Chapter 28 #3
“You know what Dylan’s mistake was? She survived loudly. Drew attention…And do you know what that does? It breeds consequences.”
Fear lances through me then, as the footsteps get closer. But the fear is not for Dylan. It’s for me. “You. You are trying to survive quietly. That makes you far more dangerous.”
He nods then, and I feel hands grip my biceps. “Take her downstairs. I want a full accounting of who helped her get in and who’s waiting for her to come back out, and why.”
I dig my heels in as his guards start to drag me backward. “You won’t touch her. Dylan is done with this world. You don’t get to rewrite her story.”
He approaches me then, holding a hand up to stop his guards’ movement. “Oh, Thea,” he murmurs. “I don’t care about her anymore. I care about you. Because you walked into a system that already learned from its mistakes.”
Waving a hand, he turns away and his guards start to pull me away again, but I let my anger rise above my fear.
I’m done being dismissed. Being underestimated.
Being used. “I noticed how fast you filled his seat, you know. Almost like you were waiting for it to open.” That causes him to pause.
I didn’t know that, not until I was roped into this operation, but that’s not information he needs to know.
“Opportunity favors the prepared.”
“You ever wonder why someone so careful suddenly managed to get himself killed?” I ask.
He shrugs. “Arrogance, most likely. It’s always arrogance.”
I almost laugh because Dylan would hate that answer. Fletcher would despise it and wish to bring her uncle back only to tear him apart piece by piece, dragging out his death. “It wasn’t arrogance,” I say softly. “It was underestimating the wrong people.”
He gives me an icy glare. “Are you suggesting that—”
“I’m suggesting…” I cut in. “That you inherited more than his contacts and routes. You inherited his blind spots.”
“You’re treading into dangerous territory, girl”
“Maybe, but I learned from watching someone survive him.” Not escape. Not disappear.
Survive.
That part was partially true. Listening to Dylan’s story, witnessing her healing and overcoming her trauma, has taught me that I deserve to stand tall and that there is always a reason to keep moving forward.
“And you’re here,” he says slowly, “because you believe the same rules apply to me.”
“I believe,” I correct, “that you’re not as untouchable as you think.”
The laugh he releases is soft and controlled, but there is no humor in it.
“Let me make something very clear, Thea. I don’t care how my predecessor died.
I care that his operation continues without interruption and that it will continue to do so.
And if you’re hoping the same ending applies to me, you’re going to be deeply disappointed. ”
“Maybe,” I say, meeting his gaze. “But you should ask yourself something.”
“Oh?” he prompts.
“I’m sure you’re also aware that while Dylan was the one who ended her uncle’s life, that she didn’t do it alone. Therefore, what makes you so sure that the people who helped her simply disappeared when he did?”
For the first time since this began, he doesn’t respond immediately, and I think I struck a nerve.
Truthfully, a part of me is wanting to see what gets under his skin, and the other part is buying time.
Hoping that Nathan will come to my rescue.
“Speculation dressed up as confidence is still speculation.”
“Is it? You stepped into a vacancy that was created violently. You inherited an operation that had already been compromised once. You’d have to be arrogant to believe that everyone involved was accounted for.” After all, he wants to know how I wound up in here.
His jaw tightens, but not enough for anyone else to notice. Anyone else besides me. “You think shadows linger forever but they don’t. They scatter, and people talk themselves into believing they’re part of something bigger than they are, then they move on. Well, most get to.”
I don’t shy away from the not so invisible threat he left for me in that line but I don’t let it show. “Or they wait, they learn, they adapt.”
“And you believe you’re one of them?”
“I believe that systems like yours don’t collapse from the top. They rot from the inside.”
He exhales, then he smiles again. “You give yourself far too much importance. But you’re young, so I suppose naivety is par for the course.”
“And yet, you’re still talking to me. And men who aren’t threatened don’t bother.” That lands.
He steps closer, invading my space, trapping me between him and the guard at my back. “Let me return the favor and make something very clear. You’re not a warning. You’re not a symbol. And you’re certainly not part of some unseen resistance. No. You’re a variable. And variables get eliminated.”
My pulse hammers, but I don’t look away. “Then do it,” I say softly. “Or admit you’re not as certain as you pretend to be.”
But instead of responding to me, he looks at his men behind me. “Take her,” he orders. “I want to know exactly how much she knows and who’s been filling her head with these ideas.
Let’s see how long her resolve lasts without an audience.” Fear claws at my chest as they pull me away, but beneath it is something steadier.
Because the truth he doesn’t know is the truth that could kill him. Dylan, Fletcher, and Nathan already proved that monsters bleed. And Harrison just volunteered to find out how much.