Page 108 of The Devil's Thorn
“Now?” I say, taking one last slow drag from the cigarette before putting it out. “We see how she reacts whenshewakes up unsure of what happened.”
“And if she comes for you next?”
I smile. “Then I’ll know I didn’t choose wrong.”
I stare at the low burn of the cigarette’s final ember in the ashtray beside me, the line silent now, but Nikolai’s breath still faint through the other end.
He hasn’t spoken in over twenty seconds. Which, for him, is saying something. “What did she tell you?” he asks finally, voice quieter. “About Alessio?”
“Every word,” I reply. “Said someone in Calderone’s inner circle is feeding false intel to both sides. Trying to provoke something bigger. Told me she doesn’t know who yet, but that Alessio let his tongue slip once her hand was on his thigh.”
“You let her seduce him?”
I smirk.
“I told her to make him talk. I didn’t tell her how.”
“You’re really letting her do things her own way.”
“She’s not a soldier, Nik. She’s not part of the ranks. Not yet. She’s a fire set loose in a house full of old men and tired bloodlines. They won’t see her coming until it’s too late.”
“And you’re fine with that?”
I pause. Am I?
I picture her again—walking across the floor of that gathering like she belonged there, the slit in her dress catching the light, her eyes calculating every room like she was already rewriting it.
She held her ground with Alessio. Turned him inside out. Left him with nothing but the shape of her and a bruised ego. All while reportingonlywhat mattered.
“Yeah,” I murmur. “I’m fine with it.”
“What else did she say?”
My gaze drifts back to the couch, to the girl draped in silk and shadow, lashes still resting against her cheekbones, breathing steady and slow.
“She said,” I start, taking a breath, “that she once had me in her scope.”
Nikolai makes a sound that’s somewhere between a scoff and a curse. “When?”
“Didn’t say.”
“You believe her?”
“Yes.”
“Why the fuck would you believe that?”
“Because I saw it in her eyes when she said it.”
“You’re out of your mind.”
“Maybe,” I admit. “But think about it, Nik. She didn’t say it to threaten me. She said it like she’d already made peace with not pulling the trigger.”
“That’s supposed to comfort me?”
“It doesn’t comfort me either. But ittellsme something.”
“What?”
