Page 87 of Gathered Sparkle

“Why?” I ask like an idiot.

“Any slower, and you don’t make it across. Any faster, and the momentum’s wrong, you’ll overshoot and crash. From zero to sixty in three-point-two seconds.”

Fuck.“That’s more than risky.”

“There’s a wide-ass street between those buildings!” Nicholas snaps. “It’s not only risky, it’s suicidal.”

“And?” Sylus pipes up, leaning back with an almost-smug air. “It’s not about easy. It’s about making a statement.”

Nicholas throws his hands up. “This isn’t about statements! It’s about bringing her down. You want to throw a damn parade while you’re at it?”

“What do you think this whole plan is?” Koen’s gaze finds Nicholas’s. “A magicshow. The finale of a lifetime. If we’re going to do this, we’re going to do it our way. With flair.”

Nicholas rubs his temples like he’s seconds away from losing his mind. “You’re all insane.”

Sylus laughs. “Welcome to the club,Harrington.”

I cross my arms, looking between them. “So let me get this straight. You’re planning to steal one of the rarest cars in the world, drive it off a rooftop, and hope for the best? And this is supposed to be thesmartpart of the plan?”

“No hope involved,” Koen says evenly. “It’s calculated. I’ve already run the numbers. The jump is possible.”

“He’s right,” Ace agrees, but even his confidence doesn’t help the bad feeling in my chest.

“And what about landing?” Nicholas mutters. “Do you have numbers for that too?”

“The rooftop of the Heights is long enough to pull off a stop if you hit the brakes the moment the tires launch from the Plaza’s roof.”

Nicholas shakes his head. “You’re playing with your life here.”

“We’re playing to win,” Koen counters, his tone equally sharp. “And this is the only way to make it happen.”

“And when he’s up there,” Ace adds. “We’ll access the transmitter and take control of the network. Sylus will spread the evidence across every screen connected to Veronica’s system. Her empire will crumble in real time.”

“And how do you get down from the roof of the Heights if there is no other way to get up there than jumping rooftops?” I furrow my brow.

This plan is the fucking definition of insanity.

“It will be a piece of cake to open the door and call an elevator for him as soon as I’m in the system,” Sylus says from behind me.

I press my fingers to my temple, trying to process the sheer madness of it all. “And what happens if you miss? If the jump doesn’t work? Or if the system doesn’t let you in?”

Koen’s smirk softens into something more serious. “Then we’ve failed. But if we don’t try, we’ve already lost.”

“What’s the point of living if you’re not gonna have some fun?” Ace shoots me his signature line, his gaze steady on mine.

Nicholas mutters under his breath, his frustration clear. But he doesn’t argue further as he sits back with a scowl etched into his face.

I glance at him, trying to find some shred of logic in this madness. “Can’t you get us access to the rooftop? You live in the penthouse.”

“No, they’re right.” Nicholas exhales, his frustration evident. “The rooftop is the most secure part of the Heights. The transmitter up there is worth millions. It controls all the information and security feeds for her entire network. You’d need security protocols, biometric scans, and—”

“Still. Wouldn’t gathering what we need to get up there be easier for us?” I ask, cutting him off. “I could—”

“No, Novalee,” Koen says firmly, his expression serious. “Yes, it’d probably be easier. Safer, for sure. But we’re doing it in style, our style.Oscar’s style. Nobody will talk about this for years if we don’t make a show out of it. We’reOscar-fucking-Lane’s family. If we do something, we do it right.”

Nicholas’s fingers tap against the armrest again. “You’re betting everything on one night.”

“We are,” Ace agrees. “Because it’s the only way to take them all down at once. If we try to pick them off one by one, they’ll scatter, and Veronica will cover her tracks.”

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