Until fucking Taggart had ruined everything.

He’d been valuable to The Collective when he had CIA entrée. Now he had to hustle like the rest of them and hope he satisfied the men in power.

Corporations were the new kings, and they liked their warfare waged quietly.

He just sometimes had to convince them to be patient.

His cell rang—the private one he always had to answer. He put down his binoculars just as the king started in on a pretty Asian woman. It looked like he was branching out from his usual blondes.

“Yes.” No need for “hello” or “this is.” They knew exactly who he was and they didn’t care for pleasantries.

“Why was the Agency and MI6 swarming Dallas?”

Fuck. He hadn’t exactly explained to his contact that a round of assassinations had been part of his deal with the syndicate, but then he was awfully good at deflecting blame. “Denisovitch found his niece. I’m afraid I wasn’t able to convince him of her worth.”

Like he would try. He wanted the bitch dead, too.

“I explained to you that The Collective believes she could be an asset.”

“I brought your concerns to the syndicate, but I’m afraid they believe in revenge more.”

His contact’s frustration was clear in the tightness of his tone. “Try harder. We want the girl brought to us. She’s proven to be smart and capable and willing to get her hands dirty.”

They didn’t understand Charlotte Denisovitch the way he did. “Then why did she tip off the Agency about Al-Qaeda plots?”

There was a small chuckle over the line. “The fact that she knew about those plots at all makes us interested in her. We’re not terrorists, Mr. Nelson. We’re capitalists. There was no money to be made off anarchist plots. We stood to lose billions if the Euro dropped, so in our minds she’s quite the hero. We expect you to keep the syndicate in line.”

Yeah, because that was an easy job. “Denisovitch can be unreasonable.”

“Then maybe he shouldn’t be the head of the family anymore.”

Fuck. He was going to have to off another mobster. He’d been lucky last time. If he got caught, it wasn’t like The Collective would send the cavalry in. They would just find another agent to take his place and move on.

“Finish the job in India. If you can kill the project and bring us all the research, there will be a rather large bonus in it for you. Then you can handle the Russian problem and we can discuss your retirement from the field. We think it might be time to move you to management.”

Those were the magic words that kept him dangling on a string. Oh, he knew he would never really be out of The Collective, but he could move out of the field. He could move into recruitment and training and stay for months on his island.

He would be able to enjoy it because Taggart would be dead. He could always claim that Denisovitch wouldn’t listen. Everyone knew the man was insane. He would let the syndicate do his dirty work and then get rid of the head and install someone more reasonable.

It could work out for everyone.

“Of course. I’ve placed a spy inside the king’s household.”

Another chuckle. “You mean you put a whore in his bed. That man has the stamina of a rutting bull. Don’t let her kill him until we have that research. Is the site rigged?”

At least he’d managed to do one thing right. “I have more than one spy. I managed to find one of his employees with a gambling problem. I think I’m almost ready to move. And yes, the research site is rigged to explode when I choose. I have to make sure I get the research out of there before I blow it if I can’t get Kamdar’s copy.”

“It might be easier to take it from the king than to get it from the site. Make sure the scientists are inside when you pull the trigger. We have our own who can continue the research or quash it, whatever we decide.”

Because The Collective ran the world and they didn’t like anyone else interfering. Technology, research, innovation had to come from The Collective and no one else. Whether they bought it or stole it, all knowledge would come from them.

“Absolutely. Perhaps the next king won’t be so disagreeable.” The Collective would likely make sure of it. Nelson already had several candidates in mind. After all, it was always in their best interests to install their own leaders.

“We shall see, Mr. Nelson. Now, listen closely. I have it on good authority that you have some visitors on the way.”

His whole body tightened with dread. “Who?”

“Well, let’s just say your old friends aren’t in Dallas anymore. Good luck to you. You know what happens if you fail.” The line went dead.

If he failed he would very likely find himself answering questions he didn’t want to answer. And his retirement might be from life and not the field.

How had that fucker found him?

Unless sweet Charlotte had been keeping tabs on him and wanted to please her dipshit husband. Otherwise, Taggart would have taken his bait and been looking for him in Russia.

He should have known assassins couldn’t take down Taggart himself. Now Tag would want revenge for more than Grace’s near death during their first real meeting.

He had to move fast. It might be time to call in a few friends and take the boat over himself. He picked up his binoculars again and prayed the king decided to go back to blondes.

Chapter Sixteen

The sound of the beach eased Charlie out of a deep sleep. The rolling waves had soothed her all night, forming a rhythm she’d eased into. After the long flight and then the drive from the airport, she had fallen into bed after barely getting a glimpse of the beach huts they had taken out.

Soft light filled the room, and she could see the ceiling above her and a large, slowly rotating ceiling fan. The salty smell of the ocean wafted over her and then she smelled coffee, dark and rich.

She rolled over and sighed as she realized the other half of the bed was still neat as a pin.

Ian hadn’t come to bed. Though he’d been kind and had taken care of her during the long trip, he had pulled back into himself after a few hours. He was right back where they’d been before. Undecided. She reached out and touched the place where his head should have laid.

Patience.

She just needed patience. She was here with him and not stuck in a safe house with Liam frowning at her, and that was a plus.

It had been her mantra on the long flight to Mumbai and then the shorter hop to the Goa airport in Vasco da Gama. Two cars had been waiting for them and she’d sat beside Ian as he drove the winding coastal road. She’d tried to pretend everything was all right as she’d taken in the natural beauty of the sea on one side and the rice terraces and coconut groves on the other. She spent so much of her time in cities that it was easy to forget how beautiful the world could be.

But there was a hollowness to it all because he was so far from her.

“Charlie?”

She turned and he was sitting in a rattan chair, his eyes thoughtful. She wondered if he’d been watching her sleep. “Hi. Is everyone already up?”

He nodded. “Yes, they’ve got some crazy-ass plan to go and meet this king. Ten and Damon really believe in subterfuge. They’re coming up with all these plots to get us on his boat. Apparently today is the day he brings his yacht in and restocks his liquor cabinets or something.”

She yawned behind her hand and wondered if she would be stuck here while Ian worked. She would worry about him every single minute. “Yes. He’s quite the party boy. According to the tabloids, he seems to love fast boats and gorgeous women.”

“According to your research, he also likes science.”

Charlie got out of bed, not bothering with the robe that was laid out at the end of the mattress. She’d put on one of Ian’s T-shirts and it hung down to her knees. She looked out the window of the small, but likely wretchedly expensive “hut” they had checked into. Agonda Beach looked out on the Arabian Sea, the waves gentle, the water seeming never to end. White sand stretched out in either direction. There was peace here. Quiet. Tranquility. She wished they were here to be alone. “Yes, he’s spent a lot of money on research. He funds all kinds of studies.”

“I’ve been thinking. Why would Nelson be interested in the king of Loa Mali? All reports have Kamdar as a humanitarian, a great ruler. The US has pushed him for elections, but there’s no doubt his people love him. From what I can tell, he’s not corrupt. He shares the wealth. Yes, they have oil, but Nelson’s already getting oil from Russia. Unless, he’s not really interested in the money from the oil.”

She turned back to Ian. “How could he not be interested in the money?”

“Because it’s petty cash. He has to share it with the syndicate. You have to know how your relatives pay.” Ian stood up and stretched. “It doesn’t make sense. I’ve been trying to study the man, but he’s shown me what he wants me to see. I need to study his actions. The truth is there. Why did he try to steal the drone plans for the Chinese and then turn around and get into arms shipments? Now he’s interested in oil. There’s too much jumping around.”

“I didn’t look at it that way.” Now that she really thought about it, it didn’t make sense. It was nearly impossible to shift so much in so few years. His contacts would have to be far and wide, running across many countries, many sectors. Agents in the CIA tended to have a territory. They tended to work in one part of the world. Ian and Nelson had both worked in Europe. So why was he working for the Chinese and now in India? Unless he wasn’t dealing in money. Not really. It would come back to money, but that wasn’t the first goal.