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Gage had convinced Logan to get a message to Zhou, which Logan wouldn’t do until Sabrina and Josh cleared the entrance.
Sabrina had pulled off crazy girlfriend like a pro, but watching her walk inside that building had reinforced his decision to keep her out of his world.
Not that he could make that woman do anything, but he could try his damnedest to convince her that staying as far as possible from his world was the best way to prevent Josh and Dingo from ever being at risk again.
That should do it.
She sure as hell wouldn’t do it for him. Not after he’d flipped the tables on her and turned down his one chance at being together.
He ignored the ache in his chest and accepted that he’d rather live without her than suffer her death.
Speaking of which, Logan had warned Gage that his plan sounded like a one-way ticket to hell. Sabrina would not be happy with anyone if he didn’t come out of there alive.
Gage had no choice.
He had to ensure that Sabrina, and even those two hardheads she thought of as brothers, had a chance at being happy and safe. None of that would happen if she didn’t get out of here alive.
Gage walked between four armed Chinese guards marching him to Zhou’s private box.
Logan might have called this one.
The message Logan had sent to Zhou through Logan’s friend who had loaned him the helicopter informed the Chinese president that he had a traitor inside his trusted advisors. The note included a photo of Gage and said Gage would explain, but only to Zhou in person.
Even that little bit of information was a gamble if Wayan or one of his followers found out. A man in Zhou’s position suspected traitors all the time.
Gage was banking on Wayan’s minions not being inside the president’s personal guard and Zhou’s confidence in his security allowing him to indulge his curiosity.
Telling anyone except Zhou could end with Gage in a dark prison and with no chance of speaking to anyone.
When they reached the box, Gage was kept outside with two weapons pointed at him.
The guard he’d been communicating with stepped inside.
Seconds ticked away, taunting him with his lack of time. His gaze lifted to a nearby television camera where Zhou’s son would soon step into the bright lights. If Zhou gave Gage ten minutes, he believed he could convince the man of Wayan’s subterfuge as well as get Zhou to withdraw his son from the match.
Gage trusted Sabrina and her skills.
He didn’t trust Rikker.
If Gage could take the target away, Rikker would end up waiting longer than he intended, which would allow Sabrina and Josh to take him down or not find him and leave.
For now, he’d rather she didn’t find Rikker, but if she did, she had the element of surprise. Rikker thought they were all dead. Gage prayed that confidence would make the bastard cocky and careless.
The guard Gage had been speaking to returned and spoke this time in English. “The President said he will speak with you after this event and that you should use this time to consider the position you are in. If I decide you are a threat, I am authorized to take you back to China to stand trial.”
Gage said, “What if I tell you someone is here to kill Zhou’s son.”
“I would tell you we receive threats against him daily. Chao is a revered fighter.” He looked at his men and rattled off an order in Chinese that said to stick Gage’s ass in a room downstairs.
Fuck.
The guards hooked a hand on each of Gage’s arms and pulled him around to take him away.
Zhou wouldn’t even give him a chance to state his claim? This bunch would drag him to a country where he would never leave a dark prison cell ... unless it was to be beheaded as a spy.
He couldn’t protect Sabrina from there. The whole point of this gamble was to stop the fight and have Logan’s man coordinate getting all three of them out of Taiwan.
Gage tried one last time. “You don’t want your president to figure out later that I needed only two minutes. Zhou is too intelligent to allow this information to slip away before he can act on it.”
The guard said, “You should have told me when I asked.”
Could this man be trusted?
What if he worked for Wayan and hadn’t even said a word to Zhou?
