Page 9 of Croatia Collateral

Dax nodded. “Okay.”

Giva’s frown deepened. “You capitulated too easily.”

“You can come with me.” He gave her a tight smile and added, “On one condition…”

Giva lifted her chin. “And that is?”

“I’m going with you when you suit up. I imagine Maas knows what he likes on his woman.” His lips quirked upward. “Besides, that will give us time to practice our PDA. Unless you think pretending to be in love with me is too difficult.”

Giva bristled. She’d more or less accused him of the inability to act like they were lovers. As soon as Dax had suggested they practice their PDA, Giva had tensed. In dread or anticipation?

She wouldn’t give herself an answer to that. Dax was a handsome man. Maas was, too, being a near copy of Dax. But Maas didn’t have that rugged nonchalance and subtle confidence of a Marine.

Hass gave the impression that he would demand respect rather than earn it.

Giva appreciated a man who wore his self-confidence like another layer of skin, naturally.

Hammer said. “We’re here to drill you both on the information you’ll need to know. We have a few days before the meeting commences. Let’s make the most of that time. Any questions?”

Dax nodded. “Where are they meeting? Here in Zurich?”

Hammer shook his head. He opened his mouth to formulate his answer,

Giva beat him to the punch. “Dubrovnik, Croatia.”

Dax met Giva’s gaze. “Why Dubrovnik?”

She shrugged. “You’ll have to ask the three main leaders of this summit.”

“The top two are the ones to look out for,” Lucie called out. “Vitaly Rabinovich and Yuri Kagalovsky. Both Russian. Made their money the old-fashioned way by threatening the politicians or funding their leaders’ special projects, including the Russian mokroye delo or ‘wet work.’”

Dax’s brow creased. “Isn’t that when they threaten to do harm or kill family members if their target doesn’t commit suicide?”

“That’s right,” Lucie said without looking up from her monitor. “There’s also Marco Galeotti, a shipping magnate with real estate all over the world and links to the Italian Mafia.”

“The point is, besides those three heading this meeting, there will be a number of wealthy people there who are equally dangerous,” Hammer said.

“And if our true identities are discovered, they’ll kill us?” Dax concluded.

Hammer nodded. “You don’t have to take the assignment. I can find someone else; it’ll just take longer. We might miss the opportunity to discover what they’re up to and if the rest of the world should be concerned.”

“And what we can do about it,” Jasmine said. “If anything.”

“What I’m hearing is that you want Ms. Haviv and I to get in, listen and get out with a clear idea of what kind of scheme or schemes they’re cooking up.”

Hammer nodded. “We’ll send bodyguards with you and Ms. Haviv. It fits with Maas and his woman. The man makes enough money, he could purchase Zurich’s entire city center. He’d have an entire entourage of security personnel. Since we’re not fully staffed, Hank’s sending some of the protectors from the Montana and Yellowstone offices. They should be here late tomorrow.”

“I take it the bodyguards will be checked at the meeting doors, along with significant others,” Dax said. His gaze met Giva’s.

She gave him a brief nod. “You’d be on your own for the actual meeting. They’ll consider me arm candy. While you’re inside with the men, I could circulate with the women and listen to the bodyguards talk in case they have been clued in.”

“If any of the others bring their women,” Hammer said. “Your bodyguards might also mingle with the bodyguards of the other oligarchs,” Hammer said. “They’ll be on full alert. If things go south, they will do their best to get you and Ms. Haviv out of there. It’s all up in the air until Maas gets the text with the instructions. We’ll have a jet boat in the Dubrovnik harbor, and vehicles staged outside the walls of Old Town.”

“Will Hank and Sadie be able to keep Maas and Sasha occupied for the duration of the meeting?” Dax asked.

Hammer nodded. “Hank said, if he had to, he’d drug the pair to keep them on the island. He also plans to sabotage the internet to keep them from attempting to get in touch with outside interests.”

“It’s hard to keep anyone from finding out anything through the internet these days,” Dax said.

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