A Destiny of Carnage (A Violent Agenda)

“I told you once—there are things you don’t know about and can’t tell you.”

“That was before.”

He sighs. “Just for once, trust me.”

I walk out of the gym with the duffel bag, waiting until I’m alone to exhale loudly.

I don’t know that I can.

I take Dante’s money,all of it, to Quinn. She’s not in her office since it’s late, so I take a guess she’s in her room. I guess right. She’s on the floor in some kind of yoga pose, eyes closed, when I enter.

“Saskia is good at yoga,” I say, for want of anything to fill the silence.

She opens one eye. “I thought it was you. No one else sneaks around like a cat around here. Most people knock.”

“Here, it’s all there.” I dump the bag of money on her floor.

Quinn frowns and gets to her feet to inspect the contents of the bag. “How much is there?”

“Enough and some left over to pay you for everything you’ve done for me lately.”

“I don’t need paying,” she says, brow furrowed. I’m here because I care. People do that you know.”

I take a seat on the end of her bed while she stuffs the bag with the money into her wardrobe. I know enough about Quinn to know that money will be squirreled away somewhere safer tomorrow. I never have to worry about Quinn.

“I’ll use what’s left over to pay Rebecca’s residential fees.”

I nod at her. “Just let me know if you need more.”

“Is it true? Is Polina gone?”

Word travels fast. “I wanted to know if Dante could be trusted.”

“And?”

“I have no fucking clue. She started talking about some list of babies.”

“Oh, that.”

“You know what she’s talking about?”

“My contact, who is getting you your untraceable IDs. They provided everything your father needed…national insurance numbers, birth certificates, even fake doctor’s reports.”

“So you know where this list is?”

She nods. “I can get it for you. But it’s encrypted. Not even I can hack the original names.”

“Who has access?” I know as soon as I ask it who does and that I’ve fucked up.

“In the agency? Only Polina. And her boss I would imagine.”

Iskar. Who works for my father.

I findLorcan and Jude in the gym the next morning in tank tops and shorts, flashing abs and corded muscles on their arms as they work out. Both of them are dripping with sweat as they mop their faces, taking sips of water. I walk over, wearing an animal print dress with boots, and my hair is up. They have no idea why I decided to dress up but they seem to approve.

“I’m going to see Dino,” I say. I contemplated not telling them, but every time I hide what I’m doing, it gets me in trouble. So this is me, trying something new.

Lorcan frowns, and Jude raises a brow, but neither says no.