Page 63 of Ruthless Commander
In my experience, it only hid who he truly was and I didn’t need any fucking intel to tell me who Haelstrom Hale truly was, the one conversation over the phone had done that just fine. The engine roared, white smoke spewing out as the damn thing worked three times as hard to get him here. But then the sound eased as the boat turned sideways, letting the waves do the work and carry it toward the dock.
Two of my men were there, waiting to throw the rope and secure the boat before Hale climbed off. He steadied himself for a second before lifting his gaze to mine, then headed my way.
“I want a full briefing.,” he snapped, “in five minutes. First, I need a goddamn drink, then an explanation as to how thefuckyou allowed this to happen.”
I clenched my jaw as the bastard met my gaze. He actually thought I answered to him…how fucking cute. “This way, Haelstrom.”
“Hale,” he snapped. “We are neither friends nor family, Mateo.”
I turned on the bastard, taking a step in, closing the distance. "Then in that case, it's Commander,to you.You neither pay my wage nor deserve my goddamnrespect.”
He flinched, and that was all I needed as behind him, Sebastian VanHalen also flinched. No matter how much money Hale had, it couldn’t shake me. He managed to hold my stare, until my men headed toward us, then he broke the gaze. "Some refreshments, at least," he muttered.
I lifted my hand, motioning toward the buildings. “By all means. This way, gentlemen.”
He followed me, along with my men, as we headed up the rise toward the main building, and the moment we stepped inside, the deafening roar in my ears quieted. I strode along the corridor and motioned to the open door of the conference room. Hale stepped in, made his way to the drinks counter, and poured himself a glass of Scotch. I gave a nod to the communications officer as he worked on the link between us and the rest of the Commission.
"VanHalen,” Hale muttered, turning the glass in his hand. "He's to be included in this conversation."
"The hell he is." Dominic Salvatore growled through the audio link, his face coming into focus with the connection of his camera. "You are on Commission ground andweare theonlyones who decide who is included in private conversations, Haelstrom.”
If Hale thought that he'd be able to come here and throw his weight around, then he was sadly mistaken. He had no idea who he was playing with.
"Get the fuck off me!”The snarl came from outside in the hallway. I looked toward the doorway as Lazarus and his bodyguards entered.
“Laz…wait,”Rossi’s bodyguard growled as he strode in after the kid.
Kid…
Lazarus might’ve been a kid once, but he wasn’t anymore. Cold, cutting blue eyes scanned the room, stopped on mine for a second, then shifted to Haelstrom Hale. There was a twitch at the corner of his lips and his fingers clenched into fists, drawing my gaze to the blood smeared across his knuckles.
He’d been searching for Kat on the mainland, along with Finley Salvatore, who strode into the conference room right behind Rossi. The two of them even standing in the same room without killing each other, or at least throwing hands, was a fucking achievement…but to work together, to…depend on each other, now that was almost unheard of.
“Laz,” Fin murmured carefully as he set sight on Hale.
Seemed like the slimy piece of shit was making friends all over the place. Did Lazarus know about the arranged marriage, I wondered?
“Let’s get one thing straight.” Lazarus stepped closer to the Armani-clad scum. “When this is over…whenIfind Kat, you will leavewithout her.”
So, I was taking that as a yes on the information angle.
Tension crackled through the room like an oncoming storm, standing the hairs on the back of my damn neck.
“Fin.” Dominic Salvatore's growl was warped and weird through the connection.
I tore my gaze from the pissing contest in the middle of the room and strode toward the computer. “Looks like the storm is getting closer, let’s get this over with.”
“Yes,” Lazarus snarled. “So I can get back to finding her.”
“We need a count of men.” Orlando Rossi’s voice came through the speaker, although we couldn’t see him. “I have a team of ten special-forces-trained men on their way, they should be there within the next five hours.”
Hale just chuckled and shook his head, stepping around Lazarus. “I’ll have her located before then. My men are combing Mauritius as we speak.” His phone gave abeepbefore he looked down. “Look at that…they already have contact with information.”
A low, threatening sound came from Lazarus before Logan reached out and grabbed his arm.
“Easy,” the bodyguard said, meeting the Stidda heir’s gaze.
Beep.
