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Powerful men can smell weakness, Nebraska. You have to own every room you walk into.
I straightened my shoulders, plastered my well-practiced fake smile on my face, moved to the nearest empty chair, and ignored his question.
“Thank you for seeing me.”
“Your father didn’t give me much of a choice,” he returned as he picked up a tablet from the desk.
That was a stretch.
“Forgive me for saying so, but that’s not exactly the truth, is it? You don’t strike me as a man who makes a deal because you were forced into it.”
He waited until I sat and adjusted my bag to rest in my lap before he dealt his death blow.
“You’re correct. I could’ve saved us all the trouble and the expense of sending my jet and simply had your father taken out. And make no mistake, Nebraska, that option is still on the table.”
That was not the first threat against my father’s life I’d heard. Though it might’ve been the most credible. I’d long ago learned to lock the fear those intimidations caused away in a box I only opened when I was alone. Those were the only times when I admitted to myself how truly scared I was. The rest of the time, I played my part. I did what my father needed me to do.
Charlie Michaels deserved my loyalty.
I remained silent as Theo handed the thumb drive my father had given him over to Kira before he sat to Zane’s right. The woman was the brains behind the facial recognition software called Patheon—not to be confused with the team of men who had operated in the shadows under the same name. She plugged the thumb drive into her laptop.
Easton pulled out a chair, leaving one empty between us. But instead of sitting closer to his team he stayed near the door.
There would be no quick escape from the room.
The large screen behind Zane flickered to life. Neatly arranged file folders from the thumb drive appeared on the monitor. Everyone’s gaze except Zane’s went to the screen. He kept his on his tablet.
Until his blue eyes tipped up and narrowed on me.
“I think it’s time you explain why you’re really here, Nebraska.”
Indeed, it was time.
Too bad I couldn’t tell the whole truth without exposing a secret Zane would rather keep buried.
I just prayed my father hadn’t made a mistake.
TWO
In the months I’d worked at Z Corps I learned to read my boss. Or rather, I’d learned to read what he purposely showed. If Zane Lewis didn’t want you to know what he was thinking, he closed down in a way that was impenetrable.
His mood had shifted from annoyed but curious to DEFCON 1 in the blink of an eye.
I studied the file folders on the screen. Other than the one marked Raven none of them registered as dangerous.
Raven was the company that Bridget had worked for. She’d turned her boss in for selling the plans for a micro-drone the company was developing under contract with the CIA to some unsavory characters. We already knew that Charlie Michaels had invested millions into the UAV company and had lost that money when Raven went bankrupt. That was the whole reason Nebraska was here. To ensure that Charlie wasn’t looking for payback.
“I take it you know who Maddon Judd is?” Nebraska Michaels asked.
I had to hand it to the woman. She hadn’t cowered under Zane’s obvious unwelcoming attitude.
“Who the fuck are you?” Zane growled, taking the current DEFCON rating to nuclear.
“It’s not who I am that matters. It’s who my Father—”
Zane didn’t let her finish her explanation. “Are you referring to the man who adopted you or your biological father?”
What the fuck?
