“Loving this coded language,” Connor whispers. “I feel like I’m part of the gang.”
I whack him upside his head, at which he laughs.
Endo scrubs his short beard. “You returned from there half dead. I’m grateful, as you should be, that we were able to saveyour life. In fact, we all could’ve died in that city, but now you want to go back?”
“The police have my rifle.” I grit my teeth. “I’m humiliated to have to admit I didn’t secure the weapon. I didn’t anticipate… There was an accident, and I thought I had it all under control, but there was a human element involved, and the civilian who helped me didn’t follow orders. I depended on her.” I pause. “Almost entirely.”
My uncle nods. “Go on. What’s the current situation?”
“I’ll take care of it.”
“I know you will. But I want to know what the situation is, so tell me what’s going on.”
“Declan’s hooker made the news,” Con says, just as Mary enters with a cart full of breakfast. Before she puts a tray on the table, I snatch a croissant. When I bite into it, I lean in over the plate so the flakes fall on it and not in my lap. I moan at the buttery taste. Mary serves me a pile of three croissants with bacon and eggs.
“You’ve lost so much weight,” she says.
“I’ll lose more when I can’t take you with me.”
“Leaving already?” Mary makes a disapproving face, then looks to Endo, who crosses his arms over his chest.
“I’m not sending him away.”
Mary snorts and grabs the dirty dishes, then leaves us be.
Endo pins me with a stare. “You’re not going anywhere.” He slides his dark gaze to Con. “You can go.”
“No,” I say. “He can’t go in my place.”
“Why not?” Con asks. “We’ve done it thousands of times before. I dress in a suit, behave like I’ve got a stick up my ass, and put in one brown contact.” He lowers his voice, mimicking my speech pattern. “Your hooker won’t know the difference.”
Lord, what have I done? He won’t stop calling Dina my hooker. It grates on my nerves, but the less they know about her,the better. If I can extract her by myself, nobody has to know anything about her.
“I’m sorry, Uncle, but I’ve got to go back.”
Endo tilts his head. “I said no.”
I wipe my mouth. “I don’t want to do this with you today, but I will if I have to.”
“Do what?” Endo asks.
“Argue. I need a plane, volunteers, and boats full of weapons docking on Selnoa’s shores in a few days.”
Endo’s eyes widen. “Are you planning a siege?”
“Yeah.”
“I didn’t know that’s what we’re planning,” Connor says, his voice high-pitched. I don’t know if that tone means the idea freaks him out or excites him. I bet on the latter.
“To what end?” Endo asks.
“Connor and I are taking over Dad’s business.”
Chapter 13
Not asking
Declan
