She never deserved more than me.
Carlos waits at the far end of the hall, speaking in a low voice into his phone while reviewing a packet of documents spread neatly across the console table. When he notices me approaching, he ends the call and gathers the papers with the same measured efficiency he has always shown, his movements calm and precise. I have come to rely on that steadiness more than I rely on most things.
“Everything set?” I ask as I reach him.
He hands me the folded pages detailing the cargo routing,the personnel substitutions, and the timing for what’s to come. I already know what they contain, of course, but I accept them out of habit and allow my eyes to skim the familiar notes.
“There were a few schedule adjustments,” Carlos says, “but nothing that compromises the structure of the plan.”
I take a moment to absorb the information, even though nothing on the page surprises me. “Good. Make sure the replacements go in with complete clarity about their roles. I don’t want any uncertainty or last-minute improvisation.”
We walk toward the sitting room, as my mind spins around every detail needed for my carefully laid plan to fall into place. However, I am still in tune enough to notice the tension coming from Carlos. The question is, what has him so nervous?
As we enter the room, I set the papers on the table, allowing them to settle into a neat pile before I turn to face him. “There’s something on your mind.”
He presses his lips together, and a slight pinch in his brow tells me there’s something he’s not sure he wants to tell me.
“Carlos, I will assume the worst if you don’t speak now,” I say in warning.
He licks his lips before speaking. “I was just wondering what your plans are now for Wren? Since you’re no longer trading her to Ivan.”
“Hmm,” I hum in realization that this is not about him second-guessing the plan at all, it’s about his infatuation with my sister. I’ve always had him keep his distance before because I needed her to stay pure for Ivan. But since she’s forced me to move onto plan B, a plan I actually much preferred, her virtue was of no interest to me anymore.
“Let’s see how Elias does today. Maybe he will need a littleincentiveto work faster.” We both grin, although his is from his depraved sense of sexual desire, and mine is for the thought of harming her in a way I never could have before.
“You’re sure everything is in place?” I ask again.
He nods. “Yep, double checked it twice myself.”
“Good,” I say, letting the word roll out slowly, not because I doubt him but because I want the weight of confirmation to sit for a moment. “Ivan has grown careless over the years. He believes his reputation insulates him from scrutiny. It never occurred to him that the most dangerous threat would come from someone who has already been inside his walls.”
Carlos studies me with the steady calm I selected him for. “He trusts you because he thinks you share his values.”
“I know,” I reply, allowing a faint note of amusement to settle beneath the words. “That has always been the flaw in his thinking. He assumes other men behave the way he does, which is why he cannot fathom that someone might outgrow him or surpass him. He believes loyalty must come from fear alone, and he has never questioned that belief long enough to see its cracks.”
Carlos shifts his weight slightly. “And Wren? Do you want her moved somewhere else while this is happening?”
“No,” I say, letting the response settle with the ease of something already decided. “She will remain here. I think it’s time she got back into her old routine.”
“Does that mean she’s going to be cooking again? Fuck I’ve missed her cooking,” he says, licking his lips in anticipation.
A faint irritation settles under my skin at the way he says it, that casual hunger in his voice, as if he has any right tolong for something she provides.Iwas the one who arranged to have her instructed in culinary skills; she would have had no interest in cooking if I hadn’t thrust it upon her.
People always responded to her too easily, bending toward her warmth without ever questioning why she had any to give in the first place. My parents encouraged that effect, praising her every small accomplishment while pretending not to notice how quickly the room turned toward her whenever she smiled. Even as a toddler, they taught her how to draw attention without even trying, and I spent several years watching the world hand itself to her while I stood just outside the circle of it.
It created a kind of gravity around her, one I recognized early, long before she ever understood what it meant. And gravity must be controlled. My parents never realized how dangerous it was to let her pull so much toward herself, how thoroughly she eclipsed anything near her simply by existing. They let her grow unchecked, adored, impossible to ignore, and they never once stopped to consider how their imbalance affected me.
So I corrected it, then I pushed her into roles that anchored her, positions that kept her from drifting upward into that orbit she was always so eager to occupy. And she learned quickly, always eager to please. Servitude has a way of smoothing down the edges of someone like her, someone who responds best to praise and approval.
Carlos’s longing for her cooking only proves my point. Even now, after everything, people still lean toward her without realizing they are doing it. But as long as it was under my roof, I could control it.
“Yes,” I say with a nod. “In fact, I think we could all do with a celebratory dinner tonight.”
I move toward the window, watching the rain trickle down outside. “She drifted off course when she left,” I continue, almost thinking aloud as much as speaking to him. “She imagined that other worlds existed for her, that she could thrive without the structure she was raised in. That kind of thinking rarely lasts. People always return to what shaped them. Stability is not something a person forgets simply because they wander for a while.”
Carlos considers this for a moment. “And Elias?”
“Elias will adjust once he recognizes the situation for what it is,” I say. “He is bright enough to understand that he either follows my orders, or she is harmed. There is no other option.”
