dark, drone parts tangled like spaghetti, and enough mismatched furniture to make a thrift store weep. Sh

ng a permanent marker like it could ward off debt or ghosts. She was scrawli

brooding model looks, he didn't belong here at all not with all her glowing tech cluttering up the space. "No bringing your sketchy, debt-collecting friends over. Rule number two: We have bound

om her coffee table, weighing it in his mitts. "Eighty

l marriage paperwork's done. Signed at the all-night courthouse kiosk. The system processed it I'

said. He had this smooth, quiet irony in

r, someone started pounding on the front do

le of tech manuals slid of

nd. "Oh god. They found me. They're here. They

ts. The vibe changed fast one second harmless night watchman, the next, k

solute, heavy. Vesper nodded, stepp

tensedbut only for a second-before he just looked ann

ix-foot-five, built like a bank vault, with a vicious scar slashing from eyebrow to

e Syndicate's

ing. "The intelligence team confirmed your new address. I brought your p

ff the bow. Behind his back, out of Vesper's sight, he m

tted Vesper crouched behind a bookshelf, gripping

n, Boss?" Nikolai rumbled, hand drifti

ic. He took the espresso machine from Nikolai, balancing it like it weighed nothing. "Vesp

? The guy you owe money to? I knew it! Look at him, Lysander! He's got a th

nder and Vesper like his brain couldn't process what he was se

der my protection now-I'm his official financial sponsor! Yeah, he owes your organization a lot, but we just signed a legal contr

d at her, the

racking up, shoulders shaking with laughter.

n thousand dollars is an acceptable primary payment, ma'am. The...Thorne Loan

a little. "Now go, before I hack your bil

tually flinched at that. He shot Lysander a desperate loo

urned to Lysander, eyes wide with pride. "See? Saved your kn

he espresso machine on the kitchen counter, grinning with someth

a truck. She staggered toward her bedroom. "I'm crashing f

Vesper," Lysa

nder's gentle act melted away. No security-guard w

er phone, dialing a secure line.

an extraction unit. Looks like the Vance family hired them they

g the glass. He glanced back at Vesper's door, a

oftly, his voice the kind of whisper that makes men run. "Deploy

amily, Don Thorn

they even breathe in her direction burn their