“Your answer?” he asked, slightly amused. “Didn’t realize there was an application process.”
I stared down at him, seeing his crossed legs, his navy-blue suit rising up and revealing his maroon socks underneath. “We don’t accept just anyone. It’s the reason we’ve been in business so long…”
I sat on the couch and watched Fender walk into the sitting room, his black sweatpants low on his hips and his bare chest in view. A scotch was in his hand, and he took a drink as he sat across from me. “How’d it go?”
“I don’t like him.”
He held the glass in his hand. “You don’t like anyone, Magnus.”
I was more than cautious; I was paranoid. Trust was impossible to earn from me. They could say all the words I wanted to hear, but the content of the conversation meant nothing. It was the energy in the room. Betrayal had a scent, had a spirit, and I certainly felt it in Napoleon’s company. “I don’t trust him.”
“Why?”
I shook my head. “He asked questions I didn’t appreciate.”
“Such as?”
“Why we haven’t crossed the border into Italy.”
“Maybe it’s because he intends to.” He took a drink. “Wish him luck.”
“I don’t think—”
Melanie’s voice interrupted us. “Fender?”
I looked at my watch and saw the hour. It was almost midnight.
He looked up at her. “Yes?”
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.
“I wanted to make sure you came home.” She stood up and pulled the strap back up her shoulder before she crossed her arms over her chest.
“And if I didn’t?”
She wore a blank look, like she didn’t know what to say.
“You would have walked out of here free.” I moved to the stairs so I could go up to my room and get in the shower.
“No, that’s not what I would have done.”
I stilled at the bottom of the stairs, my hand on the railing. I should just keep walking, but something about my foul mood made me stay. I was tired but I was also frustrated, and I just wanted to get that out. I turned around and looked at her.