Chapter 30 Flynn
FLYNN
“Did she get there safely?” The weighted question pulls from me as Frank walks back into the kitchen, but I don’t look up from the eggs I’m scrambling, fearing the look in his eyes.
“From what we can tell, yes. The last we saw was her crashing into the gate. As soon as security was alerted, we had to pull back but I’ve put the right feelers out for Antov to pick up on so that he knows we’re pissed about the escape and looking for her.
Also dragged up a couple of bodies we can claim are the guards we shot. ”
I nod along as he speaks, playing it all out in my mind while I fold eggs over each other and sprinkle in the spice Angie loves so much. It’s painful to think about Kaia.
If there’s a stroke of golden luck, then Eva could be back with us in a couple of days, and my torn-apart family will be whole. Or Kaia could fail and I’ll be preparing funerals for them both.
My stirring pauses and finally I look up at Frank. He’s watching me with a deep frown and when our eyes meet, his lips press together.
“This is dangerous,” he says quietly.
“I know. But what other choice did I have? In the weeks she’s been here, we’ve tried everything else.
Killed his men, burned down his businesses, targeted everything I can think of, all the while he dangles the life of my daughter over me, and I’m powerless to do anything but wait for the moment he makes a demand of me. So Kaia…she’s our only real chance.”
Frank sighs deeply and joins me at the stove. “I know. The world talks about how you’ve withdrawn. Antov brags about what he’s got on you, and our allies and enemies think us weak. We’re in an impossible situation.”
“I’d give it up, y’know,” I say as I unload the eggs on Angie’s plate. “In a heartbeat, I’d give all of this up to get Eva back.”
“I know.”
“And now…Kaia.” Picking up Angie’s plate, I face Frank. “I feel like I’ve sent her to her death.”
“Look at how she thrived here. She tried to kill you. Twice. She even escaped once before. She’s a strong, capable woman and she has a goal. As much as I don’t trust her, I’m hoping she’ll surprise me. I’ll gladly be proven wrong.”
I pat his shoulder as I pass and move through to the dining room where I plaster a fake, happy smile onto my face and serve Angie her breakfast.
“Daddy!” She beams up at us. “Can Kaia have breakfast with us too?”
“I’m sorry, baby, she can’t.” Leaning over her, I pour her glass of orange juice.
“Are you still angry with her?”
“A little. But that’s not why.”
“Then why?” She picks up her fork and stabs absently at her eggs while swinging her legs into me when I sit next to her.
“Kaia…had to go away.”
Angie stops eating immediately. “Like Eva?”
“No, no baby. Not like Eva.”
Her lower lip wobbles as she nods. “So she’ll come back?”
It breaks my heart to see such pain in her gigantic eyes and I ache to tell her they will both come back, but it’s not a promise I can make.
“She’ll try to,” I say instead. “You know in your stories, the fairy grandmother comes and makes people happy and then she leaves again? To go and help someone else?”
I’m snatching at straws here, but thankfully Angie nods and resumes eating.
“Well, it’s sort of like that. Kaia’s gone to do something special and important so I don’t know if she will come back. But I hope she does.”
“Okay Daddy,” Angie replies, shoveling eggs into her mouth. “And Eva too.”
“And Eva too.” Leaning forward, I kiss the top of her head. “Eat up. When you’re finished, we can do whatever you want today.”
“Whatever I want?” she asks with her mouthful.
“Yup. Today is your day.”
As much as I adore spending time with Angie, she’s also partly a distraction.
Knowing I’m so close to Eva and yet unable to do anything about it is killing me, but my head won’t shut up, and my heart won’t stop racing.
And Kaia.
I couldn’t stomach watching my men rough her up even though it would help her sell a lie.
I couldn’t even lift my hand to do it myself. I care about her.
I think I have for a long time, but it really hit the moment she got into that car and raced away.
Something about her got under my skin the first time she tried to kill me, and ever since it’s grown to something I can’t explain even though it simmered under my skin until yesterday.
Until she threw herself at me and I fucked her has hard as I could, as if somehow it would stop her from carrying out this plan and I’d magically think of another way to save Eva.
But there is no other way.
This is the best chance I have and yet it feels like I’m sacrificing Kaia to do it.
I’ve grown used to the guilt in my chest since Eva was taken, but there’s a new shard to it now.
A shard that grew when I fell for Kaia and sent her back into the lion’s den.
Focusing on Angie all day helps for a while.
We play games and have a tea party with two empty chairs for Eva and Kaia.
We paint together, play hide-and-seek in the garden, then make pizzas and watch movies until the day’s excitement makes Angie fall asleep in my arms.
I carry her to bed, tuck her in, and spend an hour by her beside just watching her sleep.
And just like every night, my heart breaks at how Eva must be sleeping. She was always the more timid of the two, always a little quieter and gentler.
Even if Kaia succeeds, I’ll never forgive myself for failing this badly as a father.
Angie’s soft sleeping sounds almost lull me to sleep myself until I jerk awake and gently remove myself from her bedroom.
Frank still has no news about Kaia, and none of my security teams reports any movement.
It’s been a day.
As I wander the manor, I mull over emergency plans. I could call the Italians.
They’ve been at peace with the Russians for decades, but if the worst comes to the worst, I know they would help me raid the main Yudkin manor.
There are a few other Irish families I can reach out to, but many of them vie for my foothold on the forgery world, and I can’t trust that none of them would take this chance to dislodge me.
Eventually, my wandering brings me to the door leading down to the main cells where Vic resides.
I’m not sure what compels me to visit him, but before I know it I’ve descended the stairs and walked toward the bars of his cell.
Through my guidance, he’s been cared for and treated since the fire, given one meal a day and a dose of painkillers to keep him awake.
He sits with his back against the wall and lets out a low whistle as I approach.
“Well, well,” he mutters as I draw close. “So you finally come to see me.” His face twists. “When Kaia never came back, I knew she was too chicken to kill you. That fat bitch is all fucking talk.”
“Did you really think she would succeed?”
Vic leans away from the wall and spits on the floor next to him. “She had a chance. Closer than I’ve gotten. So what did you do to her?”
“Are you asking me if I killed her when she attempted to take my life?”
“Why the fuck do you talk like that?” Vic sneers. “Fuck, everything about you is like a fucking show.”
I snort. “How else am I supposed to work out what the fuck you mean when you can’t string a sentence together.”
Vic’s face twists. “Sure. Did you kill my sister?”
“No.”
His brow twitches. “She’s alive?”
“For now.”
Vic rests back against the wall and sighs. “Why are you here?”
“I want to ask you something.”
“And it took you until now to have the balls to come and see me?”
“Let’s get one thing straight, Vic,” I mutter. “I don’t need balls to come and see you. The only reason you’re still breathing is because of me, do you understand? I could have chosen to leave you without care or medication and left you to suffer until I had my fill.”
“But you didn’t.” Vic smirks. “Because you’re a coward.”
I bite back my immediate response and speak tightly. “Why didn’t you just kill me that night? Why take my daughter?”
Vic’s head rolls back and forth against the wall. “Fun.”
“Fun?”
“Killing you like that ain’t fun. It’s boring and I’m not boring. But everyone knew how you fucking doted on your daughters after your whore died. You acted as if you were better than everyone else, so I wanted to teach you a lesson: nothing is untouchable. Not even the smug fucking Irish.”
Anger coils hot in my gut. “That’s it? You kidnapped her to toy with me?”
“Mhm. And it’s been fucking delicious.”
I glance down at the ground and mull over his words.
At night, I’d waited for business demands, ransom demands or even demands for my life, but they never came.
Underneath the pain, I could never work out why they took her and didn’t demand anything.
Now I know it was just for fun.
“Do you want to know why I took care of you?” I ask softly, lifting my gaze. “Why did I treat you, feed you, and keep you medicated?”
“Sure,” Vic yawns.
“Because you’re an animal, Vic. And an animal that thinks he has a chance to escape will keep living. Any other route risked you trying to take your own life before I found out where you were keeping Eva. I kept you alive and fed with just enough hope that you still think you might win.”
Vic’s eyes snap to me and they narrow into thin lines. “Bullshit.”
“Is it?” I turn away and walk back toward the stairs. “Kaia was working for me, you cunt. And she played you like a fucking fiddle.”
Vic’s furious roar follows me all the way back up the stairs.