Page 33 of Omega

“Yeah, but—”

“And no, it’s notjustHarris. He’s got guys out there right now, protecting us. You just can’t see them. And, hopefully, you never will, which is the entire point.”

I glanced around, but all I could see was the forest, the house up on the hill behind us, the sea and, anchored out in the bay, theEliza. “Where are they?”

Roth shrugged. “I don’t know for sure. There are some outbuildings hidden in the vegetation around the house, there are some guys out there. There’s a sniper on theEliza. Alexei is on the grounds around here, somewhere, prowling. We have half a dozen pairs of eyes on us at all times. I assure you.”

“At all times?” I asked, a little disconcerted at the thought of eyes watching us at…certain intimate moments.

Roth just laughed again. “They are discreet, I promise. If we’re…intimate, shall we say, they keep their eyes on our location, but not on us directly, and any audio input is muted. Standard protocol, I’m told.”

“So Harris is…”

“The tip of the spear, you could say. The visible portion of the iceberg, with the real bulk hidden below the water. If you think Harris is frighteningly efficient, the rest of his men make him seem like a harmless kitten. He’s by far the most…personable…security expert I’ve ever met.”

“Harris is…personable?”

“Compared to the barely-reformed villains in his employ? Yes. I’ve met a lot of his men over the last few months. He chooses well. Let’s just say you don’t hire private security personnel based on their shining personalities.”

“I’m not sure I want to know what that means.”

“No, you don’t.”

“Are they like Vitaly’s men?”

“Hellno. Vitaly employs murderers and thugs. His men are little more than barbarians. The men closest to him, his personal security force,thosemen are a little more human, but the rest are monsters turned loose on the world. Harris’s men are competent, efficient, well-trained, and most of all…have at least a modicum of humanity. A spark of morality, I suppose you might say. They’re still mercenaries who fight for the highest bidder, but none of them will tolerate the kind of evil Vitaly propagates.”

“What about Alexei?” I asked. I’d met Alexei in the middle of the whole thing with Gina and Vitaly. He seemed nice enough, even if his eyes were a little hard and distant. Good-looking in a rough-hewn sort of way, he was also an accomplished musician, having played guitar and sung beautifully at the dinner at which Roth had proposed to me.

“Alexei was assigned to interact directly with us specifically because he can actually behave himself. But he’s still not a man I’d like to meet in a dark alley.”

By this time, the propellers were still and the door was opening, disgorging an exuberant Layla. “Did you see that? Holy shit! I landed a plane, bitches!”

Harris was next, a faint, amused smile on his face. “A plane which needs to be tied off so it doesn’t float away, Miss Campari.”

“Yes sir, right away sir!” Layla barked, with a sharp, dramatic salute. “And why is it whenever we get around other people you call me ‘Miss Campari’, but in private you’ll call me by my first name? I don’t get it.”

Harris’s face immediately wiped itself of expression. “I’ll get the bags.” And then he was back in the fuselage, out of sight.

Layla finished tying the rope around the dock pylon with a knot Harris had obviously shown her, and then straightened and stared after Harris. “Touchy little shit, ain’t he?”

“Wait, that wasn’t your first landing, was it, Layla?” came a familiar voice.

A voice I hadn’t heard in far, far too long.

“Cal?” My voice cracked.

“Yes, it was my first landing,Calvin,” Layla asked, her voice a little too formal. “Why do you ask?”

He emerged from the plane, all six foot three of him, blond hair cut short and spiked stiff, mirrored aviator shades on his face, tank top revealing muscled arms, bright pink floral print board shorts. God, my little brother had grown up.

Cal took one glance at Layla, and thought better of whatever he’d been about to say. “Just…that it was great. Great job. Glad those lessons are paying off. Awesome.”

She smirked at him. “Lessons? Oh, I haven’t taken any real lessons. Harris has been teaching me.”

“So…you don’t actually have a pilot’s license?” Cal asked, looking a little green.

“Pilot’s license?” Layla laughed. “Buddy, I barely got mydriver’slicense.”