Page 147 of The Best of Us

He held out the phone and placed the call on speakerphone. Hopefully, unlike Giuseppe, Sebastian would be speaking in English.

“Hey, you all there?” an Irish-sounding man asked—presumably this Sebastian guy—and Constantine confirmed we were. “There’s a League meeting here in Dublin for European leaders on Tuesday, so I flew in this evening. I’m not currently at The Sapphire, but I’ve been in touch with Sean and Emilia about what’s going on. Easton and Carter, as well. I can’t imagine anyone inside my organization trying to get their hands on that device. No one would be stupid enough to betray me.”

“Wait, did you say there’s a League leadership meeting?” Izzy strode closer to Constantine. “That can’t be a coincidence. The timing of this . . .that’swhy he waited until this weekend to try and abduct Colin.”

What are you talking about?I looked around, and Colin twisted to the side on the couch to scan the room, too. I felt like we were two lost sheep in a room of border collies, and they needed to guide us on where to go.

“That you, Isabella?” Sebastian asked. “What are you talking about?”

At least I wasn’t alone in the confused department.

“Hey, yeah, it’s me.” Izzy lowered her phone to her side and let go of a deep breath. “Will Emilia’s current replacement in Italy, Carmello, be at that meeting?”

“Carmello will be, yes. He’s back in charge in Italy now that Emilia’s returned to Dublin with her family,” he answered. “But are you suggesting what I think you are?”

“I am,” she confirmed. “I guess Gwen didn’t have a chance to fully bring you up to speed. She’s working on confirming something for us, but now I’m convinced I have the answer.” She quickly glanced at Colin and then eyed the phone. “I believe Carmello had a son from an affair. With an Irish woman, actually. And he kept his son, Daniel O’Brien, a secret. I think Carmello is behind the plan to get his hands on the cyber wallet, originally looking to trade Colin for it.”

Colin stood, his face notably blanched. I cut through the room to reach him, offering him my support as I waited for the theorizing to continue.

“Maybe Carmello’s sick of Emilia handing over power, only for her to keep taking back the reins?” Izzy proposed. “And when Daniel mentioned Colin to him and that his uncle worked at the hotel with you . . . well, you catch my drift.”

I was finally starting to, at least.

Sebastian shot down her theory, rapid-firing details: “Carmello’s getting up there in age. He won’t be in power much longer. But Emilia does trust him. That’s just Emilia being, well,Emilia. Carmello was close friends with her father when her dad was in charge before he passed. She left him in charge for a reason, and he was properly vetted. He has nothing to gain from getting his hands on the cyber wallet. He’s wealthy and doesn’t need the money. Like I said, he’s old and ready to retire. I’m struggling to believe he’d betray us. He’d never be behind trying to restart The Alliance, either. Hell, he was involved in dismantling their organization. And his daughter, Aurora, is positioned to take over for him. He wouldn’t want to jeopardize her place within the organization like that.”

Chills coasted over my skin as I held Colin’s arm like a lifeline. I needed his steady strength as much as he relied on me for mine.

“What if Aurora found out she has a brother, and she’s worried her father will wind up leaving Daniel in charge of everything instead of her since he’s a male heir?” Salvatore spoke up for the first time, interjecting his thoughts. “What if Daniel has been talking to more than his father, but his sister, too?”

Izzy’s gaze volleyed back and forth between the phone in Constantine’s hand and her father. Another “oh shit” tumbled free from her mouth as Hudson came up alongside her, threading their fingers together as a quiet show of support. “Sebastian’s right. No one would betray him within The League. Nor would they ever assume they’d get their hands on the device.” She held her phone out, shaking it. “Create a problem. Provide a solution. Earn the king’s favor.”

Colin tugged free from my hold to place himself at the center of the room and in front of Izzy. “I was just another pawn. They never thought Sebastian would trade the wallet thing for me. They only needed everyone to think some asshole out there was stupid enough to try. Then they’d swoop in as the hero and ‘rescue’ me. Or, at least, ‘find’ where I was being held, so Sebastian could kill them all.”

Izzy’s eyes lit up as she nodded in agreement, then fleshed out his theory with more details. “Aurora set up her half brother to take the fall, and with The League meeting on Tuesday, that gives her cover, a reason for being in Dublin in the first place for the subterfuge to take place. Aurora will officially secure her position within The League when her father retires, not to mention get in Sebastian’s good graces in the process. It’s a total power play.”

“I don’t know. That’s . . .” Sebastian let his words hang for a moment. “Maybe. I suppose power, or maybe the fear of losing power and money,maybe a strong motivator.”

“This was probably supposed to be a simple snatch and grab. Have the Sicilian mafia take you,” Izzy said to Colin, “and then have you transferred to Dublin for the trade. Then she’d orchestrate your save and be the hero.”

The side of Colin’s mouth lifted, eyes shooting to his father. “Then Dad showed up and effed up her plans thanks to Daniel’s lies and mistakes.”

“And with Giuseppe refusing to help her, Aurora had to outsource to those mercenaries to get Colin away from us,” Izzy continued. “She’s gone this far. She probably feels trapped. Like she has to see this thing through to get herself out of the mess she created.”

“I don’t know. Why not just kill her brother?” Enzo asked, speaking up for the first time, then he winced as if regretting the idea had ever crossed his mind.

“You mean, Cain and Abel it out?” Colin threw me for a loop with the unexpectedBiblereference.

“Wouldn’t that be a hell of a lot easier to eliminate her competition?” Sebastian asked as if on the same page as Enzo.

“Aurora didn’t want to turn her brother into a martyr,” Izzy whispered, lightly shaking her head. “Or get pinned for his death by her father.”

“But what better way to ruin the image a father has of his son,” Colin said solemnly, eyes moving to his dad as his voice broke, “than for his son to turn out to be a disappointment?”

Chapter49

Constantine

“Like hell areyou coming with me. That’s not happening,” I said, zipping my bag inside the guest room I would no longer be sleeping in. “I’m meeting Easton and”—I swallowed at the regret pushing up into my throat at this next part—“Carterin Dublin. Not to mention we have The League there for help, so you’re not joining us. End of story.”

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