Page 8 of Croatia Collateral

“Dmytro brought the information to me; I passed it to Patterson,” Hammer said. “We pieced together the names of oligarchs and some of the world’s wealthiest that were included in the discussion. That’s when we sat down and studied the list and came up with Maas as the youngest of the old guys—the one person among them we might be able to replicate and distract.”

Jasmine smiled. “Hank’s wife, Sadie McClain, jumped in with both feet, securing a commitment from Maas for an island vacation. Maas funded the production of one of her highest-grossing films. He’s been on set throughout the shoot, giving him and his girlfriend time to bond with Sadie. When she learned he was one of the Nexus Collective, she offered to help distract him and allow our team to infiltrate and learn.”

“We intercepted the invitation going out to Maas before he received it,” Dmytro said.

“In turn, we responded that Maas would attend with his girlfriend in tow,” Hammer said. “I had an idea who could fill in for Maas.”

“Me,” Dax stated.

“And I knew who looked close enough in appearance to Sasha to pull it off,” Jasmine said.

“We just had to bring our Evan and Sasha together and get their buy-in,” Hammer said.

“Now that we’re both here,” Dax said, “when do we start?”

“Tomorrow morning, bright and early,” Giva said.

“I’ll be ready,” Dax said.

“Good,” Giva said. “You need a lot of work.”

Dax’s eyes narrowed. “I’m not afraid of work.”

Giva nodded. “Good.” She pushed to her feet. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’d like to get out of these heels.”

“And Dax,” Hammer said, “since we let it out that Maas was in Zurich, you’ll need to keep a low profile. Hide your face, don’t go into crowded places without some sort of disguise.”

Dax’s mouth twisted. “Anything else?”

“You’ll also need to get to know each other well,” Jasmine said.

“That’s right,” Hammer said. “Sasha and Maas are close and display a lot of PDA,” he nodded toward the big screen, “as you can tell by the photos.”

Giva frowned. “PDA?”

“Sorry, PDA is a military acronym.” Hammer’s lips twisted. “Public displays of affection. You’ll have to look like you’re a couple. You know, give the impression you like each other, not like you’d rather use each as target practice with daggers.”

Giva frowned at Dax. “You might be good at combat, but can you fake emotions? This job isn’t like pretending to be a drug dealer or a member of the Italian mafia. You’ll have to convince the five other wealthy men you’re grooming me to be the fifth Mrs. Maas.”

“He’s been married four times?” Dax asked.

“That’s right,” Hammer said. “You have homework to do. You’ll need to commit to memory the names of all his ex-wives and the children he spawned with each.”

“As well as the names and purposes of at least his current companies making him boatloads of money,” Giva said. “Add to that the names of the Nexus Collective and what they bring to the table, along with what politicians or country leaders they own.” She cocked a brow in his direction. “Are you up for that?”

“He’s a quick study,” Hammer said before Dax could answer. “He can start in the morning.”

“He’ll need a new wardrobe,” Giva glanced at Dax’s black button-down shirt and slacks that fit him well and made him appear a little dark and mysterious—but not what Maas would wear. “Do we have a budget? Maas only wears the very best. He loves to flaunt his wealth.”

“Hank assures me we can gear up with whatever we need to make it work,” Hammer said. “The magnitude of influence these men wield could be catastrophic.”

“Then we take our boy shopping tomorrow,” Giva said.

Dax’s brow dipped. “I can do my own shopping.”

“Maas and Sasha are known to spend time in Zurich,” Lucie called over her shoulder from the computer console she’d drifted back to. “I’ve cross-checked charges on his credit cards to the businesses where he spent the most money while in Zurich. Besides the Lamborghini dealer, there were several clothiers with big charges, both from men’s and women’s establishments.”

Giva frowned. “We can’t take any chances on picking the wrong outfits. Maas is very particular. The fashion magazines stalk him and Sasha. I insist on going with you.”

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