Page 59 of Cherished By the Sinners

“Baz believed him?”

“It turns out, Baz met Eli once during the Afghan war.At the time, Baz said he was arrogant and disrespectful, so Baz told him to pull his head out of his ass.”

“And that made Eli friendly to him?”Mason shook his head.“It’s a trap.”

“A distinct possibility.Eli thinks his uncle, Sebastien, has completely lost his grip on sanity.”

Mason grunted.“Most of us seem that way, and Sebastien never did like anyone telling him what to do.”

“Yeah, not like this.He doesn’t care if regular people witness anything.Eli says he’s after revenge and that it’s completely taken over his thinking.”

Fuck.“We need to keep the fight private.”

“Yeah, and in the spirit of wanting to stay alive, Eli told Baz where they are.A warehouse not far from Homeland Security’s current office.”

“Of course it is.”

Mason considered the problem.“When is this Central Park meet supposed to take place?”

“Two hours from now.”

“After dark.”

“Yes.”

“We need to hit them before they leave their warehouse.”

“You’re going to have to convince Baz and Anna of the wisdom of that.”

He patted his jacket pocket, pulled out his cellphone, and called Anna.

“What do you need?”Anna asked.

“It’s Mason.Nika and I are on our way to the hotel, but I think we need to move now.Hit them at their warehouse where we have some hope of preventing our confrontation from going public.”

She sighed.“That has me worried too.”She was silent for several long seconds.“Baz agrees with you.Go to the location and wait for him there.Try to blend in with the tourists.”

Mason grunted.

“Do try to talk to the British first,” Anna said in a genuinely encouraging tone.“Kidnapping people has never been a good negotiating tactic.If they want to sit down with us and work out a new business arrangement, we can do that.But not with a knife at one of our employee’s throat.No treaty or deal or transaction will last more than five minutes if it’s done like that.”

“Agreed.I’m not sure I’m the best person to do these negotiations.I’m very...angry.”

“And you have every right to be angry, Mason.They kidnapped someone you care for.Baz will handle any discussion.Focus on getting Darlene back unharmed.She has become a favorite among our guests with her hard work and sunny nature.”

“I will,” he said, making those two words a vow.