Page 29 of Her Mercenary

I nodded. “The guards see it as a huge opportunity to move into Conor Cussane’s circle if they can impress him.”

“I’d like to move the barrel of my shotgun into his circle.”

Lucas scowled from the front seat, and Bear grinned.

“Anyway,” I said, “I’ve got six days to get the American tourist out before she’s shipped overseas.”

“I don’t understand. Why you can’t just buy her now? You’re in this Conor guy’s inner circle, right? Can’t you just—”

“Yes, but we’ve never met face-to-face.”

Until now.

Bear shrugged. “Okay, well, whatever. Just buy her, and let’s get the hell out of this sweltering hellhole.”

“You don’t get it,” I said. “Conor owns her personally. He’s claimed her as his, not part of the network.”

“So he won’t sell her to you?”

“Didn’t say that.”

“You kind of just did say exactly that.”

I shrugged. “I’m going to offer more than she’s worth.”

Bear lifted a brow. “You just said a mouthful there, bro.”

I stilled a moment, considering the verbiage I’d used and how disgusting it was.

Embarrassed, I cleared my throat. “I’m going to get her alone before Conor gets there, and get as many details about the time she’s spent with him as I can so I’m not going in blind.”

“You think he told her where he keeps his USB?”

“Intel suggests he keeps it on him at all times, and if she’s been with him, yeah. Maybe it’s simply in his wallet. I need to know if she’s seen it. Then, after he arrives, I’ll make the offer to Conor directly for her.”

“What makes you sure he’ll accept your offer?”

“Conor lives for money. I’ll make it worth it to him.”

“How much are we talking about here?”

My entire worth, I thought.

“Why not just save your money and steal her in the middle of the night,” Bear asked, “and be done with it?”

I shook my head. “Everyone is expecting me. It’s my lodge they’re staying in.”

And also, Bear didn’t know the details of my full plan.

A hint of nerves jolted me.

This was it. My once-in-a-lifetime moment. No second chances.

Bear grunted. “What time is this Conor guy coming?”

“Soon. You’ve got the plane at the airport on standby?”

“Yes, as you requested.”