“I’m not sure why he … I think he was looking out for me. Maybe. But he wanted me to understand that he was the one who would win. I should’ve listened because it gets worse.” I peer behind me again. Even in this open field, it feels like I’m being watched. “This guy isn’t just powerful enough to have the city and his membership full of underworld minions on his side. He said he could report me.”
“What does that mean?” Now his interest is piqued. “Report you to who?”
“I’ve been over it again and again. He runs the fucking underworld. Hit men, connected families, politicians, secret societies—you name it. They all revere him. I can only think of one group that would make sense for him to report to.” Bile jumps to my throat. “KORT. Tell me I’m not fucking going against KORT, Tripp.”
Complete and utter silence greets me from the other end of the line. Far worse than the keys clacking.
“I don’t know,” he finally manages. “Fuck … when I was researching, there was speculation.”
“Speculation about what?” I sneer, already deducing the detail that he opted not to disclose when he sent me here.
“Axel Noire being one of the chairs.”
All the breath gets knocked from my lungs, and my nose burns with the tears I can barely fight. “Tell me you’re joking. He isn’t just king of the underworld. He’s one of the fucking leaders of the most powerful cabal?” A panicky bleat leaks out of me. “They’re going to kill me.”
“If they were going to kill you, you’d be dead,” Tripp states cooly. If he were here, he’d be pissing himself, but he’s in theexact position he prefers—giving orders from the safety of the shadows. “So, whatever you did to keep yourself on his good side—”
“I need you to pull me.” Again, I stare at the patio, brimming with employee camaraderie. A stunning mural decorates one of the walls. The colors are vibrant, and pieces of Creole culture weave through it. Laughter echoes off the brick. For the first time in years, I feel like my life means nothing. “Who is Dad going to send to Kazakhstan in my place?”
“Claudia. She was the one who was supposed to be at La Lune Noire. She’s not happy.”
An irrational, fiery jealousy simmers in my veins. Claudia is a thirty-seven-year-old blonde bombshell. Probably Axel’s type. Certainly closer to his age. I’ve never liked her much, but the visual of her here makes me despise her. That whole line of thinking is ridiculous, considering my life is in peril. I choke it down and do what I need to.
“Send Claudia here. I’ll figure out a solution for me to go over—”
“It’s too late for that,” he interrupts. “If he’d forced you out, but … didn’t they hire you?” He knows that because I sent the specifics of my position in my last report, so his question is rhetorical.
“Why does that matter?” I clench my fist, the nails digging into my flesh.
“The client was thrilled.” He attempts to be upbeat with that, as if we should celebrate. “We will never get an asset on the inside like that again. We were told employment was impossible. I don’t know how you—”
“Because he’s fucking playing me,” I snap. “Maybe I should just leave.”
“Zar … you’d never work again. And that would be the least of it. You know how that goes. I’ll have Dad consult the client to seeif they think this interaction with Axel compromises the integrity of the mission, but you can’t blow a job like—”
“I don’t care,” I mutter, and it’s as if the world hums a hymn of epiphanies in my ear. I want the clouds and the tree house and the long summer days.
“Well, that’s not an option. This is bigger than us.” He pauses, and in the quietude, everything he’s about to reveal swarms me—a noose stealing my breaths—until he finally finds words for it. “I told you there were layers. I don’t even know the half of it. But there are eyes everywhere. You can’t leave … not without—”
“I think I want out. Of everything. I’ll disappear. Just get me—”
“That’s not how this works!” he shouts, and despite the unsympathetic tone, it’s evident he’s yelling out of his own terror. “You know that. Fuck! If Dad hears you talk like this, he’ll lose it. Youwillget yourself killed.”
Axel knew this was my fate. That’s why he made the offer that he did. He knew if he didn’t kill me, someone else would.“I have people who can erase you. Is that what you need?”
He also knows I can’t accept his help. How could I trust it’s not simply another route to bury me?
Beads of defeat spill down my face. “So, I’m just … this is who I am … forever?”
I’ve never felt like a killer. I extinguish the world of monsters—traffickers, pedophiles, abusers, rapists. Maybe you need to be one to conquer one, but I had purpose. I was saving women and children who would otherwise end up like my mom. Right now, hearing that I’m essentially owned by this life? I am utterly lost. No better off than whatever she was mixed up in.
“For now,” he lies. “You made the decision to be part—”
“I was nineteen.” My voice cracks on that, but there’s more fury than despondency guiding my thoughts. “I made a choice at nineteen, and your answer is that there is no way out? Ever.”
“Can you take a deep breath for me?” he pleads with a soothing lilt. He’s talking me down, like he’s been trained to do with an asset who’s spiraling. “You’re okay. This will pass. Take a night or two off and enjoy the amenities. Relax. Then get back to it. It’s just intel right now. The quicker you get it, the quicker you get out.”
“Good,” I sigh. “Because I will not spend months getting to know all these people, only to discover one of them is my mark.”
