“Fuck,” Tyler said.
Kai nodded. “And they will send someone after all of us if I don’t intercept that message.”
“And I’m betting none of us can get close to the main computer. At least not fast enough,” Josh said.
Kai didn’t need to say anything because we all knew the answer. The question was did any of them really trust Kai? Was it even possible to trust a guy like that? He’d been involved with a secret organization which kidnapped men, women and children to use for their own purpose.
Kai spoke directly to Deck, eyes unwavering. “They get that message—I’m eliminated or worse, taken ‘in’ and so is Georgie. It’s in both our best interests to make certain that doesn’t happen.” Kai nodded to me. I met Kai’s eyes and they held steady on me. I knew exactly what he was going to say. “I just received a message from Vault; they want her to go out on an assignment tonight.”
“No,” Deck immediately replied.
I put my hand on Deck’s arm. “It makes sense. I have to.”
“No,” Deck reiterated.
It was Vic who objected, crossing his arms over his broad chest. “She disappears, it’s a red flag. She’s right. You know it, too, Boss.”
He stood stiffly beside me and I watched his jaw clench then unclench before he finally nodded.
But when Kai told him who I had to make contact with … that was another fight. Kai did have Deck’s men on his side now, though. I needed to go to the bar, drink and do the usual. Kai would go into Vault’s residence here, and delete the message from their secure computer before it was approved and distributed to the organization’s leaders in France. And it had to be tonight as every morning someone went in and went through the correspondences to see what was important to be sent to France.
“Percentage of success?” Deck asked.
Kai shrugged as he walked to his car and opened the door. “Depends if my mother’s there.” I gasped and the men’s eyes widened. “Goes down exponentially if she’s in town. Bitch hates me.”
I hadn’t realized I had my hand over my mouth until Deck took it in his and lowered it. I thought of the scars on Kai and couldn’t imagine a mother ever allowing that to happen to her own son. Kai was more fucked than I realized and that scared me, because if a mother could watch her son go through something like that, then what had they done to Connor?MY TARGET—TRISTAN. I was to meet up with him at Avalanche.When I called him, he didn’t sound surprised to hear my voice and agreed to meet me for drinks, which was perfect for me, since I was to appear tipsy to get him to loosen up and Tristan needed loosening up. Eventually, Vault would ask me to get something from Tristan, whether files from his computer or to tap his phone, but they were obviously in no rush with Tristan.
I did this plenty of times. But somehow … now I didn’t want to do it. I wasn’t scared—I was pretty confident in my ability to play my part. It was the fact I had to flirt with another guy. But I didn’t have a choice and Kai was risking his ass to erase Tanner’s message. I could meet some guy for a few drinks to help keep Deck and everyone else safe.
Of course, Deck was not happy. “The doctor said you should rest.”
Deck’s doctor had been waiting for us at the loft. He checked me over, said I could have a concussion then treated and cleaned the cut on my back. There were no questions asked as to who I was or how I was hurt. I suspected the doctor got paid a lot to not ask questions.
“You agreed to this.”
“That was before the doctor saw you.”
“I’m perfectly fine. I’ve done it before. Not a big deal. Besides, we don’t have a choice. No red flags, remember.”
“I don’t fuckin’ like it.”
He was worried and I liked that he was worried about me, but there was no choice. “You know I have to do this, Deck. You of all people understand what this is about.”
He looked me up and down, his lips tightening. He knew I was right. This argument had gone down in the car with the boys earlier. “You’re not wearing that. Change.”
Here we go. The top was like a second skin, blue sequins with a V-neck and spaghetti straps. I wore tight black leggings with it and blue flashy high-heels. “He likes blue.”
“Then wear that blue pajama top.” He strode out of the bedroom as if it was the end of the conversation.
He remembered my blue puppy dog pajama top? It gave me a warm, fuzzy feeling, like whenever I saw the brown bunny rabbit Connor had given me and still sat on my bed to this day. It was just … nice he paid attention considering it was years since I’d worn it.