Page 88 of Collateral Claim

A smile tugs his lips. “The coordinates are set into the autopilot.”

“Where are we landing?” Connor asks.

“Selnoa.”

“Selnoa?!” all three of his people exclaim at once. They appear alarmed.

Endo rests his head back. “That’s where we’re going.”

“Whoa,” Connor says. “We can’t go there.”

“We can,” his brother corrects.

“But we shouldn’t,” Slada fills in. “This is fucked.”

“Mmhm,” Endo says.

“All the more reason you need to sleep,” Slada says, a little more forcefully.

“Is there something wrong with Selnoa?” I ask. I remember that Connor and Declan’s father lives there.

“No,” Endo says while they all say, “Yes.”

“There’s nothing wrong with Selnoa,” Endo says. “It’s a beautiful city with great people who dislike the impact expats have on their home. I’m not an expat. I plan to land, do business, and leave, all in a single day.”

“Tell him to go sleep in the back,” Slada says, her gaze on me.

I point at my chest. “Are you talking to me?”

“Jesus Christ, would you all shut up?” Endo barks. “I’m trying to rest over here.”

“You can do that in the back,” I say just to irritate him.

I succeed because he sits up and orders tea. Norma delivers a dark pouch.

“What will you do when you get back home?” he asks, pouring hot water over the tea sachet.

“Call my therapist.”

Endo covers his tea. “I doubt she can help you.”

“Why?”

“You need dick.”

My jaw almost hits the floor. Connor snickers.

“My therapist could be a man,” I counter.

“It’s a woman.”

“How do you know?”

Endo shrugs. “You don’t trust men.”

I swallow. “That’s not true.”

“I think you should leave for your job overseas right after you arrive home,” Endo says, changing the subject. “I don’t think you should put it off any longer.”