“Some of the girls will want to go back to their families,” Yara says. She sits on the side of the bed and swings her legs. “Not me. I’ve got no family to go back to. Do you need a secretary or something?”
I laugh at her boldness. “Sure. I’d happily find a use for you. But you may not want to work for me when you find out what I do.”
“You save women from being sold as slaves. That’s all I need to know.”
I think about that. How simple she makes it sound, as if everything I do can be summed up as black-and-white. But it’s not as simple as that. I may be saving these women, but I’m still a criminal. I still relish the doing of reprehensible deeds.
This empire belongs to me now. I need to decide what that means, and who it’s set up to protect.
That night we open our Christmas presents around the tree. Gabriel orders Middle Eastern food out of some misguided idea it will help Yara feel at home. She opens the lid and bursts out laughing. “That’s what you think mahshi is? You Americans deserve to be shot for this.”
“We can order something else.”
“No, no, I will enjoy this strange thing very much.” She digs in her fork and smiles. “Thank you.”
Even though we’re celebrating Christmas late thanks to the boat’s arrival, and even though there’s a giant-ass sword of Damocles dangling directly over my head, it’s still the best Christmas ever. George gifts me an incredible painting she’s done – it’s my face in profile, my golden hair streaming out behind me. Inside my silhouette are the crumbling pillars of a fallen Roman temple, twined with laurel branches. I hang it over Howard Malloy’s desk.
Eli shyly hands me his gift, a book on the first Roman Triumvirate of Octavian, Marc Antony, and Lepidus. Noah presents me with a new sword for my collection – a replica of a Viking Ulfberht sword made of the most exquisite crucible steel. Gabriel gives me a deep, pagan kiss and a promise that he’ll be gifting me with my combined Christmas and birthday present just as soon as it’s finished. I dare to hope for what it might be.
Antony and I follow our own Christmas tradition – we gift each other nothing but a nod of acknowledgment that we’ve survived another year.
My princes shower George with gifts too – a new podcast microphone, art books, a tattoo voucher. Even Madeline gets gifts from us – imported coffee and chocolate and a beautiful book Eli found celebrating women in teaching throughout history. Tears stream down her face when she turns the pages.
And Gabriel presents her with the best gift of all – fifty thousand dollars in cash. He’s even tied it up in a sack and drawn a dollar sign on it, because he’s Gabriel.
“I can’t accept this.” She pushes the money away, like it makes her physically ill to touch it. “This money is yours. You earned it. I can’t ask you to spend it on me—”
“You didn’t ask,” Gabriel says, his voice unusually tender. He sits beside her and clasps her hand between his. “Please let me do this for you. I’ve never had the chance to do something selfless before. It’s actually quite titillating.”
“Gabe,” Noah warns.
“What?” Gabe flashes him an innocent smile. “We’re having a Christmas moment, Noah. Don’t ruin it.”
“If you like, Ms. D, consider it payment for suffering through Gabe’s obnoxiousness in class,” Eli says.
She laughs through her tears.
“I resent that.” Gabe folds his arms and pretends to pout. “I’m the perfect student. Dashing, witty, and rarely in attendance.”
She sets down the bag and throws her arms round Gabriel. “Thank you. You have no idea what this means for me.”
“You’re almost free of him. I’m speaking with Nero as soon as he gives me an audience,” I say. “I imagine it’ll be soon once he figures out I’ve stolen his shipment.”
Her face pales. “I don’t want you to put yourself in danger for me.”
“I’m not afraid of Nero,” I growl.
She touches the bag of money gingerly, like it might explode in her face. “I can’t believe it could all be over,” she whispers. “It’s too much to wish for. When Nero first showed up to collect on Randy’s debts, I laughed in his face. The notion that I owed anything to this cheesy gangster in his pinstripe suit seemed so absurd, I thought it was one of the other teachers playing a cruel joke. But then Nero started threatening my family, my career, even the safety of my students, and the debt kept growing larger and larger no matter how much I paid… I thought I lost everything, but when you pulled me off that stage, Eli, I saw that I had so much more I could lose. I won’t know what to do with my life after he’s no longer part of it.”
“A word of advice,” I say. “Get far away from Stonehurst Prep and Emerald Beach as possible. Shit is about to go down, and you don’t want to be anywhere near Nero when I take back this city.”
36
Eli
“You’d better stay out of Nero’s way,” Livvie whispers. “He’s on the warpath, and it’s all because of your woman.”
We’re in the basement, playing with Casper and his brothers. I brought in potted plants and some of Gizmo’s cat toys and a cat playground I gifted Queen Boudica for Christmas that she turned up her nose at (cats are ungrateful dicks). It’s not much in the dingy, depressing space, but seeing the cubs zooming around on the tower and playing peek-a-boo behind the plants makes me feel a little better. The python watches us through the glass, and I can’t help but think it looks a little jealous.
