If Brannigan ever did figure that out, he’d likely burst a blood vessel on the spot.
Chuckling at the idea, Kyou headed for the treadmill. He had to get his blood pumping before he’d have the energy to do anything else. And maybe he’d find some way to sneak over and spy on the date tonight. A disaster like that one promised to be would be vastly entertaining, and he was just evil enough to enjoy watching a powerful man like Brannigan Genovese squirm.
Because Kyou was evil, he got reservations for the same restaurant and time Brannigan had for his date. He even managed to get a table only four over. It was the first time in about two weeks he’d left the apartment, and it was a little strange to be out here with people. Boston wasn’t a quiet city in any respect, and it was honestly a bit too crowded and people-y for Kyou’s tastes. But it was where Brannigan did the majority of his business, and Kyou had settled here by default.
Now, of course, everyone else was here as well. Aiden had landed a residency at a children’s hospital, so he was locked in for another two years and change. Ivan’s default was where his husband was. (And yes, having Ivan married—of all people—still threw Kyou for a mental loop.) Ari and Carter chose to stay nearby so that Remi could be around her family. Well, and so they could swing by and drag Kyou out of his lair. He’d gotten a reprieve the past two weeks because the two of them were out on a job.
Ivan was ostensibly watching Remi and dropping her off at Kyou’s place every other day so the hacking lessons could continue. It was honestly a little scary how quickly she was picking things up. Kyou had been honest with Brannigan earlier, when he’s said that there was always someone better—in his case, he was absolutely certain Remi would be the one to outstrip him in time. He was more or less training his rival.
Kyou couldn’t be more proud of her, either.
His phone rang, and he answered it with a cheerful, “You guys finally done?”
“The next time someone tells me they just need surveillance on a target, I will stab them in the eye with a spoon.” Ari sounded perfectly willing to do the deed now.
“That much fun, huh? Too bad you owed Tricksy a favor.”
“Like hell I did. Ivan owed her the favor. How I got stuck with this, I do not know.”
“You got stuck with it because we don’t trust Ivan on long stakeouts anymore, remember?”
“Please don’t bring that back up. I’m still traumatized by it. It’s why I agreed to go instead of him. Carter’s the only reason I stayed sane on this.”
“Well, he’s also the one who’s got more practice at it.” And Carter’s patience was something else. Kyou had never met someone more patient. Fortunately. It had taken that patience to get through the many walls both Ari and Remi possessed.
“You sound like you’re outside right now?” Ari asked hopefully.
For once, Kyou could answer honestly. “I am. I’m going out for dinner.”
Ari sounded pleased. “Yeah? That’s great. What’s for dinner tonight?”
“Japanese. I’m debating sushi or not.” Kyou didn’t want to stay on this topic because it could potentially lead in a direction he didn’t want to go. “Hey, while I have you on the phone, I managed to finally find Remi’s birth mother.”
The assassin’s tone went from upbeat to flat in a split second. “Oh, did you? And where is she?”
“Still in Memphis. She finally got married this time.”
There was an audible hiccup. “What do you mean, finally? I thought she was married to the last creep.”
“Nope,” Kyou declared, popping the p. “Seems she was in the habit of shacking up with guys, never tying the knot. It was why it was so easy for her to abandon the last loser. This time, she’s managed to somehow land a man who actually makes a living. They got married about two months ago.”
“But Remi called that asshole her step-father. I assumed they were married.”
“Yeah, I did too. It was why it took a bit longer for me to find her. She kept adopting their names, too, although she never got it changed legally. She’d just sign as their wife. Real piece of work, this woman.”
“I’m still debating putting a bullet in her.”
“If you could see what I’ve been reading, you wouldn’t even be tempted. She’s the kind of woman who’s a self-fulling prophecy. She’s perfectly miserable where she is, and it’s mostly her fault. Two months in, the husband’s already cheating on her, and she’s hitting the bottle hard. It’ll actually serve justice more if you let her be miserable. A bullet would be a kindness.”
“Two months? Wow, that was a short honeymoon.”
“Pretty sure he was cheating on her before they even got married. But so was she, so…yeah, not a lot of sympathy there.” Kyou had reached the restaurant. It was fortunately not that far a walk from his apartment. He’d enjoyed stretching his legs, but this left him in a bit of a quandary. He wanted to be seated before Brannigan and the airheaded supermodel arrived. But if he walked in now, Ari would hear him talk to the hostess, which would give the game away. Kyou was not a reservations kind of person.
“Yeah, I’m having a hard time dredging up sympathy myself. But then, I don’t understand the cheating mentality at all. It was hard enough for me to find someone to date. Finding multiple people?”
“I’m with you, man. But then, dating’s not easy for any of us. I still find it a complete miracle Ivan got married.”
“You’re telling me.” Ari hesitated.
Sensing this was important, Kyou stepped to the side of the door and stayed there for a moment, lingering on the sidewalk. “What?”
“Carter and I both picked up on something. Remi settled, like visibly settled, when Ivan and Aiden got married. It was like seeing them married gave her a sense of security that they would be alright. I thought it strange, because her mother jumped from one guy to the next, so why would seeing anyone married affect her like that? But if her mother was never married…it makes sense.”
“Yeah. She still sees marriage as a permanent thing. If they’re married, they can’t leave each other. That’s likely how she sees it.” Kyou had an idea of where this was going, but waited for Ari to say it.
“Carter and I’ve talked about getting married. Talked about it quite a few times. We were worried about how Remi would take it.”
“Is that the only thing stopping you?”
“Yeah, pretty much. We’re solid. No way in hell we’re breaking up, ever. But we both want that commitment, those vows. We just don’t know how Remi would take it. But if she likes the idea of marriage, then…”
“I think you need to sit her down, both of you, and talk about this. I think you’ll be surprised at how eager she’ll be to have you two married.”
Ari blew out a long breath. “Yeah. I might be overthinking this. I do that a lot with her. Alright, well, we’ll talk to her about it when we get home. We’re crashing at a hotel tonight, coming home in the morning. Anything else been happening while we’re gone?”
“Naw, nothing momentous. Just same ol’ same ol’.”