Chapter 30
CHAPTER THIRTY
CAPE TOWN, SOUTH AFRICA
Roman stood on the terrace of the hotel’s restaurant and swept his gaze east from Table Mountain over to Devil’s Peak and took in the beauty of Cape Town.
The cliffs appeared to rise from the ocean, and once upon a time, they had done just that.
The landscape between the mountain ranges was a mix of valleys and forests considered a hiker’s paradise.
“Devil’s Peak, huh?” Finn stepped alongside Roman, wearing similar aviator shades to the ones Roman had on. “Kind of fitting.”
Yeah, the irony wasn’t lost on Roman.
He averted his gaze back to the craggy cliffs as exhaustion settled in. He’d slept with one eye open after returning to the plane’s main cabin around zero two hundred. Luciano had kicked them out of the bedroom so he could stretch out and sleep, and Roman had yet to get any real downtime.
It was almost noon now. Sunny and seventy in the beautiful city. And it was hard to believe he’d be sharing the Table Mountain suite with Harper all weekend with his uncle a few doors down in the Presidential suite.
According to Luciano, Talon Fox took the bait shortly after he put out word through his criminal network of sociopaths that he was interested in hiring the man responsible for shooting the President’s son.
Of course, Roman hadn’t bought that story.
Based on the sequence and pattern of events thus far, Will and Talon would have carefully calculated every step in their elaborate plan.
Talon would most likely have been the one to reach out to Luciano and not the other way around.
Hell, his uncle probably had Fox on speed dial at this point.
Roman still didn’t know if his uncle had chosen South Africa to kill two birds with one stone and conduct business while they were there or if the location was selected per Talon or Will’s request.
This sick game Will was playing was bad enough without dragging his family into the mix.
Will or Talon—whoever was making strategic decisions at this point—was playing on Roman’s weakness: his secrets.
And now the teams were paying the price.
Surely, Will and Talon had had a plan before stumbling on the gold mine that was Roman’s family.
And they might not have stumbled on any of it had Roman not gone to his uncle for help to draw out Talon.
Fortunately, the President agreed to allow Luke and Jessica to visit Will’s CIA black site, which happened to be somewhere in Lithuania.
They decided to wait and make the trip on Sunday after Roman and Finn took down Talon tomorrow night.
That was if all went according to plan. They needed to ensure Luke and Jessica weren’t walking into some elaborate setup to break Will out of prison.
Interrogating Talon beforehand made the most sense, and assuming he cooperated, Talon would be able to pull his men back, and the Feds could question his employees as well.
Yesterday, Luke and Jessica told the director and admiral it’d be best if they remained in the dark about what they were doing in Cape Town, but now they had no choice but to read them in.
In order to take down their enemies, including his uncle, the teams needed the full weight of the CIA and the U.S. government backing them up.
CIA Director Spenser needed to put plans in motion for Luke and Jessica’s Sunday trip: a military flight, high-security clearance protection to accompany them, as well as arranging details of the visit with the head of the prison.
Asher hadn’t been comfortable with the idea of Jessica going without him, but she pleaded that he stay back and protect their twin daughters.
Plus, Roman was sure both she and Luke needed to interrogate Will themselves.
The three of them had launched Bravo and Echo Teams back in 2013, and they felt this new betrayal the hardest.
“I feel like hell,” Roman found himself speaking his thoughts aloud before he peeked at Harper sitting on an outdoor sofa off to his nine o’clock.
She was sipping a mimosa and chatting with Carmen because Luciano had given them all no choice but to play their roles as soon as the plane landed in Cape Town that morning.
The prick had forced Harper to go to the hotel spa while Roman played the role of “the good nephew” and was paraded around to a few of Luciano’s clients in the city.
It’d made him sick to his stomach. And he also knew his uncle was going out of his way to prevent Harper, Finn, and Roman from being alone.
They’d barely had a chance to check in with the teams to find out details about Luke and Jessica’s upcoming trip.
And the spa, well, it was women-only, so Finn had sat outside the door and hoped Carmen didn’t try to drown Harper in the hot tub or poison her cucumber water or something.
The woman had claws. But as much as Roman hated that Harper was now caught up in his mess, he knew she could handle Carmen with both hands tied behind her back.
While he wasn’t worried about Carmen, he was worried about what else his uncle may have up his sleeve.
At the moment, he was just grateful to be back at the hotel and that they were all together again.
“Tell me a fact about this place. It’ll make you feel better.” Finn slapped him on the back twice, trying to lighten his mood and keep him from losing his mind.
“Uh, you probably shouldn’t be putting hands on me,” Roman said apologetically. “If I were the man my uncle wants me to be,” he added in a low, dark voice, “I’d break the arm of a bodyguard for touching me like that.” The grim words were horrible to say to his best friend.
“Noted.” Finn gripped the railing and looked toward the ocean where boats ferried tourists to Robben Island, the location where Nelson Mandela had once been imprisoned.
Where were Luciano and Antonio? As soon as Roman and his uncle had returned to the hotel, he’d been ordered to wait on the terrace bar while Luciano and Antonio met privately. Roman needed to find a way to get Antonio alone at some point, too.
Roman removed his jacket, and even though it was of a lighter weight material, perspiration had his shirt clinging to his back and chest. It was too hot for these clothes, but his uncle was a stickler for appearances.
He draped the suit jacket over the railing and turned to the side, resting his good hip against the railing.
Glancing up at the cloudless sky washed in a brilliant shade of azure, Roman briefly closed his eyes and thought about someday coming here alone with Harper.
His gaze then drifted lazily from the thatched overhang of the outdoor bar that provided the bartender protection from the intense midday sun and slid to where Harper and Carmen were sitting.
He watched her plaster a fake smile on her face at something Carmen said.
As unpleasant as going to the spa with Carmen must have been, Harper did look a bit more relaxed, and she had some color back in her cheeks.
She was wearing a pale pink wrap dress paired with strappy flat sandals.
Her hair was down, smooth like dark chocolate, and off to one side of her shoulder. The woman was damn stunning.
When a loud boom sounded from somewhere nearby, Finn instinctively went for his piece hidden beneath his jacket. “Shit, what was that?” Finn asked.
“The Noon Gun,” Roman answered casually as if Finn would have a clue what he was talking about, then smiled and peered at him.
“That was a cannon on Signal Hill.” He pointed toward the direction where pigeons were still scattering, probably shitting on tourists in the process.
“The city started firing the cannon in 1806 to signal ships in the bay. It’s a tradition. Been fired every day since then.”
Finn smirked. “And I suppose you know this because you’re a walking Wikipedia?”
“No, it’s because I spent four weeks here in .
. .” His pulse suddenly picked up, and his heart felt like it was colliding with his rib cage.
“I know why we’re in Cape Town.” Roman felt the blood rush from his face.
How did I not remember this the other day?
Fucking concussion. “Will chose the location, I’m sure of it. ”
Finn frowned in confusion as he straightened his posture at the news.
“I knew Will before I joined Echo Team. You know, from the bars in Virginia.”
“Right, that’s how you recalled Talon.”
Roman brought a hand over his mouth before dragging his palm along the column of his throat.
“Yeah, and I was the only person Will hand-picked to join the teams. Luke and Wyatt chose the rest.” His stomach sank.
It hadn’t even occurred to him until now, but his mind had been all over the place since the car accident.
“I guess I’ve still got some concussion issues,” he apologized.
Not that the location’s relevance would alter their plans, but it was yet another reason to believe Will was behind everything.
He needed air. I’m already outside. Shit.
Finn reached for his shoulder as if preparing to wrap a palm there, then retracted his hand, remembering the role he was playing.
“Will came with Luke and Jessica to recruit me to Echo.” Roman reset his focus to the view of the water. “I was on leave at the time.” His stomach muscles banded tight. “I was here.”
How many days had it been since he was hit by the car? Why was he feeling so sick again? So light-headed?
“Hey, bro, you okay?”
“I-I need to go. Uh, walk or something,” Roman sputtered, and when he found his balance with the help of the railing, he pivoted to see Harper approaching.
“What’s wrong?” she mouthed, then grabbed hold of his arm when she spotted his knees buckle for a fraction of a second. “When was the last time you ate?”
Shit, he didn’t remember. “I just need to get out of here.”
“Let’s go for a walk,” she suggested, curving her arm around his before looking at Finn. “Can you keep an eye on the she-devil? Cover for us?”