“You were eleven.”
“Yeah, I know how old I was fifteen years ago.”
“At eleven, I was going to school and playing with dolls. My daughter went to school, and although she never played with dolls, she didn’t run surveillance of Selnoa’s most notorious criminal either.”
“Connor is gifted,” I explain.
“I am not,” Connor says.
“He is gifted.”
“Gifted with madness. If we’re talking specifics.”
“We’re not,” I cut him off.
“I’m not gifted with patience. And this motherfucker is making me wait.” Connor shifts in his seat. His impatience won’t work in our favor.
The gates open, and the collective relief in the back seat is palpable. We drive up the long driveway. Tall bushes and trees block the view of the house until the car emerges into a front yard, which is more like a town square. We park on the left, near the steep cliff overlooking the city, and exit the car.
Dina stops next to me, looking around, apprehensive, alert. I like this. I don’t want her to walk beside me like a lost puppy. I need her to assess the situation alongside me. Our lives depend on it.
I expect a welcome, but my dad’s cousin is nowhere to be found. In fact, nobody greets us, but I can sense the sniperswatching our every move. The guards patrol the property. The vests we wear won’t protect us from snipers, but it’s a risk we’re willing to take. We can’t show weakness.
Since Dina’s arrest, I would bet that the factions fighting for power are scrambling to figure out who she is. Now they’ll know that she was found with a professional piece of equipment, and they will pause to reassess their options. My father was feared. Connor and I multiply that legacy.
Even if we intend to dismantle more than half of our father’s businesses and replace them with ways of making money and trading on foreign markets that make people wealthier and the governments happier.
For that to happen, we need Ivan. The man has connections of his own, and several of them are going to be a problem. Like the ones Endo burned. Scarlett’s father is another.
I would rather recruit Ivan and make a deal with him than have to eliminate him and try to renegotiate his contacts. Since he’s admitted us into our home without a fight, and I’m sure he won’t execute us while we’re here, I hold out a hand for Dina.
When she doesn’t take it, I wiggle my fingers.
She puts her hand into mine, and I grow hard instantly. For fuck’s sake, I have to stop this. Preferably today.
I interlock our fingers and walk behind Connor. Next to me, she tries to keep up, but she’s short, so I slow down while keeping an eye on the rooftops.
“How many do you see?” I ask Connor.
“Three.”
“There are five,” I say. “Five and two grounded at nine o’clock.”
“What are we looking for?” Dina asks.
Sniper nests. “Birds.”
“Bird watching seems an odd thing to do right now.”
I wonder how much I should tell her about what we’re doing here. I wonder what’s best for her. To know or not to know. I’ve never had to share details of my business with anyone besides my immediate family.
I’ve never dated a woman, so I have no idea. Couldermouth is a small town. I knew all the girls, and they knew me. We all used to hook up with each other.
Connor and I were popular because of our family, but whenever the relationships got even remotely serious, the girls would get sent away or get a curfew or something. Fathers didn’t want us dating their daughters.
I didn’t blame them. Actually, I envied those girls. Their fathers cared enough about them to take steps to ensure the women weren’t exposed to the kind of violence we saw almost on the daily.
Nobody wants to give up their daughter for a son of a man who brutally murdered his wife and desecrated her body for the city of millions to see.
