Page 49 of Vice

“She knows she can never beat you head on. So she never tries to take you head on. Not unless she’s trying to distract you from something else. So you need to not fight her head on, too, so she’ll never see what you have planned coming.”

I groan. “You know that kind of thinking isn’t my strong suit.”

“Which why Dele will never see it coming. Besides, it might not be your strong suit, but I’m sure if you put your mind to it, you can pull it off,” Eileen assures. She pauses to listen to something from her earpiece. “Revnor is here.”

I meet the man in my office. He’s standing with his hands resting in front of him in a fairly neutral position and legs in a fairly unassuming stance. But I know better than to think that he wouldn’t be ready to defend himself or take someone else out at the drop of a dime. Even me.

Smart man. I respect it.

“Sir,” he nods his head to me when he sees me.

I wave my hand dismissively and turn my back on him when I go around to the other side of my desk, continuing to look at the sky change colors as the sun rises. But even with my back turned, Revnor knows better than to think that I’m not aware of every move he makes.

“Let’s skip the pleasantries. You know why you’re here,” I say.

“I do.”

“So tell me what you plan to do about it.”

“That depends.”

“On what?”

“On exactly what the two of you have planned.”

“What’s to say we have anything planned?”

“So you just happened to want to build comradery with Jason Travis? And Dele just happened to be there the same weekend? And you just happened to not blow her cover and reveal exactly who Addy Bianchi was when she was right there in Pray’s grasp when you recognized her the moment you saw her?”

The fact that he recognized her during her meeting with Pray is news to me. A pleasant and useful bit of information.

“If I said yes to all that, what would you do?”

“Take your word for it, I suppose,” Revnor says.

“You didn’t blow her cover either.”

“I didn’t.”

Loyal to a fault as always. Never stepping out his lane unless absolutely necessary.

“I’m going to tell you something about this case Pray has you, Travis, and I on. I need it to go away. I need you to conveniently find some information that will assure Pray that Vicious isn’t as much of a threat as we first believed she could be.”

I don’t need to spell out why. Revnor’s smart, and he already knows I’m up to something with Dele.

“I think I could manage something better. I could make it conveniently seem like she’s been neutralized if there was a way to make contact with this figure and get her to cooperate.” Then he asks, “But what about Travis.”

“I have him well in hand,” I say.

For all that that entire weekend was a clusterfuck that went off the rails, that part of it went exactly according to plan. Releasing even a portion of it would ruin Travis and any political aspirations he has. Releasing the entire thing might have the fucking feds knocking on his door. He’s not going to have to worry about either since I’m going to kill him. But perhaps I’ll let the stories and investigations play out some to see him sweat for my own amusement before I kill him.

“Then I suppose there’s nothing else to worry about,” Revnor says.

“I suppose there’s not,” I say and wave a hand to dismiss him from the office, but not before I say, “Welcome to the team. Dele will be pleased to know you’re on our side.”

When he’s gone, I reach into a drawer in my desk to pull out a phone to call Dele. She should definitely be awake by now. Getting the twins to school if she hasn’t already. Preparing for the grand opening of her exclusive luxury salon. The first of a promised few. One in every international hub in the country. If she plays her card right, she may be able to open a few abroad. Take her business global. So global she may be able to rival or even outpace Pray’s empire. The empire I intend to be mine.

That gives me pause.

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