"You are born for this," I say. "You are a natural."
"I was terrified," she admits, resting her forehead against mine. "My heart... Silas, check the tracker. What was it?"
I pull out my phone. I check the log.
PEAK HEART RATE: 145 BPM.
"High," I say. "But steady. You didn't panic. You controlled it."
I kiss her neck, right over the pulse point.
"Now," I say, pulling back. "Phase two."
"The Trap," she says.
"Yes."
I take out a burner phone. I dial a number I haven't called in years. A number that belongs to a corrupt NYPD detective who is on Nikolai’s payroll.
It rings twice.
"Yeah?" a voice answers.
"Detective miller," I say. "This is Silas Vane."
Silence on the other line. Then, a nervous laugh. "Vane? You’re a dead man walking. Why are you calling me?"
"Because I want to make a deal," I say, injecting a tremor of desperation into my voice. "I’m done, Miller. The accounts are frozen. I have no cash. I have no men. I’m hiding in a rat hole in the Bronx and my wife is... she’s not handling it well."
Ivy watches me, a small smile playing on her lips as she listens to my performance.
"I want out," I continue. "Tell Nikolai... tell him I’ll give him the girl. I’ll give him Ivy. Tonight. Just tell him to call off the hit. I just want to walk away."
"You’re selling her back?" Miller asks, incredulous.
"I’m saving my own skin," I say. "She’s just a liability now. Tell him to meet me at the old shipyard in Red Hook. Midnight. Alone. Or with a small crew. I don't want a war."
"I’ll tell him," Miller says. "But Vane... if this is a setup..."
"I have nothing left to set up with," I lie. "Just tell him."
I hang up.
I break the phone in half and toss it onto the floor of the car.
I look at Ivy.
"He’ll come," I say. "His ego won't let him refuse. The chance to have me begging? The chance to take you back and prove he won? He’ll be there."
"And we’ll be waiting," she says.
"Not just us," I say. "The army we just bought will be hitting his empire at 11:55 PM. By the time he realizes it’s a distraction... he’ll be trapped in the shipyard with us."
I run my thumb over her bottom lip.
"Are you ready for the end, Ivy?"
She catches my thumb in her teeth. She bites down, just hard enough to hurt.
