‘I didn’tinvite himhere.’Something about Riley’s attitude today is deeply irritating.‘It’s not my fault he thinks I’m someone else.’
Lachlan isn’t pressing the gate buzzer; he’s just waiting there.
Kade stares.
I’m your psychopath, Jules.
‘Ifyouask,’ Cole points out, typing still, meanwhile, on-screen, Lachlan turns to rest his back against the gate like he’s settling in to wait, ‘I bet he’d submit to testing.’
‘Not my decision.’
Riley looks at the screen.He’sconsidering.
‘Bring him in, make him play nice,’ Riley says, pushing away from the console.‘I want him where we can keep an eye on him and if you tell him to, he’ll behave.’
‘Behave?This fucker killed eighteen of our people.’
‘Believe it or not, Kade, I’m aware of that.’
Riley heads back upstairs towards his room, but Kade follows him this time, leaves his coffee in the Watch.
Thirteen steps lead up into the suite.The entrance is permanently open; no door fitted into the frame, and above it a reinforced hatch leads onto the roof.Riley’s bedroom is completely windowless and there’s almost nothing inside.A heavy reinforced bed covered in black silk.A wardrobe, a chest of drawers by the bed and a single bookshelf holding battered adventure novels and an old atlas whose spine is crumbling.No TV.No screens.At the back of the room is the door to the en-suite bathroom.There are only two rooms at the top of the Tower and they’re both Riley’s.
Kade hates that this is where Riley chooses to live.Every time he steps inside this concrete box, he feels vaguely nauseous, can’t wait to get out.
‘You can’t talk to me like that, even just in front of the boys.’
‘Riley, please, why are you—?’
‘He’s here for you,’ Riley cuts across, pulling on his gun straps before slipping into a jacket.‘He’ll do whatever you say.’
‘How do you know that?’
‘Am I wrong?’
‘We don’t know anything about him.This could be a play.It could be Sorrenko stepping it up.It could be—’
‘If you ask nicely, he’ll submit to testing.’
‘I thought you didn’t want the boys doing research on him.’
‘I don’t need his background.I want to know how he achievedthis.’
‘Do you know him?’
‘He’s never seen me before.’
‘That’s not what I asked.’
‘You’re the one he wants.’
‘I’ve never seen this guy before in my life!It’s not my fault he’s displacing his trauma onto me or whatever the fuck!Iknowyou’re still mad that I left my post to go down and meet him head on but something wasoffabout him from the start and I knew he was gonna make it up here.I just wanted—’
‘You wanted a good fight.’
‘Iwantedto keep you safe.’
‘Whatever you say.Get him to submit to the tests.’
