Page 22 of Breakdown
“You don’t get to tell me how to run my business,” Liv said, clenching her jaw. "You got out, remember?”
“Yeah, I did get out. Because you told me to,remember?” he parroted her. “And now you’re trying to pull me right back in with some frat-boy prank. What’s the next job? We go to Matteo’s house and TP it?”
“Don’t presume you know what I’m thinking or what I’m capable of. Volkov underestimates me too. Give me a month and I’ll have his head atop a fucking flag pole outside of city hall. And drop the righteous indignation. This version of me is a necessity, Peter. That’s what you never understood about me or Dad or the life.”
“Oh, don’t pretend that Dad was anything but a fucking bully, Liv, and spare me your rationalizations about ‘the life.’ I always understood it. I just got fucking tired of it.”
Olivia rolled her eyes at him. “You got tired of it, huh? That’s an interesting spin on you not being tough enough to hack it.”
“Is that what you think you’re doing with this plan—showing everyone how tough you are? And here I thought you were too smart for that macho boys’-club bullshit.”
“Oh, no, I never made that mistake,” Olivia said through gritted teeth. “You’rethe one who always thought he was above it. I want you to really think about where it got you and who had to bail you out when you got there.” She stabbed her finger into his chest. “Sometimes you still need a little well-placed force to get things done in this city.”
“Jesus, do you even hear yourself? It’s a car. Why throw it all away on this,” Peter said incredulously.
“Maybe it’s not the fucking car, Peter. Maybe it’s about the message. Maybe it’s about saying that I can get him where he thinks he’s safe. Maybe I’m being a petty bitch. Maybe I’m just getting tired of your fucking excuses. What’s really the matter here? Are you scared of this job?” Liv asked, mock-sweet. “You worried you’re going to shoot yourself again? Afraid you’re going to trip and fall into a big pile of painkillers that you justhaveto take? What the fuck now do you want to blame on somebody other than yourself?”
“Fuck you for even trying it.” Peter was shaking. “But Dad’s still way better than you at the sociopathy.”
“Okay, fine. Fuck me, fuck the business, fuck everything I’ve worked for. Hate my fucking guts. Turn your back on the only fucking family you have left, everything I have ever done for you, and all the shit you’ve put me through. After tomorrow night, pretend you never even fucking met me.” Liv pressed her lips so tightly they began to lose color. “But youoweme this.”
She had him there. He owed her for him and Nik’s garage, he owed her for putting dad behind bars, he owed her for keeping him alive even when he didn’t want to be anymore. And he was naive to think that he could take all those things without there being strings attached. They were Bauers; there were always strings.
He sighed. “Tomorrow night? Come on, you know I can’t pull something like this off on such short notice. A job of this scale takes months to plan.”
“Ihavebeen planning, Peter. Ever since you fucked everything up with Volkov to play the hero. This is our window of opportunity and it is quickly closing on us.” She tapped the stack of photos ominously. “You’ve only got about twenty-four hours to get up to speed, so I suggest you stop arguing with me and start studying.”
Even in the photo, the modified Ferrari seemed to gleam with the malevolent energy of its owner. Peter couldn’t help the chill that tripped down his spine. “Christ, you’re going to get us all killed over some maniac’s car.”
“For the last time, it’s not about the car, Peter. It’s about—you know what? I don’t have to explain myself. You steal the car, I deal with the consequences. Same as it fucking ever was,” she snapped, finally losing her carefully crafted composure. “I mean, if you want to charge into the Wolf’s lair and gun him down then I’m open to hearing your plan, but I recall you being a shit shot.
“Stop pretending like you have a choice here. Unless we do something to back him off, Volkov’s not going to settle for anything less than scorched earth. And I’m not just talking about the business; we’re all in the crosshairs. Fuck, look at what they just did to Stavros, Peter, and that’s Matteo’s own brother. You think they’re going to be kinder to Nik? Or Mia?
“What I’m proposing is one of the best options we have to keep us all safe. Maybe the only option. Frankly, I don’t see you offering a lot of other solutions.”
“There has to be some other way, Liv.” He could hear the desperation in his own voice.
“You think I haven’t looked? I need you on this, okay?” Her chest heaved, her expression vacillating wildly between venom and barely-contained terror. “I’ve examined this from every angle and we are backed into a fucking corner here.”
“No,” he said, softly and mostly to himself, defeat making his chest seize up. Because she was right.
“What the fuck do you mean, no?” she said. And then Liv slapped him—unexpectedly and hard, clean across the face.
The moment ground to a halt. It might have been his imagination, but it felt like it echoed through the shop. Peter rubbed at his stinging jaw. Olivia stared at her hand as though she wasn’t quite sure who it belonged to.
And then Nik slid his arm around Peter’s waist, protective and solid, grounding him for the first time since the conversation began. Aching, Peter clung to the sensation.
Nik sized up Liv, choosing his words carefully. “If we do this, that is it,” he said simply. “No more jobs, and we do not give you money from the shop anymore. You will give us your word that we are done with you.”
The sense of loss played plainly across her face. But, like Peter, Liv Bauer was out of options. “Deal,” she finally agreed, quiet and beaten.
“And now I think it is time for you to leave.”
“Peter,” she appealed, “you know I didn’t mean...Look, I’m so sor—”
“Now, please,” Nik said firmly.
Liv’s jaw tightened, her eyes narrowing at him. Beside him, Peter felt Nik lock his spine, preparing himself for the attack. Instead, she slumped wordlessly, bewildered injury etched into her features.
