That softens him, and I regret it immediately.
“I think you’d walk me out of one so quickly you might miss the next,” I finish.
He points toward the paper. “Read it.”
“I will.”
“Now.”
I shake my head once. “How commanding.”
“Evie.” There’s a warning in it.
I pick up the paper. The terms are clean—cleaner than I expected. Immediate extraction through Irish protection.Transfer to Brennan-controlled territory. No Vitale obstruction. No formal retaliation. No seizure of assets tied to the broken arrangement. No confinement. No proxy custody. No obligation to return for testimony without agreement from both families.
“So, we leave now?” I ask.
He nods.
“You have a car?”
“Two.”
“Men?”
“Enough.”
I narrow my eyes. “Route?”
“Changed twice already.”
“Destination?”
“Not Dublin first.”
I lift a brow. “Careful.”
“I learned from the best.”
“My father.”
He looks away. For a moment, neither of us speaks. My father sits between us without needing a chair. I fold the paper once.
“Does Alessandro know you’re making this offer?” I ask.
“He knows you’re being given one.”
“But not what you’ll say.”
“No.”
Interesting.
“He agreed to that?”
“He agreed not to prevent it.”
That’s not the same thing.
