Chapter Eighteen
Dean
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AS SOON AS THE DOOR to his office closed behind him, Terrence turned to me, a grim look on his face.
But I could hardly pay attention. Had that been Arianna out there? I was sure it was, but there was no way, right? I needed to get out of this meeting and get to her, find out what she was doing here, but I knew I didn’t stand a chance until I convinced Terrence to let me leave.
“We need to talk,” he told me, his voice laced with deadly seriousness. I knew there was no point in arguing with him. When he made his mind up about something, nothing would stop him, and besides, I needed to know everything he had done about what had happened back there in New York.
“Can I at least have a drink first?” I asked, only half-joking, playing for time. He went to pour me one from the drinks stand next to him, and handed me a glass.
“Thanks,” I told him, and I took a long sip of the vodka he’d poured me. I needed something to take the edge off, and I knew this would keep me from giving away anything too obvious with the way I talked or moved.
“I’m glad you made it out alive, Dean,” he continued, leaning on his desk and watching me carefully, as though he was doing his best to see inside my head.
“Me too,” I replied. “What about – what about Ian? Did he make it?”
Terrence’s face darkened. It was clear I’d hit a sore spot. I needed to push just a little further, see what was hiding under there.
“I’ll take that as a no,” I remarked, and he nodded, slowly.
“Not a loss for us,” he replied. His voice was taut and unsettled, but he was doing his best to cover it up and make it seem like he still knew just what he was doing.
“Why do you say that?” I asked, curious. Ian had been working with Terrence and his gang for a long time now, I couldn’t imagine Terrence would be glad to see the back end of someone who had been such a big part of his life. Especially given that loyal men were hard to come by. I knew – I had worked my ass off to be seen as trustworthy, and it spooked me to think Terrence might have turned on me in the same way.
Terrence sank down into his seat and shook his head. I noticed the dark rings under his eyes, suddenly, and wondered how bad this was. Terrence was the kind of person who did all he could to push this idea that he was in control, and anything to get in the way of it was usually met with a harsh put-down on his end. I didn’t blame him – he needed to be strong, to make sure he didn’t let anyone see him as anything other than the leader he wanted to be.
“I didn’t want to have to tell you this,” he admitted. “I know you were close with Ian, Dean. But he was working for the other side. The Vogons. That was why the meeting went wrong; they turned on him, and then took him out because he wasn’t going to give them what they wanted.”
“How do you know that?” I replied, raising my eyebrows in surprise.
“We have our sources,” he said, practically daring me to ask more.
“You’re sure he was a mole?”
“Someone has been sharing our secrets,” he continued, and I felt panic grip my stomach. Did he know about me? Was this his way of making sure I stayed in line? Terrence wasn’t stupid, and there was only so long I would be able to last before he worked out what was happening and decided to take me out too.
“And it only made sense for it to be Ian,” he went on. “We ran through all of our people, but he was the one who had the most contact with the Vogons, so he was likely the one sharing our movements and plans with them.”
I lifted the vodka to my lips again in the hopes of concealing how freaked I was. Ian and I had worked closely together for a long time. I thought I had known him well, but maybe I had barely known him at all.
Just the same way he had never really known me.
“What are we going to do about him?” I asked, and Terrence shrugged.
“He’s buried now,” he replied. “No need for his family to know he was a rat. We can let him rest in peace; he got what was coming to him. I’d rather just move on and make sure nothing like this happens again.”
It was surprisingly forgiving of Terrence to respond that way, and I instantly sensed something was off. No way would he have just let someone get away with disrespecting the group and going behind his back that way. He should have been doing all he could to make sure people knew what kind of man Ian was, and yet, he seemed willing to allow him to stay buried. Interesting. Perhaps he knew more than he was telling.
“I’m sorry you had to be caught up in his games,” he continued, shaking his head and sighing. “To think how close we came to losing you as well – it doesn’t bear thinking about. But you’re out now, and we’re going to be looking very, very hard at anyone who tries to come in here and make this place theirs like Ian did.”
I nodded again and finished off the vodka. It was too early to be drinking, but at a time like this, I doubted he would have had much issue with it. It gave me something to do with my hands, too, and I would take anything I could to cover up the intense guilt and fear inside of me right now.
“The next person you work with will be totally trustworthy, I’ll make sure of it,” Terrence told me. His voice was edged with something I couldn’t quite work out – certainty, yes, but underneath it, something else. Maybe doubt. Maybe he was starting to doubt me, too. I needed to get rid of that as soon as I could. If he started looking into me, what I was doing, how I had come to be part of his gang, I would be in some serious fucking trouble, and I’d already had enough of it to last a lifetime.
“We’ll get some food in you and then the maid can show you to your room,” Terrence told me. “You’ll be staying here for a while. Better to keep everyone close for the time being, don’t you think?”