“What are you saying? She is nothing to worry about??” He was glaring at me as he paced the room.
The laugh that escaped me unintentionally fueled his frustration. “That’s not what I said at all. You should still relax,” I replied, smiling at him, though he seemed on the verge of throwing a punch.
“Cezar, I swear to god, I am going to hurt you. Tell me what the fuck is going on.”
“Honestly, I can’t. You will figure it out eventually on your own. I did warn her of that. Can I ask you for a favor, maybedon’t tell Father?” The worry for her safety gnawed at my insides.
“I won’t, but I want to know who she is. You tell me that, and I will leave it alone. You can be dumb on your own. As long as you leave me out of it. I don’t want to be involved further in your shit.”
“So needy. Fine. Do you have a guess?” I rolled my eyes, showing some brotherly love. “Because I don’t know her name. I just know her signature.”
The way his brows shot up told me he wanted to know more. “She goes by Nycto Reaper on the streets.”
Before I was able to get all of the words out of my mouth, my brother was already freaking out again. “Fuck, fuck, fuck, we have to tell Father.”
“No,” I yelled.
Codrin flinched. The only reason I told him at all was because I did trust him. I knew he’d keep it quiet. I just needed him to understand that under no circumstances could Father find out.
“Okay, I don’t know why you’re so protective of her, but I trust you, Cezar, so I won’t say anything. Just try not to make this a habit. You know what he would think. Makes me wonder if she’s the one who’s been screwing with some of our operations.” Codrin still looked uneasy, though he was slowly accepting it.
Right, Father. He couldn’t have love, so neither could we. Ever.
He put both hands on my shoulders, his face uncomfortably close to mine. “Is she the one who kidnapped you that night?” he asked, connecting the dots.
“Yes.” I shrugged.
He eyed me with a narrowing gaze. “You fucking let her take you, didn’t you?”
He would never understand. This may be my only chance.
My time is limited, and I do not want to die miserable.
I ignored the rest of the questions from Codrin while trying to figure out how I was going to make all of this work. I didn’t want her to get blamed for the things I have been fucking up. My father didn’t trust me enough to run missions, even though I was better trained than most of his men, which included my brothers.
Just because he didn’t trust me enough to do the “important” shit didn’t mean I was missing out on knowing what was going on within the organization. The more I knew, the more I could fuck things up.
After all, I liked to have fun.
Chapter 11
ADELINA
Everything would be fine. We had covered all of our bases. I couldn’t let my subordinates walk into this alone. We needed to move as a unit if we wanted the information we came for. Then I could leave.
Just breathe.
A hand crept onto my shoulder and squeezed gently. Dorin. My rock. The one who kept me from drowning in my own damn mind. We looked at each other and shared a casual nod. Time to step inside.
Not wanting to draw attention, I chose a black dress. Long. Silky. A slit up the leg that was higher than I expected, something I realized way too late. At least my underwear wasn’t showing. The sleeves hid my tattoos. I usually liked showing them off, just not here. The V-neck revealed more cleavage than Dorin preferred, though there was nothing I could do about that. I didn’t normally wear things like this. Most days, I looked borderline homeless.
Dorin leaned in, his voice low. “You look nice, Lina. If this becomes overwhelming, let me know and we’ll leave immediately.”
I nodded, and we split off in different directions.
Given that my hair was painfully memorable, I opted for a wig. The damn thing itched nonstop. At least it matched my dress and blended into the black length. The less noticeable I looked, the better.
As I scanned the room, someone caught my attention. No way. He was here too. I tried not to stare. I just needed to pretend he wasn’t breathing the same air as me. It felt like Cezar was everywhere. Sometimes I swore he knew more than we did, which was not comforting in the slightest.
