“Of course, Mr. Everett,” she says.
“So, what do you say, Edwin? If I share my most valuable employee with you, maybe we make a deal?” Cato asks.
Fuck. We’re so close.
“Hmm,” Edwin says. “I think we can make some things happen together.”
“Excellent,” I hear Cato say. Then there’s another pause.
“So, what do ya say, Wren?” he asks. I hear her giggle again.
“What do I say about what, sir?” she says, keeping her voice lighthearted, like she’s a little airheaded and doesn’t know what’s going on. Fuck, she’s good.
“How about we leave and let you and Edwin get to know each other a little bit?” Cato says, and I can hear some shuffling going on.
“Is that enough? Can we go?” I ask. But Julian shakes his head.
“Not yet, B. Almost there.”
Come on, baby. Come on.
“What exactly are you asking me, Mr. Everett?” she asks, her voice still with that ditsy undertone to it.
I hear a glass being set down on a table.
“You have some lovely assets, Wren. It’s time to let Edwin here have some fun. It’s for the better of the business, you know?”
I hear her laugh nervously.
“Oh, my,” she says. “I don’t think…”
“Oh no, you don’t,” Larry says, and I hear a tiny scream escape her mouth.
“You will stay here until he gets what he needs from you,” Cato says. “You signed a contract.”
“That’s it!” Julian says, and before anyone can stop me, I’m bursting through the door, X right on my tail. The four of us are down the hall in a matter of seconds, X with the battering ram in his hands. We each grab it, heave backward, and in three hits, we have the door off its hinges.
“What the fuck?” Cato exclaims as we burst in. When we get inside, Edwin is hovering over top of her on the couch. I knock him to the ground with one swift punch, and I yank her up, holding her to my chest. She’s shaking, and all I want to do is get her the fuck out of here.
My brothers are standing chest to chest with my father, and I move her behind me as we stand closer to them.
“Your time is up, Pops,” I say. Then I pick her up and carry her out of the room. As we are leaving, a team of special agents bursts through the stairwell door toward us.
“Freeze!” they yell. “FBI!”
FBI?
A few of them surround us, keeping us put, while the rest enter Cato’s suite.
I see one shake X’s hand.
“I called in some backup,” he says to Julian. “I didn’t want to tell you guys until it was all said and done, but now, this is all on record too.”
I watch as two agents flip Edwin over onto his stomach and handcuff him. Then they do the same to Larry.
Then they turn to my father.
“Oh, go fuck yourselves,” he says, that smug look that he wears permanently still on his face. He goes to take a swig ofhis whiskey, but Keaton smacks the glass out of his hand. Cato’s eyes widen.
