Chapter Nine
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WHEN VALE’S PHONE RANG, he didn’t think anything of it. He snatched it up from the coffee table and answered, frowning at the fact that the number of whoever was calling him didn’t appear on the screen. Usually, Rachel made it so that he knew she was the one calling.
It made sense that she hadn’t this time since she wasn’t the person on the other side of the phone.
“Hello?”
“Hello, Roux. It’s been a while.”
Vale sat up, attracting Oscar’s attention. The pet was lounging on the couch next to Vale, but he tensed as if he expected them to be attacked. It made sense because Vale certainly did.
He got to his feet and grabbed his gun. He didn’t think Helena was anywhere close, but he still didn’t like any of this. “Helena.”
“So you remember me. I’m pleased.”
“I don’t think I’ll ever forget you. What do you want?”
“Just to say hello. I can’t call an old colleague to check in on him?”
“Cut the bullshit.”
Unfortunately for Vale, Cyril was home. He immediately realized something was going on, and his eyes were wide when he stepped into the living room. Vale wanted to tell him to leave, but he knew what Cyril would tell him if he tried that.
With a resigned sigh, he put the phone on speaker. He also pressed a finger to his lips so that Cyril understood that he needed to be silent. Vale wouldn’t be surprised if Helena knew she was on speaker, but he didn’t need her to turn her attention to Cyril.
She chuckled. “I thought you would’ve grown out of your impatience, but I see that I was wrong. You know what I want, Roux.”
“I’m not handing myself over. If you’re going to try to kill me, you’ll have to work for it.”
“I wouldn’t have expected anything different from you, but see, I have a problem. I have other people to attend to, which means I need to be quick. It would be easier for everyone if you would just hand yourself over so I can kill you.”
Cyril bit on his lower lip hard enough to draw blood, and Vale quickly squeezed his shoulder. As much as he didn’t want his boyfriend to freak out, he knew it was impossible. Hell, he was freaking out, and this was his job.
“I’m afraid my answer is no.”
“Are you sure? Because I think that if you really love your boyfriend as much as you seem to, you’ll want to keep his mother safe. And what about his assistant? Sweet Robbie? We wouldn’t want anything to happen to him, would we?”
Cyril sucked in a breath, but he was still silent. He was also panicking, and there was nothing Vale could do to help. Helena knew what she was doing.
She always did.
She worked well. She was always prepared, and today wasn’t any different. She’d known that Vale wouldn’t hand himself over, so she’d looked into him. She’d found the names of people he cared about, and she was threatening them.
“Nothing has to happen to them. If you surrender, I’ll let them go,” she said sweetly.
Vale snorted. “I know you too well. What else do you want?” There was no way she only wanted him to surrender. She enjoyed the chase. She liked seeing the fear in people’s eyes. She liked hunting them. This wasn’t fun for her, which meant there was something else there that Vale needed to know.
“Well, I looked into your boyfriend. He’s an interesting man. He can come with you when you surrender and work for me.”
Of course she wanted Cyril. Vale should’ve known. “How about no?”
“Don’t you think Cyril would want to be asked? After all, this is the only way to keep the people he cares about safe.”
“As if you’re not going to kill me anyway.”
“Oh, I wasn’t talking about you. I was talking about his mother and Robbie. There’s nothing he can do to save you.”
“I don’t think his answer would be any different if he was here. He’s not going to surrender to you. He’s never going to work for you.”
Helena tsked. “That’s a pity. It would’ve made things much easier, but now, I’m going to have to do this the hard way.
Think about that, all right? Maybe you can talk about it and decide together what would be best for everyone.
Just know that by the time this is over, you’ll be dead and he’ll be working for me.
I don’t care how many bodies I have to leave behind to make that happen. ”
“Oh, fuck off,” Cyril suddenly snapped.
Vale turned wide eyes to his boyfriend. Cyril was pale, but there was a flush to his cheeks, and he looked angrier than Vale had ever seen him.
* * * *
CYRIL WAS ANGRY. HE wasn’t sure what had been the straw that broke the camel’s back, but he’d had enough. Helena could take her threats and shove them where the sun didn’t shine because he didn’t care about any of it. He needed her to get out of his life, and he needed her to do it now.
There was a moment of silence. Cyril wasn’t sure what Vale was thinking, but when Helena spoke again, she sounded delighted.
“Cyril. I didn’t expect you to be on this phone call.”
“I didn’t expect you to fuck up my life, yet here we are.”
She laughed. “I can see why Roux chose you. You’re delightful.”
“And you’re an asshole.”
“I’ve been called worse things.”
“I’m not very creative, but I’m sure I could come up with something else if you push me.”
Cyril had no idea what was wrong with him. He wouldn’t normally dare talk like that to anyone, but he couldn’t seem to stop. He hated that Helena had reduced him to this.
“Well, since you’re on the phone, I might as well ask you if you want to work for me directly. We pay extremely well. You’d never have to worry about the future again, and you’d be able to protect your mother and whoever you care about.”
“I just heard you threatening my mother and Robbie. Do you really think I’d want to work with you after that?”
“Honestly, I don’t care what you want. You’ll work for me whether you like it or not.”
She still sounded amused, but there was a vein of coldness in her voice, too. It made Cyril shiver, and all of his bravery flew right out the window.
Cyril was scared. He’d been scared even before he started talking to Helena, but this wasn’t helping. She sounded threatening in a way Cyril had only encountered once before, and when he had, things hadn’t gone well for him. He’d been lucky that Vale had managed to find and save him.
Vale offered Cyril his hand. Cyril hated how hesitant his boyfriend was, but it was his fault, and they were working through things. He could trust Vale to keep him safe, even from Helena. He wouldn’t have abandoned Cyril even if they’d broken up.
Cyril took his boyfriend’s hand and squeezed hard. He didn’t have to look at the phone to continue talking to Helena, but he did anyway because watching Vale hurt. “I’ll never work for you,” he told her. “I’ll never work for your Organization. It’s rotten, and I don’t work for rotten people.”
That wasn’t strictly true since some of the people Cyril had reanimated hadn’t been in the best of shape, but he thought that Helena got what he was saying.
He needed her to understand that he’d never willingly do anything for the Organization that was hunting down his boyfriend and that thought nothing of threatening his mother.
He didn’t care what Helena was saying or what she could offer.
That was a hard line for him, and it was a line he wouldn’t cross.
“I’m not sure you understand how powerful and rich the Organization is,” Helena said.
“And I’m not sure you understand that I don’t care how much money you’re offering me.”
“A sum with seven zeros, Cyril.”
Cyril swallowed. That was a lot of money, and he could do many things with it. He could protect his mother and ensure that whatever happened, she’d be fine. He could buy a home and stay away from the people who disliked him just because of what he could do.
It was only a fleeting thought. No matter what Helena was offering, he wasn’t taking it.
“You can take all those zeros and go fuck yourself, lady,” he snapped.
He didn’t care how Helena felt about his language.
He was pretty sure his mother would agree with him and would encourage him.
Hell, she might throw a few insults in herself.
There was a pause before Helena answered.
“I’m afraid this isn’t going to be a choice for you, Cyril.
You’ll work for the Organization whether you like it or not.
I was trying to sweeten the deal, but it’ll be cheaper for me if I can force you.
Roux, this is my offer. Hand yourself over, along with Cyril.
You’ll die as quickly as possible, and Cyril will work for me.
His family and friends will be left alone.
If neither of you agree to work with me on this, well, I hope you like funerals. ”
She hung up without waiting for an answer. Cyril waited for a second before he slumped against Vale. Thankfully, he had Cyril’s back. He always would, no matter what was happening between them. Cyril was sure of that.
“You okay?” Vale asked before kissing the top of Cyril’s head.
“Honestly, I don’t know. I don’t like her.”
Vale chuckled. “I don’t think anyone likes her.”
“What are you going to do?”
“Well, the first thing I’ll do is call Artemis. She’ll need to know. Brutus, too.”
The way Vale and his two friends used their real names and codenames interchangeably usually amused Cyril, but right now, it was a reminder of what was happening and of who they were.
He shuddered and took a step back, leaning forward again to kiss Vale’s cheek before Vale could think he was rejecting him.
“I’m going to lie down for a bit. Come find me once your phone call is over? ”
“I will. Are you sure you’re okay?”
“I’m not, but there’s not much you can do about it.”
“I could try anyway.”
Cyril found himself smiling. “I’m sure you could. Maybe once you’re done with your phone call?”