Page 29 of Pretty Nightmare

Her head juts back in surprise at the tone and volume of my protest. But then she huffs and says, “Fine. I get it. What’s the point of investing all this effort into the truth if we’re not going to accept it? I agree. We need to figure this out or it’s going to follow us. I have way too much recent baggage to let the old stuff get me in the end.”

I nod. Sigh. “Yeah.”

Her and me both.

CHAPTER SIX - ADAM

When that card showed up with Carter’s signature on Maggie’s sixth birthday I was prepared.

I’m not saying I predicted it and I’m not saying it was expected. But I knew something was coming because someone is always coming for you. Always.

I side-eye McKay as we watch TV with Maggie. She likes it out here in the pavilion just like Indie did all those years ago. She took over Indie’s bed swing and every now and then I see Indie watching her out of the corner of her eye.

I watch Indie closely. Very. Closely.

And even though she has a right to be jealous—I literally replaced her with her own daughter—I don’t think that look on her face when she sees Maggie ride the swing that is rightly hers is envy.

I’m not sure what that emotion is yet—Indie has been trained so well, she could be hiding a severe case of raging jealousy and I’d never know it. But I don’t get that gut feeling when I look at her. That feeling that says, She’s dangerous. Be careful, Adam. She’s dangerous.

So I’m gonna sit on this for a while and concentrate on other, more immediate, problems.

Not McKay. He’s ignoring me today. And that’s fine. He can kiss whoever he wants.

No, there are more important things to worry about today than kissing.

Like… things that don’t add up about this current holding pattern we’re in.

For instance—where the fuck is this Carter dude? Like where does he live? What does he do? Who does he run?

Not my men. That’s for sure. And that’s a lot of eyeballs all over the world if you count them all up. So how does he stay hidden?

This makes me think I’ve missed something. Something very critical. There are people out there, ex-Company, probably, who do not report to me.

I get a little rage-y when I think about this.

My first reaction is, How fucking dare they? How fucking dare they work without my permission? Do they even know who I am?

Which is kinda funny. And says a lot about my ego. But it’s also true.

Do they have any fucking idea who I am these days?

Of course they do.

Everyone knows who I am. And I do get it. I’m not the actual Company king or whatever you call it. The next in line of succession would’ve been James Fenici. He’s the real king. But he’s not interested in running the leftovers and I am. The only other person who could make a claim above mine would be Harper Tate, James’s wife and Nick Tate’s twin sister. And if James isn’t gonna run things—and he’s not, he’s told me so himself—then she sure as shit isn’t the one working men behind my back.

So who’s left? Who is this Untouchable with a claim in the hierarchy?

Carter is a Couture. Like Donovan. But they are not leaders. That family has never been in charge. Not even close. I’m not saying they’re insignificant, they hold a very high position in the old Company line of succession. But the Coutures are not above the Bouchers. A lot of Untouchable families would have to be eradicated for a Couture to proclaim himself king.

Not that something as simple as rules would stop Carter. Obviously.

So it’s him. He’s the one running things. He’s got a team. Maybe several teams. Hell, maybe hundreds. I don’t really know. I have hundreds, myself. But I didn’t inherit the fucking genealogy documents after Gerald Couture killed himself when the CIA raided his island.

Donovan did. Which means… maybe Carter did too.

I should ask Donovan about this. But he’s been so removed from the Company for so long, I don’t expect a helpful answer. Donovan made it very clear that he was gonna do his own thing after Nick and Sasha took the Company down nine years ago. And he did. He went to LA, started a new life, and began a whole new profession.

I will need to talk to him about that, though. Reconstructive surgery only means one thing. He’s making doubles for people.