“Or what?”
I raise an eyebrow. “Or Katia’s knife might just slip.”
Noah’s eyes flash as he glances over at the assassin, who is leaning against the wall, examining her nails, and then back at me. “You’re bluffing.”
I release his head and stand up. “Don’t say I didn’t warn you.”
Katia strolls over to us. She whips out a knife and runs it along the length of Noah’s arm. The silver glistens in the dim light as she reaches his shoulders. Then, her expression hardens as she presses hard enough to draw a thin welt of blood down his forearm.
Noah turns green, and a shiver ripples through him. “You don’t want to do this.”
“This is taking too fucking long,” I tell Katia, shaking my head. “He’s a waste of space.”
Katia digs the knife in harder, and Noah hisses. “Give me a few hours with him. I’ll make sure he tells me what I need to know.”
I shrug. “Make sure you clean yourself up after. London won’t want to smell his blood on you.”
Katia’s smile is a flash of white in the darkness. “I’ll tell you all about it after.”
I chuckle. “I look forward to it. When you’re done with him, bring me his brother.”
“No! Leave him out of this. Ryder hasn’t done anything.”
“We’ll need a plan to get to his father, too. I don’t want any loose ends.”
Katia levels Noah with a withering look. “I’ll take care of it.”
I turn my back to her and shove my hands into my pockets. Noah calls out to me, but I ignore him. Once I reach the top of the stairs, the door swings open, and Carlisle appears, smiling. He lowers his voice and leans back to look at me.
“Get the car ready,” I tell him in response to what he shares. “And tell Katia there’s been a change of plans.”
A short while later, Katia and Carlisle are waiting for me by the front door, wearing identical grim expressions. I don’t look at either of them as we step out into the cool night air, and then into the black car waiting for us. Katia gets into the back with me, and Carlisle slides into the passenger seat. As the car drives away from the estate, I lean back against the leather seats.
“What do you want to do when you find them?” Katia asks.
“Leave Everett to me,” I say. “You can have some fun with Fitzpatrick first.”
As long as I get to deal the deadly blow, I don’t care what Katia does to either of them.
Not when I finally know where they are.
All I need is to get close enough, and it’s only been a few minutes since our guy at the airport tipped us off.
Fucking amateurs.
I can’t wait to see the looks on their faces when I cut them off on the way out of the airport.
They won’t see me coming, and it’s almost enough to make up for the disastrous night I’ve been having.
Don’t forget that you still have the Noah problem waiting for you.
I pour myself a drink and picture returning to Noah, who is on his hands and knees, begging for mercy.
For London’s sake, I might even consider it.
Knowing that Noah will sleep with one eye open for the rest of his life is tempting, but it’s not enough.
He needs to be taught a lesson.
