My brows pull into a hard line. “I didn’t miss shit.”
“Oh, but you did,” he says softly. “Father decided you’re the one who goes with Nancy. The alliance. The family deal. Thegolden couple.” He gestures between the two of us. “AndIhandle the little Dove.”
“I said,” I repeat, stepping into his space, “Stand. Down.”
He laughs. “You can’t have it both ways,” he murmurs. “You don’t get to fuck her and protect her. As well as marry the Queen to the throne. Choose a side, big brother.”
“I think it’s you that needs to choose a side,” I hiss. My fists clench, but before I can say or do something I won’t come back from.
Anthony’s voice cuts through as he enters the office. “Warren.” He stands in the doorway, his eyes flicking between us. He knows the temperature in the room without asking.
Erik straightens, smoothing his shirt like he’s bored. “We’re done here,” he says, not taking his eyes off me. “For now.” Then he steps out, hands in his pockets, whistling as he walks away.
When he’s out of earshot, I exhale slowly, but my pulse is still hammering. Anthony closes the door behind him. “We have a problem,” he says quietly.
I bark a humourless laugh. “Which one?”
He sets a folded sheet of paper on the desk between us. I don’t touch it. “The missing piece to our puzzle,” he confirms. “Operation Flying Dove. It doesn’t take a genius to work out Leoni Dove’s father was the informant they’re talking about in that document,” he says, nodding to the piece of paper. “He fed them everything. Transactions. Times. Delivery points. He gave them everything on a fucking silver platter.”
I run my eyes over it, my brows pinching together. “So why is he inside, why didn’t it touch us?”
“Because your father is good at what he does. His hands are in so many pockets; it was never going to end what you’ve built. Mick Rowe should have known that. His handler certainly would have. It didn’t even get to court, and I strongly suspect your Chief of Police had a lot to do with that.” He takes a breath,blowing it out slowly. “Anyway, he got locked up six months after the case got dropped. Something unrelated.”
“Did my father set him up?”
He shakes his head. “I don’t think so. Assault on his wife. She was pretty badly beaten, life or death by the sounds of it. He’s got a long history of domestic abuse. He got ten years. Your father discovered his deceit after he was banged up. He’s been trying to get to him ever since, but Mick’s not stupid. He’s been on the seg wing constantly.”
“Fuck, he’d rather be locked up amongst child killers and rapists than on a wing where my father could get to him,” I mutter. I scrub a hand over my face. “Why has he kept this a secret?” I say out loud. I know Anthony doesn’t have the answers, but it’s playing on my mind. “It’s not the first time we’ve had to deal with a grass.”
Anthony shrugs. “Maybe he feels responsible. He trusted him enough to bring him in close, and he threw it back in his face.”
“He can’t get to him inside, and now he’s picking off his family one by one, forcing him out of seg?”
Anthony nods in agreement. “It’s something we’d do,” he surmises.
My throat is dry. “But killing Isaac. Extreme?”
“I think he’s tried other ways and they’ve failed. If they allow Michael out for the funeral…”
I finish the thought for him. “He’ll never make it back to seg.”
Anthony nods once. The silence settles, it’s heavy and suffocating. And I can hear the echo of Leoni’s sobs from earlier.She’s grieving her brother. And she has no idea who put him in the ground, or that she might be next. Fuck. She could end up burying her entire family if my father doesn’t get to Mick Rowe, and soon.
I press my palms against the desk, leaning forward until the wood creaks under the strain. “My father will save her for last,” Imutter, “Leoni,” I clarify. “He’s getting us to play with her like a fucking toy. It’ll torment her father, knowing she’s at our mercy.”
Anthony doesn’t disagree. “And Erik?” he asks.
My jaw clenches so tight I feel pressure in my ears. “He thinks he’s doing me a favour.”
Anthony huffs out something like a laugh. “He doesn’t know you like I do.”
“No,” I say, straightening. “He doesn’t.” Because Erik thinks this is a game. He thinks Leoni is leverage, and that I see her as the same. He thinks I want to come out on top for our father, not for Leoni.
Anthony tilts his head. “So, what now?” I meet his eyes. The answer is simple.Brutal.
“Now,” I say, “we play along.”
Anthony doesn’t question it. He just nods. Because he understands.
