TRISTAN
“Who is he?” Sebastian asked the guys that stood around us. Three of our top men were pulled into the meeting to try and figure out where we went from the situation we found ourselves in. And who the hell could try and help us hold our ground while we were busy protecting Scarlet at the safe house.
“Some family member, not sure,” Niko answered in his Irish lilt. He was the youngest of the group, but he had proven himself useful in the last few weeks. “He’s been seen a lot out and about with her da.”
“So, he’s being groomed, then,” I said aloud, but mostly to myself. “Is this the reason they wanted her out? Because they had someone else in mind?”
“They would’ve had to have had men in mind from the start. That’s how families like that work,” Niko said. “My family back in Ireland runs the same type of shit. Women get trivial businesses to look over while the men are actually in charge. Either that or they get shipped off to marry someone all in the name of a truce.” He threw his cigarette on the ground and stomped it out. “It would never be someone random though,” he continued. “Gotsta be a family member or someone that’s been around long enough to be trusted. Rule number one: never trust anyone outside the family.”
“So you think it’s been going on for a while?” Seb asked.
“Based on us observing how friendly they are with each other and our intel, yeah,” Finn answered. “Simon here has been tracking them,” he said, nodding towards the guy dressed in all black like he was some undercover spy. Although, considering he used to be a high-ranking official in the American military, he might very well have been.
“Simon, how close are we on finding out who he is?” I asked, turning my attention towards the older man with a shaved head.
“It’s taking a while. Their family lineage is a pain in the ass to get through. They’ve got everything locked down like they’re the damn Tsar of Russia.”
“There hasn’t been a tsar in, like, a hundred years, Simon,” Finn told him, laughing when the old man shot him a glare that could have even made me want to back down.
“You know what I mean, you little shit,” Simon spat at him.
“How long?” I asked him again.
“A week. Maybe less.”
“Let’s make it less,” Seb said, his patience running a bit thinner than mine was. He was anxious to get back to Scarlet. We both were, but I had been used to putting my feelings aside for the business for a lot longer than he had. I was always the one that had to turn it off for the better of everyone else. Seb had never quite mastered that.
Simon nodded and walked off, probably off to his lair in the basement, where he hid away most days.
“You got a picture of him?” I asked Niko.
“Yeah, I can send the files over to you in an email. If we’re right and they are grooming him to take over, they’ve definitely been doing it for a while. So he’s been around. Maybe show him to your old lady and see if she recognizes him. That would help Simon.”
Sebastian burst out laughing, doubled over and wiping tears away from his eyes. When Niko looked from him to me, confused and worried he had done something wrong, I started laughing as well.
“Never, ever,” Sebastian said between laughs. “Never, ever let Scarlet hear you call her that. She would castrate you.”
Niko’s eyes went wide, and Finn joined in, laughing and giving Niko a slap on the shoulder.
“And they’d let her,” he told Niko as his phone rang. “I’ve got to take this, lads. If you guys need anything else, I’ll be around.”
We waved him off and made sure we got the email from Niko before sending him off as well. The pictures showed a guy that looked to be around our age, and he was most definitely a member of the family. The resemblance to Scarlet was indisputable. He had cropped black hair, and their skin tone and even the way they held themselves was the same.
“Jesus,” Seb breathed, looking over my shoulder. “They could be twins.”
“So, she definitely knows him. That’s a family member, and you don’t live your whole life in a family like that without knowing every extended relative you have.”
“Unless they hid him,” Seb mumbled.
“What do you mean?” I asked, shoving my phone back into my pocket.
“I dunno.” He shrugged. “I wouldn’t put it past her dad to hide him from her, make her feel like she was the important one, make her feel safe. If you think about it, would she have felt safe from them if she knew there was someone waiting in the wings to take her place?”
“I honestly have no idea how these fucked-up families function, so I don’t know.” I dropped my head back and cracked my neck. “We need to go check on the Tower and make sure everything is in line there without Mel before we can go back.”
“We need to have a proper memorial for her.” His irritation leaked into his voice, but I didn’t know what the hell he wanted me to do. He wanted to stay with Scarlet; he wanted to protect her and keep her safe. It wasn’t like we could have a memorial for Melody at the same time, letting Scarlet out into the public eye for any available sharpshooter to take a shot out.
“We will, Seb,” I told him, placing a hand on his shoulder and squeezing. “We will. Once this shit settles down and Scarlet can be out and about, we will do it immediately.”
“While we’re here,” he drawled out in a singsong voice, “we need to pick up Scarlet’s Christmas present.”
“We haven’t got her any presents yet. We haven’t even had time to talk about it, let alone think about it these last few weeks. What did you get her?”
“Okay, don’t be mad at me.”
I sighed and pinched my nose. If he was asking for forgiveness before telling me what he did, I knew it was going to be fucking huge.
“Bear in mind, please, Sebastian, that we brought the Maserati and not a Boeing 757. What the fuck did you get her?”
He just looked at me and smiled, that panty-dropping smile that made even me think he was handsome. He only used it when he really wanted to get away with something. Anxiety created a black hole in my stomach.
“Not a what.” He paused for dramatic effect.
“What?” I finally asked.
“Not a what,” he said again, placing both of his hands on my shoulders and leaning in. “But a who.”