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“If I did all that,” he said, “don’t you think they would’ve caught you?”

“They almost did,” said Ryan. “They almost—”

“Goddard was suspicious, yes,” Markus interrupted. “But he wasn’t tipped off. You tripped his proximity sensors.” His gaze traveled to each of us in turn. “One of you, anyway.”

Dakota stepped forward, still holding his tiny towel. “You were inside, Markus! It wasn’t supposed to be that way. You were supposed to—”

“I know what I was supposed to do,” he said, “but Goddard changed the plan. He refused to walk with me. He invited me in — something he’s never done before. If I’d refused he would’ve known something was off, right on the spot.”

Markus sat down on the bed, casually. His men stayed exactly where they were.

“I’m sorry the timing was off,” he said. “But I had to go with the flow. Goddard’s paranoid,” he nodded toward Dakota, “especially when it comes to you and Briggs. But he’s also desperate, which lucky for us worked out in our favor.”

Ryan’s shoulders relaxed ever so slightly. Dakota cleared his throat.

“So… So you’re saying…”

“You want the good news of the better news?” Markus asked abruptly.

“Both.”

The mercenary captain smiled and stood up. “The good news is I’m giving the company back to you,” he said. “Or rather, back to Briggs.” He shrugged theatrically. “Whether he deserves it or not, Di Spatia is his now. His to fuck up all on his own. His to run into the ground without me, or—”

“What’s the better news?” I asked.

Markus’s gaze shifted to mine and a look passed between us. I saw a flash of resentment, but also underlying glimmers of respect, maybe even admiration. Without looking away, he pulled something from his pocket and offered it to Ryan. My lover opened his palm, and a tiny memory card fell into his hand.

“The better news,” said Markus, “is that we got what we needed.”

Ryan’s eyes went wide. All the tension went out of his face.

“Really?”

“Really,” said Markus.

Dakota let out a long, heated breath. As Markus stood to leave, I noticed none of his men had their hands on their weapons anymore.

“What do you want for this?” Dakota asked suddenly. “What’s the price for helping us?”

“I’ll take that up with Briggs,” shrugged Markus. “But for now, just nailing Goddard?” One side of his mouth curled into an evil-looking grin. “It almost makes us even.”

His men moved away as he stepped back through the tiny threshold. Once outside he turned around.

“And Jesus Bradley, would you put something on? That towel’s the size of a wash cloth! You look like an exotic dancer.”

Ryan whirled on him comically. “See?”

Dakota grumbled as Markus looked around one last time.

“I don’t know if this would’ve been my choice,” the mercenary said glibly, “but you’re good here for tonight. I’ll send a car for you in the morning, to take you back. Or you can send for your own car, if you still don’t trust me,” Markus winked. “Your call.”

With that he walked off, his men falling in behind him. He got a half dozen steps before Ryan stopped him.

“Hey… Markus.”

The man turned to looked over his shoulder. He raised an eyebrow.

“Thanks.”