16
Payout
“Willem.”
Coeur waves back her bodyguards and steps into the center of the room. A half dozen barrels follow her. And she may be three to four and look unarmed herself, but Manu recognizes the assault carbines her bodyguards are carrying. Those bullets are made to pierce powered armor. A van door isn’t going to do much to stop them. Nor will the light body armor he saw Oriol putting on back at the warehouse.
Coeur takes a slow, deliberate scan of the room, ignoring the pair of bodies but holding each person’s gaze in turn. Her head’s high, her shoulders loose, like she’s walking into a bout she’s planning to win. Thing with Coeur, though, she’s not brash, she’s not cocky. She wins because she plans to, not because she expects to. Manu gives her a faint nod when she meets his
