Page 55 of Collision of Winters
“Okay. Um, I’m in the bedroom.” I closed the door behind me.
“Fantastic. So I hear you’re our next logistics officer at work.”
Dad must’ve told him. Or Daddy had filled him in too.
“Yessir, if I pass the training,” I said.
“I’m sure you will. I’ve seen you drive and organize projects. You’ll fit right in.”
I snickered. Maybe I was an aggressive driver. Not as in…I was violent or reckless or anything; I was just confident and comfortable behind the wheel.
“On that note, do you trust me?” Chris asked next. “Do you trust me to never put you in harm’s way?”
I knitted my brows together. “Of course I do.”
“That’s what I was hoping to hear.” He turned more serious. “We have one last threat to eliminate—stateside—so I’m wondering what your thoughts are on acting as bait.”
Holy shit. “Um.”
“You’d be out in broad daylight, among people, in DC,” he went on. “The hell we raised in Colombia caught the attention of some of their associates back home, and we discovered one faction that has more intel than we’re comfortable with. In short, they wanna kidnap you and deliver you to the new management that will take over in the coming months.”
Oh my God.
I swallowed nervously, my stomach knotting up. “So people still know who I am.” I kept my voice down so Wade couldn’t overhear.
“This last little outfit does,” Chris confirmed. “But nobody else. We took care of them. In cases like these, a higher-up might get desperate when he realizes it’s game over, so he sends out information to associates elsewhere to finish the job. The problem in this instance is that the recipient of said information is a second cousin in Miami and his two buddies. They’re small-scale hustlers. They sell cheap yaba pills and steal copper wire and car parts. They’re not killers. We have access to all their communications on the matter, and they’re hoping a kidnapping will impress the new management and lead to better jobs and connections.”
I rubbed at my forehead, feeling overwhelmed by the info dump. But it didn’t matter. Something unfamiliar was surging inside me, and it felt like a mix of yearning and determination and just…just…this hunger to prove myself and be part of something bigger. I trusted Chris. If he believed this would get the job done faster and without me turning into a bloodstain on the ground, let’s freaking go.
Besides, I could hear the urgency he was trying to mask. He had a job to do, and I could either help, or I could get out of his way and let him find another route.
“I don’t know what yaba pills are, but I’m in,” I said quietly but firmly. “I wanna help. Does Dad know?”
“Music to my ears. No, he doesn’t. I’mma keep this from him until shit’s in motion, so don’t mention anything when he calls later. You tell Doc. We’re sending the company jet to Anchorage. Make sure you board it at twenty-two hundred on Wednesday. Doc knows the drill. Can you confirm?”
My heart started racing. “Board at ten PM on Wednesday in Anchorage,” I repeated. Holy fuck, holy fuck, holy fuck. “We’ll be there. I can do this.”
“I know you can, Kayden. Talk soon. Love ya.”
The call ended before I could respond. I swallowed hard and stared at the little screen.
Love you too, big brother.
I blew out a heavy breath. My stomach felt tight with unease, but I had a strange grin on my face that I couldn’t shake.
I wanted this. It wasallI had ever wanted. To feel useful, to make a difference, to push myself, and to have Wade by my side.
Speaking of…
I had to tell him now, and he was probably not going to like it.
After another couple of deep breaths, I looked at my watch, and to be honest, I felt a little more adult with that thing on. Daddy had picked it out for me. He’d given it to me. Grown-ups wore watches, and I needed to be mature and brave to face the future. No more hiding, no more running away, no more keeping struggles to myself.
That was funny, wasn’t it? Being with Wade made me want to be more adult, all while I was finally sharing my absolute core kink with him, in which I was anything but adult in my behavior.
I opened the door and wasn’t too surprised to see Daddy waiting for me a few feet away, arms folded over his chest.
“I heard something about Anchorage,” he stated.
