Page 101 of The Wrecked One

That’s my girl.

“As we said,” Mya continued, “we know who you really are. You don’t just spin stories on behalf of The Collective, you’re their messenger.”

Stef’s nostrils flared at that detail, but he didn’t appear too shocked. “And who told you that?”

Mya flicked the air as if simulating a wing flying. “A little birdy.” From the corner of my eye, I spied a grin cut across her lips as she gave Stef a second to comprehend how much we truly did know.

Stef fixed his tie again. “I hadn’t been sure if my son was being paranoid until the day he set you up and listened in on your conversation.” The old man’s piercing, knowing look nearly fucked up my resolve to remain steady. “Surely you remember that day.”

Breathing hard, nostrils flaring and my body locked tight, Mya firmly held on to my arm, holding me back. She recognized I was a moment away from losing control the way I’d done in that room in Thailand, stabbing that Interpol agent over and over again.

“The irony in all of this is had you not come after us that day, we may have never put two and two together about your carrier pigeons,” Mya said.

Her strength and confidence broke the tension somehow, stopping me from using the only tool I had available for murder—Stef’s cane.

“We were undercover to try and take you down, yes, but at the time, we had no evidence to definitively link you to your evil pals. And as for the birds, we thought that was a bad tip. You brought this all on yourselves.” She stabbed the air in Hugo’s direction. “You exposed yourselves by coming after us. So, you only have yourselves to blame.”

Stef shifted toward his son, unmistakable disappointment in his eyes. “This is why you never leave a job up to anyone else, not even your own blood.”

“Just killing the two of them would’ve had the same domino effect, drawing out the rest of their team regardless. They’d have come after us for revenge.” Hugo put out his cigar in a nearby ashtray. “My plan was the best one. The only reason it didn’t work is fairly obvious now.”

“And that is?” I arched my brow.

“We have a traitor amongst us, Dad.” Hugo shoved his hands into his slacks pockets. “It never made sense to me why I kept failing with these people, because I never fail.”

So, the hacker is still alive, but we just marked him for death.

Hugo zeroed in on me like his next target. “I never lose.”

But you will this time.

“I have to admit, knowing this was the only card you had to play, I was wondering why you never leaked our names in connection with our organization before,” Stef began, his voice surprisingly steady now. No cane thumping the ground this time. “I’d assumed you believed we were at the top, which was why we were still alive after my son botched your deaths. But I understand now. You were waiting for the right time to make your move. You know if you expose the truth about us to the world, we’ll be eliminated, which means we’re your only lead to the others.”

Insightful son of a bitch, I’d give him that.

Of course, we didn’t need to let these pricks know we only just put the puzzle together as to why The Collective hadn’t taken out the Sorens after what went down in Thailand. Had I not taken off, maybe we’d have figured this out sooner. I couldn’t harp on the past now, though. Not the time.

“You’re right,” Mya was the first to respond. “One thing we’ve witnessed in the last few months is anytime we get close to anyone in The Collective, they kill their members first, ask questions later. Not the kindest bunch, are they? They’ll replace you as their messengers before the soil even settles over your dead bodies if they so much as get wind you’ve been compromised.”

“Which is also why you couldn’t expose us to them,” Jesse pointed out, breaking his silence for the first time.

Stef swapped his cane to his other hand, his gaze slowly sweeping between us all. “Quite the predicament we have ourselves in. I suppose you wouldn’t consider a truce, would you? Walk away from here and just go live our lives. You know, what happened in Bangkok, stays in Bangkok?”

So, the old man still had some kick in him. I supposed evil had no age limits. At least he admitted he was screwed and didn’t beat around the bush, but I certainly hadn’t expected him to try to joke his way out of this mess.

“I’ll take that menacing look from you, Dominick, as a no.” Stef turned to the side, eyeing his son for a moment, and Hugo nodded at him.

What’s that OK for? “How about you just surrender now and call it a day instead? What happens at The Sapphire, stays at The Sapphire.” It was worth a shot, I supposed.

“Spell this out for us. Are you threatening that if we don’t accept this offer to fight you, you’ll ensure the world learns our names and who we work with?” Stef asked instead of considering my proposal. “You’re willing to lose your only lead in your ridiculous mission to fight our organization if we don’t show up,” he continued once a couple that walked by was out of earshot again, “knowing we will also expose your identities to the world. I have a feeling you’ll have a lot more than just The Collective hunting you down, too.”

“We both know after tonight, neither of us can walk away.” Carter stepped before Stef. “But only one of us can survive. I’m offering you a fair fight, moderated and controlled by a third party. That’s more than you’ve given my team these last four months in failing to come after us.” He paused to let the full weight of his words sink in. “This needs to end one way or another.” He rested a hand over his chest. “We win, you give us the other names. We lose, your problems go away because we’re dead.”

Not happening, but sure, let them think it was possible.

“Why would we roll over and give up the others’ names?” Hugo lifted his chin, jutting it forward.

“Because they’ll kill you regardless, and you know it. Why save their asses when you can save your own by giving them up to us.” My words punched the air as if they were fists, and Hugo had a physical reaction, stepping back. “We’re offering you a much better choice than you had those crooked agents give the two of us,” I said, gesturing to Mya, “back in Bangkok.”

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