1. Thea
1
Thea
D ad sat behind his desk, a glass of whiskey in one hand, and a cigar in the other. He took in the visible bruises on my cheek but said nothing while I stared at the floor respectfully, focusing on a small reddish stain on the polished hardwood. Blood, most likely. It was a bitch to get out of timber floors.
My spine prickled with cold sweat under his heavy gaze. The urge to clear my throat was almost overpowering.
Something felt off.
"Torrence tells me you let one of the scum escape." His voice was calm and measured, but the icy rage in his eyes skewered me to the floor. He was furious. I wasn't supposed to leave any witnesses after last night’s raid on a rival gang’s warehouse.
The boy had been barely 16. Hardened criminals I could kill. But kids? No.
I steeled myself for the inevitable meltdown. But to my surprise, it never came. Instead, Dad sighed and poured himself another drink.
"I'm not happy but I don't have time to punish you. We have something more important to discuss."
We did?
"I’ve enrolled you in Abernethy College in Scotland. You start there in three days."
My eyes snapped up in surprise. College? Scotland??
"You'll be joining as a sophomore business student, transferring in." He shuffled some papers on his desk while I had a mental meltdown at the thought of leaving my sister behind. "But the main reason I'm sending you there is to get close to Cassian Forsyth. His father, Lucian, is…causing me issues ." From the way his lip curled, there was more to this than a business dispute. “He’s too heavily protected for me to put a hit on him, which is why I’ve decided to change tack.”
"Who is Lucian Forsyth?" The inner voice in my head reminded me that asking questions without being prompted usually led to an unpleasant punishment, but I ignored it.
"Lucian Forsyth is one of the British Prime Minister's closest advisers. Cassian is his son."
I had no clue why some British guy would cross my father’s path. It made no sense.
“Why is—” I started to ask.
“The details are not important, Thea,” Dad snapped. “For now, all you need to do is get Cassian to trust you. Infiltrating Lucian’s social circle will make it easier to get close to the man.” He said nothing more, but the sub-text was clear: when an opportunity arises, take him out.
Well… that was going to be easy. Not.