“Dagon of the drug trade,” I reply flatly. “What do you want?”
“You have something of mine. I’d like it back.”
He’s referring to Ember as anit. My fist tightens around the phone until I feel it creak. My left eyelid twitches, and my jaw clenches.
“She was mine long before she was yours,” I retort. “You’re not gettingherback, ever. Might as well make your peace with that. If you come for her, I’ll kill you.” I’ll kill him either way, but there’s no sense in telling him that. Maybe his arrogance supersedes his confidence to a degree that he thinks I won’t come for him regardless.
“She’s not yours,” Dagon says with an infuriating chuckle. “She’s mine. She’s always been mine. She will alwaysbemine. The last five years have ensured it.” He pauses. “If you had any claim on her, why didn’t she spend those years withyou?”
“You really want me to believe that she spent time with you willingly? I’ve seen her back. You fuckingabusedher.”
“Imoldedher,” Dagon corrects sharply. “I did precisely what needed to be done to make her into the person she is today. Nothing more, nothing less. At no point was I overzealous—”
“She’s covered in fuckingscarsbecause of you!”
“And she’s all the stronger for it.” Dagon lets a long pause linger while I pant like an angry bull, and Greyson leans forward on my sofa, watching me closely.
“I understand she grew up on your ritzy estate—not that she remembers it.” He chuckles quietly. “She doesn’t rememberyouat all, and I guarantee she is no longer the same girl you knew. She’s far stronger now, and she’s bound to me. If you won’t willingly release her, she’ll find a way out. And if she fails, I’ll come for her myself.Trust me, Maximus, you don’t want that to happen. I’m the wrecking ball that will demolish the Nighthawks. I’m the hurricane that will destroy everything you know and care for.” He pauses, letting that sink in. “You have 72 hours to release her. Pass on to her that she has four days remaining to return to me, or I will assume she’s willingly broken our deal and act accordingly. If she’s not back with me by then, I’ll destroy you and the operation you work for.” He hangs up before I can respond.
I crush my phone, feeling bits of glass dig into my skin. The pain is the only thing keeping me anchored right now.
“Brief me,” Greyson demands.
“Dagon wants Ember back.” I swallow. “And he’s willing to destroy the Nighthawks if he doesn’t get what he wants.”
I willnevergive her back to him, but Cain might be a different story. If he sees Ember posing a genuine threat to the wellbeing of the Nighthawks, then he might think she’s more trouble than she’s worth. He might try to force me to give her up. When I refuse, it’d cause a war amongst leadership. Greyson would take my side, as would his unit. The Nighthawks would become divided. We just recovered from a mutiny; we can’t afford another one.
“You have to talk to Cain,” Greyson says. “Immediately.”
“I can’t just leave Ember,” I gesture towards the bedroom. “She’s asleep, and—”
“Just monitor her through cameras and motion sensors,” Greyson says, waving a hand. When I stare at him blankly, he blinks slowly. “You do have cameras and motion sensors set up around here, right?”
“I hadn’t gotten around to it yet,” I mumble.
Greyson sighs. “Get your shit together, Max. Being underprepared is not a good look on you.” He leans back. “Scarlett’s sleeping after ourearlier scene, so I can hang around here while you talk to Cain. I can also call Tobias up to install—”
“No. I don’t want anyone around her while she’s unconscious.”
Greyson gives me a look of disbelief. “You either go to Cain or have him come to you. I wouldn’t trust him in the same living space as Scarlett if she were asleep.”
Fuck. He’s right. Cain needs to be briefed now, and I can’t leave Ember alone.
“Fine,” I grit out. “Don’t go in the bedroom. And don’t call Tobias. I’ll figure out surveillance shit later.” I steel myself, looking between the door to my bedroom and the front door.Fuck, I don’t want to leave Ember right now. Ican’tleave Ember right now—
“Go,” Grey emphasizes. “Cain won’t be happy if he learns you kept this from him, even for a few hours.”
Twenty minutes later, I’ve laid out all the details to Cain in his office. He stares at me from across the desk, nursing a tumbler of whiskey, looking eerily composed as always. I wonder if there’s anything in this world that has the power to crack his composure.
Probably not. He’s fucking diabolical at the best of times.
“Interesting,” he drawls. “Viper obviously has a lot of worth to Dagon, in order for him to make such concentrated efforts to retrieve her. And to make threats.” A smile spreads on his lips. “That makes her very valuable to me, indeed.”
“She’s not a tool,” I snap. “She’s my chosen.”
“She is both,” Cain replies, sounding vaguely bored with my retort. “And she might well be the one viable option for permanently taking down Dagon. That makes herextremelyvaluable.”
“So you’ll let her stay?”
