“Bonsoir, belle femmes,” Meridian responded, his pronunciation perfect, his deep voice as smooth as butter. He didn’t smile but his stern features seemed to soften a little as he stood like the perfect gentleman. If Ex hadn’t known how lethal a killer Meridian was, he’d have called him charming.
“Oh well... good evening.” The one with red hair and blazing red lips to match spoke first. Her eyes were bright and radiating her interest like a blinking neon sign. She put her slim hand over her chest and smiled. “I’m Jordan... like the tennis shoe.”
“Interesting.” Meridian nodded once.
“Jordan is a legendary basketball player, not a tennis shoe,” Ex said dryly, setting his drink down with a hard clank on top of the table.
“I told her to stop saying that a long time ago,” The brunette chimed in from beside her bold friend. “My name is Jen. Jennifer.”
“Thank you for coming over ladies, but we’re about to have an important meeting. If you’ll excuse us,” Meridian said and slid his large body back into the booth.
“Oh sorry.” The redhead’s face turned several shades closer to her hair color as she pulled at her friend’s arm for them to leave.
Ex kept his face as hard as stone but he could feel the smirk he wanted to give them after Meridian showed his disinterest.
“I promise not to keep them long, pretty ladies,” Slade said from behind them with a wide grin on his face. Ex had seen Slade walk up but he never gave the man any indication that they needed a wingman. Could he not tell that they genuinely weren’t interested?
Great.
Meridian slid over and allowed Slade enough room to join them. He’d changed from his all-black suit and crisp white shirt to a pair of starched blue jeans and a navy-blue button-up shirt. “What’s up fellas?”
“First,” Ex said, immediately commanding the conversation. His voice was low but hard like steel. “Don’t ever do that again.”
Slade’s chestnut-colored eyes bored into him for a few seconds—Ex never averting his glare—before he gave a firm nod. “Understood.”
The bartender came over and asked what Slade was drinking. After he ordered a rum and coke, she asked Ex if he wanted a refill.
“Yes,” Ex said.
After they had their drinks, Slade appeared ready to get down to business, which was good because so was he. “Slade, Meridian and I have decided to extend our stay here stateside, and put to rest some important matters. We want to employ your services for the duration. You’d need to be available twenty-four hours. Your continued silence would be instrumental. Anything you see or hear, should be forgotten.”
“I have other drivers that I can also put on the—”
“Negative,” Meridian said.
“Only you,” Ex confirmed.
“We’re talking about a lot of time here, not to mention lodging, and—”
Ex pulled the stacks of bills from his jacket and slid them in front of Slade. He waited for him to process the fact that the thin stacks were all hundred-dollar bills. “Is fifty thousand dollars enough for your time?”
Slade stared at the money.
“Fifty now. Fifty when our job here is done,” Meridian added.
Slade didn’t bother to ask when that would be. He took the money and tucked it into his pocket. He downed the rest of his drink and Ex had to wave off the bartender when she attempted to come back.
“You guys are going to flip this city on its ass, aren’t you?” Slade grumbled.
Neither of them said a word as they met and held Slade’s skeptical gaze. Their driver stood and pressed his big knuckles into the wood table. “I’m in. But, I served this country for thirty-two years. The oath I took to protect it never dies, not until I do. I can’t be a part of a—”
“Your conscience will be intact when this is all over,” Ex said, then dismissed Slade’s concern. “We’re moving to a more secure location in the morning. Bring the Navigator when you return at 0700 sharp.”
On their way back to their rooms, Ex’s mind was again heavy with the weight of what they were doing—going rogue. He never thought he’d see the day, but he also never imagined what it’d feel like if someone harmed his family. He’d planned on watching Evan grow up and do all the things he’d dreamed of. Ex had sacrificed his entire life, his future, so that his brother could have one—and someone had robbed him of it. Now all he had left was his mother... and Meridian.
Ever mindful of their surroundings, a habit ingrained in him for many years, Ex scanned the lobby for threats, though it would be far-fetched for them to have enemies here. All of their enemies—the ones who were bad and corrupt enough to know the names Ex and Meridian—were abroad.
Ex took his hotel card from his back pocket and held it as he paused in front of his room door. Meridian had opened his own door but he’d yet to go inside. Ex stood there battling with right and wrong, then with what was fair. He had to fucking do this for Evan, or he’d never be able to rest. A fresh wave of grief washed over him when he thought of his little brother’s smile, his hug—the ones he’d only gotten every couple of years, and now would never have again. He swallowed past the pain erupting in his chest and gritted his teeth to keep from yelling out his anger.
If it wasn’t for the sure presence that stayed as close to him as his own shadow, Ex was sure he’d have thrown all his teaching and discipline to the side after Evan’s funeral, and taken to the streets to wreak havoc on any shady individual who crossed his path. That was how infuriated he was. And Meridian knew it, it was why he was with him. As usual, Ex owed his partner. But, in their world they didn’t do thank-yous and words of appreciation, but god, he wanted Meridian to know what this meant to him. He tried to make himself turn the knob, but he couldn’t.
“I know, Ex,” Meridian said roughly before he went into his room and closed the door behind him.
He engaged both locks and walked farther into his room, stopping for a moment at the door that connected his suite to Ex’s. He pressed his hand against the hard surface and listened. The movements were faint but he heard his partner bypass his bed and settle into the creaky desk chair and wake his monitors. Meridian closed his eyes, fatigue settling in his bones and sighed. They both needed to sleep, needed to recharge. They were strong, their bodies and minds chemically altered to make them more efficient soldiers, but they were still... just men. They’d recently finished a huge job and they hadn’t been at home base a full twenty-four hours before Ex had logged into his system and learned about his brother. Two hours later they were on a plane from Syria and it’d been nonstop ever since.
If they were going to be able to do this then he needed Ex to be at the top of his game. Even though they were taking down petty local gang lords who destroyed neighborhoods and communities, instead of international terrorists that were a threat to national security, one slip-up could cause them big problems. Could cause their program huge problems.
Meridian resisted the urgent pull to fix this for Ex, to find all the ones who’d wronged him, and slit their throats. Instead, he eased out of his suit jacket and tossed it over the foot of the king-sized bed. One by one, he removed his weapons, placing a handgun under each pillow and a blade inside the nightstand on top of the King James Bible. He went into the bathroom and started the shower as hot as he dared and took off the rest of his clothes. Not bothering to look at his reflection in the mirror, he stepped into the glass stall and closed his eyes at the first feel of the luxury jets beating against his tight neck muscles.