Page 124 of Locked and Loaded

"I love you too," she said. "I've never said that to anyone. Not like this."

"I know."

"Don't manage me."

"I won't."

"And don't keep things from me. Even if you think you're protecting me."

"I won't."

"And when we go back, we go back together. Partners. Equals. No more running off to the Sahara without me."

"Deal." He pulled her closer, his arms wrapping around her back, and pressed his lips to her forehead. "Though I have to say, the Sahara worked out better than I expected."

She laughed against his chest, and the sound was the best thing he'd heard in weeks. Maybe the best thing he'd heard in his life.

"Let's go home," she said.

"Where's home?"

"I don't know yet." She looked up at him, and her eyes were bright and fierce and full of something that looked a lot like the future. "We'll figure it out."

He took her hand and led her down the dune toward the bivouac, toward the fire that was waiting to be lit and the sky that was filling with stars and the rest of whatever they were going to build together. The camel followed behind them with the air of an animal that had resigned itself to the foolishness of humans but was willing to tolerate it for the promise of dinner.

EPILOGUE

Armand Fontaine leaned back in his chair. He raised his glass of champagne and the rest of the table followed suit. “To the end of the Lock and Key Society.”

Remy Tanger, Jameson Drake, Ryker Sterling, and Logan Callahan all raised their glasses.

Fontaine continued, “And to the rise of L&K Global. May we be successful in all of our future endeavors.”

They clicked glasses and took a sip before setting their champagne flutes back on the table.

“Thank you, Jameson, for letting us meet in your personal boardroom. Your view of Manhattan is exquisite,” Armand noted.

Drake merely nodded. “We’ll have to find a new place to meet, somewhere discreet, with no links to any of us.”

“Agreed,” said the disembodied voice coming through the speaker in the middle of the table.

“I’m sorry you cannot be with us in person, Archer,” Armand commented.

“Ach, it’s for the best,” Archer responded, his Irish accent creeping in. “New York has too many people who might recognize me, and I prefer to remain dead.”

“Not to kill the mood, but how do we do this?” Logan asked.

Armand shot his soon-to-be son-in-law a small smile. It had been a bit of a gamble including the Callahans in this business. Not usually their thing. He hadn’t been sure they would want to be a part of it, but Logan told him after everything they had seen and knew to be true, the brothers didn’t feel they could turn a blind eye. If there was a way they could help, they would. That was all Armand needed to hear.

“I’ve brought us all together because you and others have witnessed firsthand how power corrupts. Archer decided before he left the Society that it was time to shut it down. I’ll let him explain.”

“Fisher, Davis, and a host of others made it clear that the Society was no longer viable,” Archer began. “It had become too powerful. It offered too much of a temptation for those who want to rule. The wrong person in charge of the Society could change the course of history in the blink of an eye. They would have access to world leaders and the ability to use their weaknesses against them. It was an untenable occurrence, so I decided to end the Society. Remy graciously agreed.”

Remy nodded. “You were right, Archer. The world has changed, and the Society was just becoming a shill for corruption and greed. My grandfather would have been appalled. I’m sure he is resting easy since you and Armand shuttered the Society.”

“How did you manage that, by the way?” Logan asked.

Archer chuckled. “It wasn’t easy, but I started selling off the Society real estate holdings before my untimely demise.”