The Camp (Chateau 2)

She stilled when she saw me on the other couch. She was in one of his shirts that fit her like a blanket. Her hair was down, and there was no makeup on her face. “I woke up…and you weren’t there.” She spoke to him but stared at me.

“I’ll be up in a minute.”

She lingered. “Is she here?”

I nodded.

She turned to Fender. “Can I see—”

“Go to bed.” His affectionate tone was gone and replaced by one of a dictator. “I’ll be there in a minute.”

She didn’t argue and walked away.

He shook his head when she was gone. “All she ever talks about is her obnoxious sister. Maybe I should kill her, so I don’t have to hear about her anymore—from either one of you.” He shot me a glare before he drank his scotch.

I didn’t take threats from him lightly. “You’ll lose her affection and never get it back.”

He looked into his glass with no reaction, but he seemed to have come to the same conclusion because he didn’t snap at me. “I hope you’re enjoying her.”

All I did was nod. We’d been there for a week, and we’d barely exchanged a few words. I kept her at a distance because my resentment had never faded away. I was spiteful. I held grudges for decades.

“I’m sure the guards weren’t happy.”

“They’ll get over it.” I knew I’d have to deal with Alix when I returned…might even have to kill him. Fender would be furious to lose another executioner since it was a difficult job to replace, so I would avoid that if possible. “I think we should pass on Napoleon.”

“You pass on a lot of partners, Magnus.”

“For good reason. All it takes is one bad seed…and we lose it all.”

“Yes, but now that we’ve increased our production, we need to sell it to someone to distribute. Napoleon would work in Africa, so he wouldn’t infringe on any domestic territory. We won’t saturate the market and upset our current clients.”

I knew he would say that. “I felt like he was trying to get information from me.”

“By asking about Italy? Again, he might have his own eyes on it.”

I shook my head. “I really don’t think so.”

He swirled the contents of his glass before he set it on the table between us. “Sleep on it for a few days.”

“I’ve made my decision.”

“He’s too great a partner to pass up without concrete information. We’ll look into him.”

“We won’t find anything because it’s impossible to discover intention.”

“Magnus—”

“I think he’s trying to figure out how much coke we’re getting in an effort to deduce how we’re getting it…so he can come in and steal the business from us.”

He stared at me. “Our Colombian partners would never betray us.”

“Betrayal can be bought. The diamond business is just as lucrative as ours. He has the money. He could be trying to acquire our assets to take over France, Africa, and maybe Italy.”

“No one can take over Italy. They’d be stupid to try.”

I shook my head. “And maybe he’s stupid enough.”

Fender relaxed into the chair, his neck resting on the back of the couch as he looked at the ceiling, thinking it over.

I rubbed my hands together as I leaned forward, waiting for the thoughts he was collecting.

He leaned forward again, releasing a quick breath. “We’ll think it over.”

He never overrode me, and I knew he was only doing it now because of greed. “Fender, we’re already richer than most countries combined. No reason to risk all of that for just a little more—”

“I didn’t say I’d accept him as a partner.” He got to his feet and left the living room. “I said I would think about it.” His footsteps faded as he walked farther away. “You can let yourself out.”

Thirteen

The Eiffel Tower

When I walked in the door, she was there.

Sitting on the couch in front of the TV, she quickly jolted upright when she heard me, like she’d been trying to stay awake until I returned but had fallen asleep in front of the mindless entertainment on the screen.

I looked down at her, seeing even more of her long legs because her shorts rode up while she lay on the couch. One of the straps to her top came loose and fell down her shoulder.

She ran her fingers through her hair to pull it from her face in a way she never did at the camp and got to her feet, the sleep making her eyes heavy. The makeup was gone from her face, but her eyes were still much brighter here in Paris than they ever were at the camp.

“What are you doing? You have a king-size bed, a TV, and a view of the tower in your bedroom.” I was tired from my evening because the frustration drained me. Fender was a genius mastermind who’d put this business together when we were still practically kids, but his success turned him arrogant, and that arrogance made him greedy, and that greed made him stupid.