“It manages.”
“Good.” He nodded thoughtfully. “My brother mentioned you were still in physical therapy last year. He sends his regards.Says you made the bureau nervous—one of the best they’d trained, right up until you weren’t.”
“Your brother talks too much.”
Sebastian chuckled, shaking his head. “James always did have trouble separating family from business. But you know that better than anyone, right? I heard JSOC didn’t exactly appreciate him snooping around your missions.”
I tightened my jaw, forcing myself to stay calm. “Your brother never understood boundaries. Even less when it came to classified intel.”
“True,” Sebastian agreed. “But you have to admit, it came in handy when you needed someone to erase all those inconvenient things the bureau wasn’t supposed to see.” He paused. “Listen, Marco, we both know you’re better than playing Romano’s enforcer.”
“I work where Remy sends me. You have a problem? Take it up with him.”
Sebastian scoffed. “Oh, I have. But we both know Remy never handles his own problems. That’s what you’re for, right?” He paused, eyes narrowing as if he were deciding how much he wanted to twist the knife.
“Look, I didn’t clear your records out of charity. I did it because you were one of mine. You handled things when nobody else could. Like with Cillian Clarke.”
I stiffened at the name, a muscle twitching involuntarily in my jaw.
Sebastian noticed. “I know things got complicated after that. With Remy, the Italians, and now even the Russians. All because Max fucked around where he shouldn’t. But we were good together. Come back to me—I’ll make it worth your while.”
The memory of Cillian Clarke’s final moments had never fully faded—blood on my hands, Sebastian’s orders ringing inmy ears. And then Valentina. Sick, innocent, left in the wreckage of my obedience.
“Tell me,” I said slowly, leaning forward, “how exactly is that supposed to play out? I walk away from Remy and Max and just stroll back into your family’s good graces as if nothing ever happened?”
“Not my family’s, Marco. Mine. Cade doesn’t care what I do as long as it doesn’t touch his campaign.” He paused again. “You’ve always known exactly how far I’ll go to protect my interests.”
Sebastian’s protection came at a cost—it always had—but at least it was predictable. Remy and Max dealt in chaos, pulling strings behind the curtains.
He lowered his voice. “Max’s alliances are about to implode. Come back now, and you won’t have to clean up the mess. You’ll be on the right side of it.”
Max would be fine. I knew because I was the one covering his ass.
“You’re forgetting something important, Sebastian. I don’t trust you.”
Sebastian smiled, utterly unbothered. “I don’t need your trust, only your loyalty. There’s a difference, and we both know you’re capable of giving one without the other.”
He wasn’t wrong, and that bothered me more than I’d admit.
“Make the call. Get me out in the next three hours. You and I both know this is your best chance to get out before the walls come down.”
I stared at Sebastian, letting his offer sit. It should’ve been easy. I’d done worse for less. But I couldn’t do it. Not because of loyalty or trust or any sense of morality. I wasn’t that noble, and neither was he. It was simpler, more juvenile. It was the fact Sebastian had gotten to her first—to Valentina. It bothered me ina way I wasn’t proud of. It was irrational—childish, even—but it gnawed at me like an itch I couldn’t reach.
“Tempting,” I said finally. “But I think I’ll take my chances with Max.”
Sebastian’s eyes narrowed. “I’ll double whatever he’s paying you.”
Double the money from Sebastian Callahan wasn’t something you shrugged off casually. Money was how we communicated—how we kept score—and he knew exactly what he was doing, dangling it in front of me like bait.
But this wasn’t about money. Not this time.
“You and I both know you’re the best at what you do, and Max is wasting your talents.”
“Funny,” I drawled. “You didn’t seem to think Max was a waste of time when you were skimming his shipments.”
He shrugged casually. “Max’s business was convenient. Easy money. But convenience has its limits, especially now the Russians are involved. I’d rather work with someone I know can handle complications. Someone who can keep his feelings separate from his work.”
I shook my head once. “No.”
