“Why did you call me?” she asks, cutting through my smile. “If Dante finds out I’m talking to you, I’ll never see the light of day again.”
Jesus. A heavy weight settles into my chest. “It’s really him, huh?” I ask, feeling numb. “He’s really alive?”
Annika gives me a scathing, almost pitying look. “Of course he is. Did you and your brothers really think you could kill the devil?”
Fuck. I drag a hand over my face. Yeah, I’d given Doc shit about it, but… I don’t think I really believed it. Didn’t really believe it washim. That he survived.
We’re so fucked.
“What does he want from us?” I ask finally.
I don’t expect her to answer. She proved it already, didn’t she? She’s on his side, not ours. But she surprises me. “Whatdoes any man want?” she asks lightly. “Power. Privilege.” Her eyes darken. “Revenge.”
That word hits me like a bullet. I’ve seen firsthand what he’s willing to do to people who betray him. “He’s researching someone we care about. Sending guys to look into her. We need to know why, what he’s planning.”
“Sydney,” Annika confirms, without hesitation. Her lips purse. “You should stay away from her, Ash. For her sake.”
My answering laugh sounds broken. “I don’t think I can do that,” I tell her honestly.
“If you care about her, you will.” She tilts her chin, staring me down. “Dante is playing you all for fools, you know.”
When I just stand there, not sure what to say to that, she goes on. “It’s misdirection, Ashton. He’ll use her to keep you distracted. And he’ll keep toying with her until you’re too busy watching her to see what he’s really doing.”
“We’re not going to be distracted,” I insist. “And she’s safe, he can’t get to her. She’s?—”
“He already has gotten to her,” Annika interrupts, voice cold. “He has someone close to her. Watching her. He could take her at any moment if he wanted to. Don’t forget who you’re dealing with.”
My stomach drops. “Why should I believe you?” I challenge.
Something flashes in her eyes, something that looks like anger. “I didn’t have to come here and tell you this,” she snaps. “I don’t owe you or your brothers anything anymore.”
“You kinda do, though,” I remind her, a hint of the bitterness I’m feeling bleeding into my words. “After what you did to us.”
Her eyes widen, and she takes a step back from me, recoiling like I slapped her. “What I did toyou?”
“I mean…” I rub the back of my neck, unease spreading through me. “You sold us out, Annika. You told him our whole plan. Everything.”
Her expression shutters. “That’s what you think happened?” she asks in a low voice.
Think? No, that’s what Iknowhappened. No one else could’ve tipped him off. No one else knew the plan outside of the four of us. It had to be her. Except… The hurt buried deep in her eyes makes me hesitate. For the first time since we left Dante bleeding out on the floor, I’m not so sure.
But she looks away from me, and I could almost convince myself I imagined it.
“Let yourself get distracted by her, and you’ll lose everything,” Annika tells me. She motions to someone behind her—her bodyguard, Friedrich, standing up from another table, hand resting on the gun in his waistband. Fucking hell, a guy that big has no business blending in as well as he does. “Take my advice or don’t. Either way, I couldn’t care less.”
Then she turns, red sole grinding on the gravel in one swift motion, and she’s gone.
24
SYDNEY
Fucking fuck.
Whoever is sending me flowers needs to fire their florist. Immediately.
There’s a new delivery waiting for me outside my apartment, propped against the door, when I leave to meet Jade for our next Operation Sydney outing, and I can tell something is wrong even before I get a good look at them. Sure enough, when I pick them up, the flowers are disgusting. Moldy and dead, the stems wilted, bugs scurrying about, climbing over the stalks.
The smell alone is enough to make me gag. And I know for a fact they weren’t at my door last night when Bea and I came home from work, so there’s no chance this is on me. They were delivered like this, no question.
