Love and Let Die (Masters and Mercenaries #5)(85)

If only Tag had proven to be a bit more morally flexible, Nelson would have introduced him to his friends. Tag would have been an unbelievably effective agent if he hadn’t had that morality. He was certain it was brought on by Tag’s family.

It was better to be alone.

Not that Kash seemed to believe that. The young king seemed to think he should never be alone. The f*cker was always shoving his dick into some blonde.

When he wasn’t funding research Nelson’s bosses wanted quashed.

Kash passed a glass of wine to his latest Swedish supermodel and then turned his face up to the sun. It was something he did often. The idiot turned his face up, his arms going out as though he was embracing the whole world.

When Nelson got the go-ahead, he would put a bullet straight through the f*cker’s chest.

The door to the cabin opened and one of Kash’s many servants brought him a phone on a silver platter. The man was dressed in a tux and tails and bowed to the master of the boat.

God, he couldn’t wait to kill him. Nelson had a plan in place. Kamdar was such an over-privileged *. But he was also an * who had information Nelson needed. He touched the earpiece in his right ear. Mostly his surveillance had consisted of listening to the king f*ck a long string of blondes. The man had stamina.

“Hello?”

Nelson’s whole body tightened. When the king of Loa Mali spoke English, it meant he was talking to one of his scientists.

There was a long pause on the line, and Nelson cursed the fact that he’d only been able to bug the boat and not the king’s phone. Kash was a paranoid bastard who switched his cell phones on a weekly basis. And he kept three different phones for different types of people. One for his hookups. One for his family.

And one for the people he kept on his island, paying them handsomely for what he merely called “research” in his bookkeeping accounts.

Nelson’s bosses were interested in that research.

Through the binoculars, he saw Kash’s smile go wide. “Are you serious?”

Another long pause and Nelson’s whole body went tight with frustration. God, he needed to get more than one man in Kash’s household. The only one he’d managed to blackmail spent almost all his time in the garage of the boat, and there was no reason for him to be close to the king except when he piloted him to shore. Every single person who was really close to the king, down to the dude who probably wiped his ass, were Loa Malian. He hadn’t been able to bribe a one of them because Kash, like his father and his father’s father, spread the f*cking wealth around. First it had been about the pearl trade and the rich minerals found on the small island that was home to roughly 40,000 inhabitants. Then the f*ckers found oil in their territorial waters and the Kamdars shared the wealth with the citizenry, ensuring that things like democracy and forward progress had no place on their little island.

During the ‘90s, the former king became fascinated with technology, buying large chunks of stock in companies that were changing the world. He also completely changed Loa Mali’s infrastructure, making it one of the most high-tech countries on the planet.

Now Kash Kamdar was the king and it seemed like he wanted to change the world as well.

Too bad Nelson and his bosses were happy with the world the way it was.

“Are you serious? It holds there?” A loopy grin hit the king’s face. “Are we ready to move into testing?”

Shit and double shit. He needed to hear the other end of that conversation. Or maybe not. Maybe the ridiculous look on Kamdar’s face was all he needed to know. They were moving faster than he’d anticipated.

He needed to get to the oil rig where he suspected Kamdar kept his lab and start blowing shit up.

His cell buzzed, a text coming through.

Operations commenced. Expect successful termination of all players within three days. Avery O’Donnell already confirmed dead.

Poor Irishman. He’d been happy for a couple of months. Oh, well, his pain wouldn’t last long. He’d be dead beside his little bride. And all the others.

Nelson went back to watching his target. It was almost time to take him out, too.





Chapter Thirteen

“The flowers are pretty.” She would say just about anything to get Phoebe off her favorite subject.

“Who cares about flowers?” Chelsea asked under her breath. “I just saw the MI6 guys walk back in. Do you understand what that means?”

It meant that Ian might be rethinking his position. He might be ready to turn her over to them after all.

“It’s weird that they didn’t come with a note,” Phoebe was saying as she looked at the bouquet of yellow roses. “Grace said they were just delivered here this morning. I’ve never gotten flowers but my friend bought me a first edition Alchemist’s Stone. That was the British title for Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone. I like the British title better. It has more mystery about it.”

And Phoebe was off again. Her sister groaned beside her.

She stared at the flowers. Yellow flowers. In Russia, they were symbols of sadness. Of betrayal. If a girl in Russia got yellow flowers she knew it was the end. Maybe it was fitting.

The MI6 agents walked out of the conference room, the doors closing behind them. They moved back toward the hallway that housed Ian’s office.

Baz’s eyes trailed toward her, searching hers. He gave her a grave nod and continued to follow his partner.