“Very well, let us begin.” He takes another sip of wine, polishing off the glass and sitting it near the edge of the table. A woman appears out of nowhere to fill it, but he doesn’t pick it up again. “Your husband seems to be under the impression that you are a threat to the freedom and livelihood of every person at this table.”
“I am.”
A slow, sinister smile spreads across his face. He claps his hands loudly, looking at Aubrey. “This woman is a delight, Mr. President. Why are you so determined to get rid of her?” His lips part, but Phineas shakes his head. “That is a rhetorical question. It does not require a response.”
Aubrey bristles, but he does not speak.
“Ensuring you are no longer a threat,” Phineas says. “That is my goal for this discussion. What is yours?”
“To leave here alive.”
“These goals complement each other. I want to see you leave here alive as well.”
The other three people at the table shift uncomfortably in their seats at the declaration, but relief is a soft tingle in the tips of my bare toes as I envision walking out of here. To freedom. To Cal and Beck. To Monique and the girls I adore. It’s all within reach. Phineas—the most unlikely ally of all—is offering it to me. I just have to figure out how to get a firm grasp on it.
“You do?”
“Yes, we will already have our hands full with covering up Ms. St. James and Mr. Granger’s deaths. Another death connected to the President would raise red flags and draw undue attention to him and, by extension, me. We are weeks away from closing the deal on the Qatari military base, and I need himfocused on that not delaying work so he can pretend to grieve his wife.”
“I wouldn’t,” Aubrey protests.
“You would, Mr. President. I would require it because it would be what the American people want to see, and if you speak out of turn again, I will have you removed from the room.”
“I’m glad we’re aligned, Mr. Gambit,” I say, needing his attention back on me.
“As am I, Mrs. Taylor, and I only need one thing from you in order to make it a reality.”
One.
A small number with huge implications.
A singular request that will give me my freedom but at what cost?
I wrack my brain for potential asks—grant him access to the computer Aubrey’s men removed from the house in Bethesda when they ceased me so they can destroy Jordan’s files and everything from my investigation, sign an ironclad NDA that prevents me from pursuing justice for my son and so much as uttering any of their names, agree to stay with Aubrey and birth another child.
Everything I come up with feels like too much and not enough all at once.
“What is it?”
My voice shakes, and I hate that. Hate the way those verdant pools Phineas calls eyes glow with delight at the tremors. Hate the way my heart keeps trying to sink and soar at the same time because hope and despair are battling for control of my body.
Phineas spreads his arms wide, encompassing the whole of the table within his impressive wingspan as he asks me to do the one thing I thought he never would.
“Join us.”
Aubrey scrubs a hand down his face. He is clearly outraged, but he is so afraid of Phineas making good on his promise to remove him from the room that he doesn’t even breathe. He just sits there silent, seething along with Cordelia and Langham. They don’t want me among their murderous ranks, which is fine because it is the last place I want to be.
“Why would I do that?”
“Because it is the only way to ensure your safety and that of your loved ones,” Phineas explains, bringing his forgotten wine glass to his lips. “You know too much, Mrs. Taylor. Your only choices here are death or allegiance. As I explained before, death would be an inconvenience. I am also of the opinion that it would be a waste of a brilliant mind that would provide me with a foothold in an industry I have yet to make a name for myself in.”
“You don’t need my help to break into tech.”
“Do you truly think it wise to try to talk meoutof your usefulness?” The pointed edge of his tone conjures the image of Langham’s syringe plunging into the side of my neck.
Death or allegiance.
Those are my choices.
