“Double the security,” I say. “For Lizochka and Thomas at least.”
Antoine quirks an eyebrow. “Why?”
“It’s only until I say otherwise.”
He narrows his eyes, then lets out an exasperated sigh. “What the hell is going on, man? You know you can trust me enough to share.”
“But do I want to?”
“I think you do, since it will help me do my job better.”
True enough. Besides, Antoine is discreet. Comes with the job description. And I don’t have to tell him everything. Just some crumbs. “Keep it to yourself.”
He nods.
“There’s an unfinished task I need to check off.”
He arches an eyebrow. “An unfinished task?”
“There’s a criminal who is known as the Dealer. He’s in L.A. and he’s targeting one of the foundation’s employees.” I don’t say “intern” because then Antoine’s going to know exactly who. He doesn’t need to know that, not right now. I’m a firm believer in giving as little info as possible without compromising the objective. People who know too much think they’re in charge and tend to ruin good plans.
“Shouldn’t we beef up security at the foundation, then? We don’t want anything happening to the workers there.”
“He has a nasty habit of running over people his target is close to. He might just decide to run over Lizochka and Thomas.” But the little shit will never succeed so long as I’m alive.
“What about Dominic?”
Of course Antoine is worried about him. They’re best friends and in-laws. “This employee has never met him, so the risk is negligible.”
“Still. I’ll increase security for him, too.”
“Suit yourself.”
“You going after this Dealer guy yourself?” Antoine asks, after making some notes on his plan.
“Yes.” Not just him, but his hired thugs too. He might have vowed to kill Angelika himself, but he is too arrogant to grab her himself. He seems to think he’s too good for certain criminal tasks.
“Have you told the employee about the threat?”
“She’s aware, but not the fact that he’s in town. I prefer to keep it that way.” No need to freak her out, have her behave erratically or try to run and tip Roy Wilks off. Plus, if she ever asks me why I failed to inform her, I’ll point out that she quit talking to me. It’ll be petty, but satisfying.
“How come? She’s going to be exposed.”
I give him an “are you kidding me?” look. “I have it under control. No broken bones. No blood. I promise.” I don’t want her hurt. I want her protected and safe, and healthy enough to continue being mad at me, although ideally, she’ll be grateful and let me know in the best way possible. “And she’ll be thrilled once I take care of the threat for her.”
Antoine scrutinizes me. He isn’t an idiot. He probably knows how I take care of threats, even if he wants to pretend what I do is call 911 and wait for the police to apprehend the bad guys. I do that as well, but the police department has too many cases to handle, too many lowlife criminals to process. Regardless of the number of TV shows that would have you believe crimes can be solved with the wrongdoer apprehended in a matter of days, the reality is exhausting, confusing and not as cut and dried.
I, on the other hand, have only a few such problems to solve. It’s only right I get off my ass once in a while and take some of the burden off law enforcement.
“Hope she appreciates that,” Antoine says finally.
My eyebrows pinch. Appreciate… She might’ve done that before.
I realize that once Roy’s gone, she’s going to leave. She has no reason to stay with me and is already uncomfortable—even angry—with my methods.
Normally, I’d shrug and go about my life. I had my fun, and I got a man off my kill list. The woman isn’t clinging or harboring helplessly romantic notions about me. It will be a clean break—something I always prefer.
But I don’t want the little fawn to vanish. I want her to stay. I want to hang on to her with the desperation of a man fighting an apocalyptic battle while clutching the last sword left in the world.
No… That’s too ugly an analogy. She’s like a bright light in my life. The only person who makes me laugh and want to let my guard down a little. Many people think that I’m in love with Lizochka, but what she has is my loyalty.
It’s Angelika who has my heart. It’s a sad, damaged organ, incapable of much of what makes most people human. But what little humanity it’s capable of is hers.
If I eliminate Roy in the most efficient way possible, nobody’ll find his body after tonight. But I’m going to lose Angelika. So I’ll have to use a less efficient method, something more convoluted and time-consuming.
“You’re scaring me.” Antoine’s worried words break my train of thoughts.
I frown. “Why?”
He makes a circle around my face. “Your expression.”
“And you call yourself a man. You’re a disgrace.” As I stand up, my gaze falls on the framed photo on Antoine’s desk.
Events must be carefully engineered, so that even after Roy’s gone, Angelika will want to stay by my side. And be happy, like Antoine’s wife in the picture.
For that, I’m willing to bleed.
Chapter Thirty-Four
Angelika
Seven days since I discovered Tolyan’s duplicity. If it weren’t for Roy, I’d leave the penthouse. Since Tolyan has refused to let me chip in for utilities or food, all the money I’ve been making at the foundation’s been sitting in my bank account. With the amount I’ve saved, I have over ten thousand dollars, enough to get an apartment and move out.
But Roy is still at large. And Courtney is his spy. When I discovered that Tolyan’s been hacking into my phone and pretending to be me, I was furious. Couldn’t even decide if I could trust anybody ever again. But within a day or two, I was able to calm down and realize Tolyan’s the only one I can rely on to keep me safe at the moment. It’s obvious he has a score to settle with Roy. Otherwise he wouldn’t have tried to use me to lure Roy to L.A. Although it galls me to be the cheese in Tolyan’s mousetrap, I don’t think Tolyan will let Roy hurt me.
Still, I let Tolyan know I’m upset over the fact that he wouldn’t talk to me like an adult worthy of respect. He has to know why I’m mad. He knows I want him to apologize for using me. But he won’t do it. It’s as if he’s convinced he did nothing wrong.
If he’d just told me what he was planning to do, I would’ve cooperated. Can’t he see that? I’ve done as he’s asked, even when I didn’t like it, because he’s the expert. That should’ve earned me at least a bit of respect.
But it’s clear that he’s never respected me. The birthday song was just that—him being nice because he feels sorry for me that I got something ugly and nasty from Roy.
So I ignore him just like the way he ignores me. But that doesn’t mean my body doesn’t go liquid warm at the sight of him. Or that my skin has quit prickling with excitement every time he’s near.