I frown at the mention of Vera. “She got my coffee order wrong. Again.”
“Yikes. I guess not everyone can be…”
“Don’t. Say. Her. Name.”
“I wasn’t going to.” Baron puts his hands up defensively.
Almostsaying her name is still an inch too close for me. The reality is that she’s gone, and I am making do.”
Even if my coffee isn’t the right temperature and my dry-cleaning is always late.
“Listen, boss. I know you don’t like talking about the past?—”
“I don’t. So end your sentence there.”
“But have you kept tabs on her and her siblings at all?”
“I said we aren’t talking about it,” I bark out.
But Baron doesn’t know when to quit. When he is concerned about something, he doesn’t stop until it’s resolved. He’s always been annoyingly detail-oriented on the logical side of things, ever since we were kids.
“I’m just saying. You told her to get lost, right? To leave and never come back. And so far she hasn’t.”
“Which means for once in her stubborn, hot-headed, unruly life, she followed orders. And I suggest you do the same and shut up.”
“I just think that if you don’t know where she is, that in itself could be dangerous.”
“She’s somewhere out west,” I tell him. “I tracked her that far. After that, she and her bratty siblings went dark. If I had to guess, she knows how beneficial it is to keep her mouth shut. She was afraid the last time we spoke, and she should be. As far as I am concerned, loose lips lose fingers. And there are no exceptions to that.”
“Yeah, alright.”
It’s a temporary surrender, and I know it. Baron isn’t going to let this go. Which is why I have to crush his efforts every time he brings up the subject.
Shedidn’t exactly leave here on good terms with me. I told her to get lost enough that no one could ever find her. And from the looks of it, she did exactly that. She went dark. Dark enough that in three months of hunting, I wasn’t able to locate her or her brother and sisters. Obviously, if I really wanted to find them, I probably could. But if that’s the amount of effort it takes, she’s gone enough.
I also sent her off with a substantial severance check. A check I told her I wouldn’t clear without an NDA. Granted, HR took care of that, not me. All I know is that, after a few stubborn hours, the NDA came back with her digital signature, and I released the money. It’s enough for her to live on for a while. Enough to get them a decent rental and whatever else they need for new identities. Enough to safeguard me.
It has nothing to do with my feelings for her. Because after everything that happened with Tristan—after watching Maverick being wheeled unresponsive into the back of an ambulance—I have no feelings. Not as far as she is concerned.
Maverick survived the gunshot wound. Somehow, it went straight through his shoulder and missed everything that mattered, though he did spend a week in the hospital and another couple months in rehab. He didn’t want to, of course, but I gave him no choice.
“I already lost a brother,”I snapped at him that day.“I don’t need to lose a friend.”
After that, he gave in. Besides, it’s a perk if he’s not completely useless when he comes back. His shoulder needs to be able to rotate. Otherwise, he’s a sitting duck, and I have no need for him in my ranks.
“Have you heard anything about Tristan?” I ask Baron, changing the subject.
“Nope.” Barons shakes his head. We are both watching the white bricks move assembly-line style from the truck to the loading dock and down. “But if I’m being honest, I have a hard time believing he’s just gone.”
“I do too,” I admit. “He’s lurking somewhere. Even if he is licking his wounds, you know he’s watching. Waiting to pounce.”
“And when he does, we’ll crush him.”
I nod. “Yes, we will. That’s the difference between the old way and the new way. There is only room for onepakhannow. And that man is me.”
That makes Baron grin. It’s the one thing we can both agree on.
We make our way out to our cars. Baron calls over to me. “You want to grab a drink? It’s been a long week; I think we deserve a little R&R.”
