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“Iraq,” Ryan said simply.

I nodded appreciatively. A few years ago, when our relationship first started, my boys would’ve lied their asses off to keep me from the truth. Back then they claimed they did it to ‘keep me safe’, and in their own way, they meant it. Only it hadn’t kept me safe, and it turned out I would’ve been better off knowing the whole story, had they actually trusted me.

But they knew better now.

“Di Spatia’s last Army contract was to guard a small collection of oil refineries,” Ryan explained. “It’s one of the final few contracts we need to fulfill before we can separate ourselves from the government and go fully private.”

That made sense to me. I knew they were trying to distance the mercenary company from US involvement. At least for a little while, until they rooted out which officers were trouble and which were not.

“So he’s over there to fulfill the contract?” I asked. “Why not just end it? Abandon it and make a clean break?”

“Break the contract?” Dakota smirked. “Have you met Jason Briggs?”

I rubbed at the tired spot between my eyes. He was right about that much.

“And he’s over there for another reason,” Kyle said reluctantly. There was a dark tone to his voice I didn’t like.

“What’s that?”

Ryan was staring at him, as if he’d said too much. Kyle just shrugged.

“Two of our guys went missing.”

My heart sank. “When?”

“Last week.”

“And he’s going over there to… what? Find them?”

Ryan and Kyle both nodded. “Something like that, yeah.”

A weight dropped somewhere in the pit of my stomach. I had a bad feeling. A gut feeling.

“It could be nothing,” said Ryan. “Could be they just lost comms. It’s pretty remote out there, in the plains of the western desert. Lots of mountains, bad reception…”

“Sandstorms, dust-storms…” Kyle added. “Bedouins showing up, ransacking your gear…”

I crossed my arms. “Any chance these guys just deserted? I mean they did work for Markus at one point…”

Markus Ladrone was the deposed captain of Di Spatia, thanks to Jason. And Kyle. And Dakota. And a little bit of me, if we were really counting. His men hadn’t exactly been loyal, especially considering the way he’d treated them. But I just couldn’t imagine any men deserting Jason in the same way.

“Briggs knows what he’s doing,” said Dakota firmly. “If these guys are out there, he’ll find them. And if they’re not…”

The coffee maker chimed ominously, at exactly the moment he trailed off.

“He’ll find them anyway,” Kyle jumped in. “So try not to worry about it.”

I was satisfied, to an extent. They’d told me the truth. They’d trusted me enough to keep me in the loop, with information I knew they’d die to protect from anyone else.

It made me feel special. Loved.

“You’ll let me know the second you hear anything from him?” I asked.

“Of course,” said Ryan.

“I mean the second.”

“Yes,” laughed Kyle. “C’mon Sammara, why would we keep anything from you?” He slid into the chair beside me and put his hand on mine. “Hate to say it, but you’re in the circle of trust now.”