ra

droom rattled violently befo

ky outside the floor-to-ceiling

foot of the bed. He was fully dressed in his tailored black sui

ighted with sand. My eyes were swollen and raw

mpile it," I

chill seemed to emanate from him, l

" His voice was a dangerous hiss. "I nee

vers you complained about," I lie

eath. He paced to the window

ut looking at me. "The High Commission demands Siena by my side today a

onths mapping out the blind spots in the border patrols. I had hacked the port autho

" I whi

aw the blank look on my

." He offered the hollow promise like throwing a scrap of

he vacuum of his absence, the air s

e marble bathroom. I turned the shower on until the water

t could not thaw the absolute ice spreading through my veins

into the living room wea

he glass table, typin

ane ordered, not bothering to look up. "Transfer three hundr

for?"

sit-down." Zane typed another message. "The piece is already secured, I just need you to cl

y was thre

ce of stale bread while he was out raiding a wa

I had funded with my civilian life savings. He was

a deadpan, emot

le. "You're so cold-blooded lately. You have a

desk rang. Zane picked it

The man who controlled th

t with Siena this morning. Her Vitiello blood is pure. She is exa

ane smiled. A rea

ke sure the security cameras are disabled at

e. He did not even gl

unds to clear. Zane took the black velvet box from the guard. He opened

hut and slipped it i

adjusted his tie in the mirror. "We have impor

er confirmation-three hundred thousand dollars of my own money, spent on a diamond necklace for the woman who was replacing me. I stared at the Vitiello c