Chapter 31 Emil
EMIL
No one spoke after Sadie insisted on being more involved.
As I watched her, defiant as ever, I fell more in love with this badass. She wasn’t only brave, though, butting in like this. She was smart, too.
We would be at a loss without her. She brought so much to the table.
She came prepared with all those backed-up files.
She carried many secrets and bits of intel in the map of her mind.
Without her as an informant and guide, we wouldn’t be in the position to wage a war against those trying to team up and potentially hurt us.
Now wasn’t the time to admire her. Not yet.
I turned, facing my father. Then I nodded. “She’s not going anywhere.”
He looked at the ceiling and sighed. “No one was kicking her out.”
That meant a lot, coming from him.
“No, but I agree with her. We’re talking over her, hijacking the case she was working on.”
Alexsei shook his head. “Emil, be reasonable. I know you’re more of a thrill-seeker than the rest of us, but are you really willing to risk her safety? You want to expose her to combat when she’s about to be the mother of your child?”
“This is what he means. I’m right here,” she said hotly, holding her arms out. “There is no need to talk over me.”
Alexsei hung his head and held his hands up in a truce.
“You’re not going to lead this mission,” my father said flatly.
She narrowed her eyes.
“Not in the field.” He glanced at me, incredulous. “After how panicked you were that she’d deliver this baby when she was held hostage, you want to appease her and let her run out into war and deliver it like Gabriella did when she had Andre?”
“No.” Sadie stepped closer to me, and I took her hand because it felt natural to do so. To not only verbally stand up for her, but to physically offer her a touch of solidarity.
“I’m not asking to be that involved. I won’t risk this baby.
” She placed her hand on her belly. “But I can already tell you’re looking at this as how you see it being done.
How you want to place men and what to look for.
I come with an alternative perspective. I’ve done my research.
And I know I can manage this project for you. ”
My father stared at me for a long moment, as if he was waiting for how I’d react to what she said.
I only smiled smugly, knowing she was right. She was more aware of the players in this Obsidian Eye alliance.
My father furrowed his brow, perhaps debating again about completely trusting a former agent. To accept her intel was one thing. But to grant her power to call any of the shots? That was something more.
“Well, come on,” Ivan said. “Gabriella’s going to have that baby any day and you’ll be distracted.” He gestured at me. “You’re not far off from distracting him”—he nodded at me—“from distracting him again. Let’s focus and get this done.”
I smiled at my cousin for snapping us out of this standoff.
“Yes. Let’s go.” My father looked at Sadie. “Under your command, let’s get this fucking done sooner than later.”
Sadie turned to dazzle me with a smile of pure adoration and respect. She mouthed thank you, and I knew I was smitten. Forever. The joy that filled my heart at the knowledge that I’d made her happy was too good to ever not strive for again.
For the rest of the night, we were deep into planning mode.
Sadie seemed to be one of those people who talked with her hands, and I marveled at how I was still learning her quirks and tells.
If I stopped and considered it all, we really hadn’t known each other for long.
In the manner of days and months, yes, we had that connection. But we’d spent time apart, as well.
After this is settled, though, we’ll have the rest of our lives to learn everything about each other.
At the moment, though, I gave her space to take over.
As she did, delegating men and discussing who should move in where, I was impressed.
I could tell my father and cousins were too.
She was short, she was petite, and with that big baby bump, she looked vulnerable.
But she could operate and think one step ahead of all of us, pointing out flaws and contingencies for us to have men tracking the right decoys and zeroing in on the correct location.
Over the course of the next two days, Dubinin spies would track the decoys she’d researched and follow those men.
That step would clue us in to where the actual first meeting would be held.
Once those coordinates were secured, we would move in and kill them all.
Anyone with the dream of starting this Obsidian Eye group would surely think twice after our massacre.
I didn’t leave her side, commanding right along with her. She wasn’t only a consultant but also a director, yet she still didn’t know many of the members in the organization. That was where I helped and where my father and cousins stepped in to help.
Not once did she flinch or have a flustered moment, dedicated to working until late in the night.
I needed to get her to bed. She still had to mind her need for resting and relaxing. She didn’t complain when I suggested wrapping up for the day.
As she straightened a pile of papers, she said, addressing the supervisors in the meeting room, where we’d relocated for more space, “The initial and final assault will most likely occur in the Port-au-Prince area,” she concluded.
With careful examinations of what had been said in the communication channels she used to hack into and spy on, something Simon assisted with like a pro, it looked like the high-ranking decoys that the crime families chose would meet in the dangerous and volatile territory in Haiti.
“After this strike, the message will be clear to those groups these decoys represent.”
My father nodded. “Form an alliance again and we will kill them all.”
Now that was a conclusion I’d stick with.
No one would ever gather up to pose a collective threat against us.
Many of the families involved in this were enemies of ours, several who had beef with us already, like the Riveras and Vipers.
The way the FBI set up Sadie suggested they were in on it too, and they were, of course, an enemy of ours, standing in the way of our power.
Men left the room, filing out with their orders. More details would be double-checked overnight. Simon was still hard at work at his computer station in the remote facility he preferred to work from.
The planning was done—by Sadie. Even though it was time to call it a night, the mission would be upon us soon.
I walked upstairs holding Sadie’s hand, knowing that she had done just that all day long and night for us.
She’d “held our hands” to steer us into the preparation for a solid mission and operation.
And it was time for me to show her how much I appreciated all of her hard work.