Page 104 of Heartless

“I could say the same to you, Iris. There are lots of people looking for you.”

“And you thought you could bring home the prize and make Daddy proud?”

Daddy?

Olivia stared at the man who looked nothing like the man she had once been stupid enough to consider marrying. Back then, Simon had not only been on the thin side, but he’d also had a full head of curly blond hair. Other than the familiar facial features and eye color, she wouldn’t have recognized him if he’d passed by her on the street.

And how was it that Simon’s father was involved? He had told her he was an orphan and had been raised by a series of foster families. It was one of the things she’d felt a kinship with him about—she’d felt like an orphan herself for much of her childhood.

“Father is disappointed in you, Iris, as am I.”

Iris clutched her chest dramatically. “I’m crushed to my very soul.”

Olivia was beginning to feel like a third wheel. There was obviously some history here she had known nothing about. When they’d been together, Simon had done everything within his power to get her parents’ attention and approval. After they’d broken up, she’d given little thought to what kind of relationship he’d maintained with them. It had apparently expanded. Had Iris recruited Simon into the Wren Project?

No matter what their history was, she wanted answers. Looking at Simon, she snapped, “Did you kill Layla Templeton and Mario Kingston?”

The smile Simon gave her was one she remembered well. “Wouldn’t you like to know.”

“Yeah,” Hawke said as he pressed a gun against Simon’s head. “And it’d be in your best interests to drop your gun and answer the question.”

“Fine,” Simon growled. Jerking his head away, his gun thudded on the floor. “I didn’t kill either of them.”

“Who did?” Olivia asked.

“Your pal Rio killed Layla,” Iris said.

Both Olivia and Hawke looked at her. “So the body in Ixtapa wasn’t Rio’s,” Olivia said.

“No. Disguised to look like him. Being dead gave him the freedom to move about the world. You’d know something about that, wouldn’t you, Hawke?”

Hawke gave her a nod of acknowledgment. “As would you, apparently.”

Iris grinned. “It is quite freeing, I must admit.”

“Why did Rio kill Layla?” Olivia asked.

“That was his assignment. To take out your team.” Iris shrugged. “He was my informant and gave me intel about your team. His job expanded.”

“You ordered him to kill us?” Hawke asked.

Looking surprisingly insulted, Iris shook her head. “Absolutely not. He was just supposed to feed me intel. Once your team disbanded, he was no longer useful to me.” Iris shifted her gaze to Simon. “Someone else decided Rio could still be useful.”

“Rio’s still alive?” Olivia asked.

“No,” Simon said. “He outlived his usefulness.”

Olivia looked between Iris and Simon. They talked about killing people as if it was just an everyday, ordinary event. To them, she supposed it was.

“As interesting as it is to see how screwed up you two are,” Hawke said, “Olivia and I have a job to do. You’re both coming with us.”

Ignoring the gun Olivia had pointed at her, an arrogant, mocking smile flashed across Iris’s face. “Really? You’re going to take both of us in?”

“You really want to test our skills against yours, Iris?” Hawke asked.

“No, I actually don’t, Nicholas. As much as I disapprove of your relationship with my daughter and how you’ve treated her, I admire your skills. However, there’s only one way this can play out.”

“And how is that?”

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