Chapter 10 - The Final AccountingThe boathouse at Lake Thun loomed over the black, churning water like a concrete tomb.
Inside, Kenji Chong paced back and forth across the wooden floorboards, checking his watch for the third time in a minute. His four elite enforcers stood near the double doors, rifles held at the ready, watching the foggy shoreline.
"They're late," Kenji muttered, frowning. "Sweep the perimeter again—"
He didn't get to finish the sentence.
CRASH!
The massive wooden double doors blew inward in an explosion of splinters and flying iron.
Before the guards could raise their rifles, a massive furry missile shot through the opening. Thor slammed directly into the lead enforcer, sending him flying backward into a stack of metal oil drums with a bone-crunching thud.
Chaos erupted in a fraction of a second.
From the shadows, Jyn moved like a phantom, disarming two guards with brutal, lightning-fast efficiency—a sweeping kick to the knee, a crisp strike to the throat, and a pistol clattering across the floor.
Kenji whipped around, raising his automatic pistol toward Zoe and Nia’s father, screaming, "Don't move or I'll—"
ZAP!
A blinding streak of pink electrical current shot across the room.
Nia stepped out from behind a stack of fishing nets, holding Grandma Gigi’s pink taser with both hands, smoke curling lazily from the titanium prongs.
Kenji’s eyes widened in utter disbelief. He stiffened instantly, his muscles locking up in a violent spasm, before dropping straight to the floor like a felled oak tree, twitching faintly.
Silence descended on the boathouse, broken only by the rhythmic lapping of lake water against the pilings and the heavy panting of a German Shepherd sitting triumphantly on a pile of enemy tactical gear.
Zoe spat out the duct tape as soon as Jyn cut her bonds with a pocket knife. "If anyone ever asks me to get coffee with Nia again, remind me to say no."
Nia walked past them, ignoring her sputtering father, and knelt beside the twitching Kenji. She picked up his encrypted satellite phone from his hand, dialed a pre-programmed number, and pressed it to her ear.
"Hello?" a gruff voice answered from somewhere in Hong Kong—the elder head of the Chong syndicate.
"Mr. Chong," Nia said, her voice dripping with lethal, icy calm. "This is Nia Santos. Your nephew is currently taking a very unexpected nap on a cold concrete floor. I’m calling to renegotiate your shipping rights contract."
There was a long, stunned silence on the other end of the line. "Who... who is this?"
"I'm the mother of the future heir," Nia said clearly, glancing up at Jyn, who was standing behind her with a look of absolute, unapologetic devotion in his dark eyes. "And starting tomorrow, we are rewriting every single rule in your book. Do we have an agreement?"
A heavy sigh crackled through the speaker. "Name your terms, Miss Santos."
Nia hung up the phone, tossed it onto Kenji’s chest, and stood up, brushing off her jeans.
Jyn stepped forward, offering her the velvet box she had left on her kitchen counter hours ago. The diamond caught the cold morning light breaking over the lake, burning with a fierce, unbreakable blue fire.
"Well," Jyn said softly, a ghost of a smile playing on his lips. "Is this the part in the movies where you say yes?"
May you like
Nia took the box, closed it firmly in her palm, and looked him straight in the eye.
"Only if we stop for coffee first."
