Jett distracted him. “What about a simply five-card draw? Do you know that one?”
Jay nodded. In his distraction, he took another hit. Goddamn. He really needed to find a place to put the cigar out. His judgment was already impaired.
Jett stood and dug around in the cabinet. He came back with a small glass plate. “Here. You have to take it slow on these boys.”
Jay didn’t waste time carefully smashing it out and not ruining the cigar. He didn’t know how easy they were to come by, but they were obviously the good stuff.
While doing his best to look sober, Jay eyed his cards. “Remind me. Is four cards of the same number good or bad?”
Jett set his cards down. “Sounds like I need to reshuffle.”
Jay handed his cards back, smirking inside. “Okay.”
With his next hand, Jay discarded two for two. “What’s the bet here?”
Jett took one card. “We could do money, but I’m sure neither of has any real stake in that? How about this? If I win, you have to do whatever I want for the rest of the night. Within reason, of course. I won’t step on Crisp’s toes.”
“So, like a dare?”
Jett nodded.
As long as Crisp didn’t get upset, Jay had no real skin in the game. “What if I win?”
“I’ll do the same.”
Jay nodded. “Playing for dares. We should’ve just played truth or dare.” He placed his cards on the table.
Jett did the same and won. He didn’t show any signs of triumph the way Jay expected. “You’re right. We should just play truth or dare because I’d rather have a truth.”
Jay shrugged. “Go for it.”
“What’s your plan for when all the brothers learn about you?”
Some questions required fortification. He re-lit the cigar and took a puff before responding. “The plan is: there is no plan. I suppose it’ll rely heavily on how they react. No matter what, I’ll put Crisp first.”
Jett nodded, looking satisfied. He motioned toward Jay. “You go.”
They were getting fucked up together. They may as well get to know each other. “How did you end up as a guard for someone like Beau? I have a hard time believing you simply applied for a job you saw online.”
Jett’s instant smile said a lot. He was happy working here. “I did three tours of duty and came home messed up and ended up on the street. That probably sounds weak to you considering how many people you’ve likely killed. I’m sure you’ve seen way worse than I have.”
“This is not a fair comparison. Our emotions are stripped from us starting on day one. That still doesn’t explain how you came to be here.”
Jett laughed. It was a soft, nearly under his breath sound. “I tried fighting one of Beau’s guards at a bar.”
“That was dumb.”
Jett shrugged. “Ultimately, no, because I wouldn’t be sitting here if it had been anyone else. Likely, I would’ve gotten myself killed. Instead, I ended up sitting across Beau’s desk, looking into the eyes of the scariest person I’d ever seen. Beau gave me two choices. Work for him and get my life straight or die. For someone with nothing to live for, I oddly didn’t want to die, so I stayed and straightened out my life. Now I’m living on this beautiful island. For the most part, I get to live an easy life.” He sat forward and claimed Jay’s cigar. He took a puff before continuing. “Truth or dare?”
“I’ll stick with truth.”
Jett nodded. “All right. Do you know anything about something called a society training camp?”
“Nothing good, but yes. Why do you ask?”
One of Jett’s shoulders lifted, as if the topic meant nothing to him. “One guy on the brothers’ team—he took Field’s place so Field could retire—he came from there: Briggs. I’ve never been able to get a bead on him. He doesn’t have much to do withanyone unless he is specifically invited to join. I don’t think I’ve heard him say ten words, but you can see him watching and absorbing. It bugs me. I don’t know if he can be trusted, even though he’s definitely been with the team long enough for him to pull whatever move he intends.”
“I understand. You wish to protect your family, and you’re probably right to feel distrust. We were born into the Russian spy program, genetically perfected. You don’t strip people’s emotions by being kind to them. It takes a certain level of coldness and anguish to lose humanity, but the society is much worse. It might literally be hell. Children are bought from orphanages or scooped from the streets. They live in dirty cages and are forced to fight and kill other children for food. Each one is tortured and taught to be soulless before being sold at auction as killers or whores. It’s a nightmare worse than death. They don’t come out the other side whole. If this Briggs has his freedom, he’s either done something to earn it or he’s still someone’s property. If that’s the case, someone could pull his strings any day. But I imagine Beau knows all that. He must let him stay for a reason. There’d be a bloodbath if anything happened to his family.”
