; she was a hellion and wouldn’t easily give her heart, but Noah was determined she would be his, and he’d make her damn happy she was.

They logged off the video conference.

“That went well,” he said.

“For you. I was humiliated when you made it very clear to your boss and your buddies that you were fucking me.”

“Settle down, Zara. It wasn’t like that. My choice would never be to deliberately humiliate you.”

“What do you call making me sit in your lap?”

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