“Over here.” Damiano leads Madison to the armchairs in the casual sitting area.
“Drinks?” I ask.
“Please,” Damiano and Madison say at the same time.
I pour three glasses of whisky and hand them out. When I sit down, it feels like Madison is too far away. I want her on my lap. Perhaps lying over my thighs so I can spank her naughty ass for ignoring me.
“We have to send Madison away,” Damiano says.
“What?” Madison goes very still, yet her tumbler of whisky tilts dangerously in her hand before I reach over to help her right it.
“You’re in danger.” Damiano shifts so he can get his phone out of his pocket. “I received this photo, two hours ago.”
He holds up his phone so Madison and I can see the picture. It’s her, walking somewhere with a shopping bag. She’s wearing the same black sweater and jeans in the photo that she has on right now.
“Who took this photo?” She tries to grab Damiano’s phone.
“I don’t know, but I have a good fucking guess,” I say. “Erich Pointer.”
“That’s my guess as well,” Damiano says. “Detective Franks can’t arrest him—his soldiers are taking the fall. No one will admit he was involved. There’s nothing Franks can do.”
“Fuck,” I say. “Fuck. And now he’s surveilling Madison. He means to scare us into shutting down Nove.”
“Hold on just a minute,” Madison says. “We need to revisit the whole ‘let’s send Madison away’ thing. We haven’t all agreed to that.”
“I agree with Damiano.” I can’t close my eyes, because if I do, I’ll see the surveillance photo again. “It isn’t safe for you here.”
“You’re ignoring the fact that I am a human being with agency who can make my own decisions.” She arches a brown eyebrow at me.
“Certainly you can make your own choices,” I say with a lightness I don’t feel. “As long as those choices aren’t fucking stupid and they don’t put your life in danger.”
“Oh, fuck off with that.” She sets her glass down and stands up, hands on her hips. “The world isn’t safe. I’m not saying I’ll go walking downtown alone at night, or even during the day, until Erich Pointer is no longer a threat. But you two threatening to ship me off to—where? Los Angeles? Arizona?”
“I was thinking somewhere out of the country,” Damiano says, with zero shame in his voice. “Mexico, perhaps.”
Madison’s green eyes get wider with outrage. “No. Absolutely not. I’ll live in this building if I must, and that’s it. Hell, I won’t even leave unless you say it’s okay. You can lock me in the tower, but there’s no way you’re sending me to Mexico.”
“Think about this for a moment.” Damiano sounds much calmer than I feel. “Two men who care about you—who love you—want nothing but your safety and wellbeing protected.”
“Two men who are overreacting,” Madison mumbles as she takes her seat again.
Knowing that I’m aiming low, I find the photo of my parents that Point Ops had sent me. I hold my phone up so Madison can see it. “Is it overreacting after we just went through this?”
She presses her lips together, like she can see my point. “But Mexico? Really?”
“It is far enough away, but without being too far.” Damiano leans forward. “Madison, this is our work, our livelihood. Please trust us.”
“Fine. Mexico.” She nods to herself, finally coming around. She gives us a little grin. “I’ve always wanted to travel. Somewhere with a nice beach, if possible? When do we leave?”
Damiano and I exchange a look.
“What?” Madison asks. “What does that look mean?”
“We can’t go with you, bella. We need to stay here and focus all of Nove’s attention on finding evidence against Erich Pointer.”
“So you’re sending me away not because I’m not safe, but because I’m a distraction?” She looks down at her lap.
“He’s watching you.” I point to Damiano’s phone. “You saw that image. Do you feel safe right now?”
