75. Thea
75
Thea
J ust as I zipped up my overnight bag, I heard a knock at the door. I frowned and glanced at my watch. The car my father had booked for me was due shortly. Whoever it was could fuck off. I wasn’t in the mood for a social visit.
The guys were all away for two days. A driver collected Cassian yesterday. Kyril and Milo had both gone home, and Landon had also disappeared with zero explanation.
Since the night in the bar, things had been a bit weird. Cassian appeared to be avoiding me. Kyril and Landon had both tried hanging out with me, but I’d made excuses and stayed in my room unless I had classes.
The closer it got to the holidays, the more uncomfortable I felt about being with any of them. Our relationships, such as they were, had an expiration date. I doubted very much my father would send me back here in the New Year.
Dad’s plan to eliminate Lucian Forsyth was dead in the water, and I failed to see what else he could do to stop Lucian disrupting his drugs trade.
There was another knock on my door. Louder this time.
“Open the door, bitch. I know you’re in there!”
Eden? I rushed over and flung it open. She half-smiled and then pulled me into a hug. I was so taken aback to see her I didn’t bother protesting.
When she finally released me, I looked her up and down and then frowned. “When did you get back?” Had she messaged me? I didn’t recall hearing any notifications.
“About 15 minutes ago. I dumped my bag and came straight over to see you.” To my surprise, her eyes sparkled with tears. She sniffed, looking a bit sheepish.
“I’m sorry I didn’t call. Declan took me back to Ireland and locked me up in his mansion for two weeks while the family decided whether they would let me come back here. He even confiscated my phone!”
My jaw dropped. “Seriously?” I bristled with anger. How dare he do that to my friend! This wasn’t the fucking 18th century!
“Yeah, he can be an overbearing dickhead. Eden, milseán, it’s for your own good .” Her impression of Declan’s deep voice was hilarious, but from the way she wiped a stray tear away, the whole being locked up had not been at all amusing.
“Want me to get rid of him?” I was 100% serious. Ryanair had some good deals on flights to Dublin. I’d checked.
She looked behind us to make sure nobody was around and then kicked the door shut.
“No, we’re good. He’s agreed I can carry on with my education ,” she said, using finger quotes and a deep voice again. “But if I want to go on any more nights out or leave college for any reason whatsoever, I have to let him know so he can order some of his men to guard me.”
“That’s a good idea,” I agreed. “I’d feel better if you had protection.” Once I left, she was on her own. My phone buzzed, reminding me I had 10 minutes before the car arrived.
Eden waved her hand dismissively. “Enough of me. The reason I came here was to thank you, for, you know, saving my life. I didn’t get the chance to, um, thank you after it happened. By the time I came around, I was on a plane back to Ireland and you’d gone.”
“Um, you’re welcome?” All this emotion was making me feel uncomfortable. Of course I’d saved her. She was my friend!
“So we’re good?”
I frowned. “Why wouldn’t we be?” Had I missed something?
“I wasn’t sure whether you’d think hanging with me was dangerous.” She chewed her lip anxiously. “I mean, knowing I’m related to Declan.”
“Trust me when I say Declan doesn’t scare me.” I grabbed my jacket from the bed and pulled it on. “Look, I’m sorry, but I really need to go.”
“Go where?” Eden looked disappointed at my abrupt departure.
“I’m meeting my father in London,” I told her, turning away to pick up my phone from the bed.
“OK, right.” She nodded and then moved to leave before pausing at the door. “You haven’t said much about your family. When you get back, let’s have a Vampire Diaries binge and you can fill me in. Seems only fair now you’ve met my asshole cousin.”
“Sure,” I lied. For a start, I wasn’t even sure whether I’d be coming back, and also, I had no intention of telling her about my dear father.
From the knowing look in her eye, she suspected I was hiding something, but she didn’t pry. Instead, she gave me one last hug and then left.
I quickly picked up my bag and then dashed downstairs to the front gate, where my driver waited.
“The plan’s simple, Thea. Even you can’t fuck it up this time.” Torrance handed me a small bag of pills. “He’s staying in the Trafalgar Suite at the Ritz. My intel informs me he’s having dinner with his father and some business associates at the Ritz Club, so you’ll have a window of opportunity to get into the room and plant the drugs.”
“Why?” None of this made sense. Why did my father care about whether the son of a government adviser got caught with drugs in his hotel room?
I shuffled uncomfortably on the hard sofa in the Airbnb Torrance had rented in Camden. It looked pleasant enough, but the furniture was cheap and the decor bland. I almost felt sorry for him until I remembered what a psychotic monster he was.
Frankly, a cell in Broadmoor Hospital was too fucking good for him.
Torrance sighed like I was the dumbest bitch on the planet. “Francesco needs Lucian Forsyth distracted. If his son ends up in another media firestorm, he won’t have his eye on the ball.”
“I still don’t get it. So he’s behind the push to eradicate organized crime networks, which is impacting Dad’s supply routes, but all that will blow over soon. So why is Dad going to all this trouble?”
Tasking me with breaking into a suite at one of London’s top hotels and then planting drugs was risky. If I got caught, it would lead back to my father.
Not that I’d be talking if I was unlucky enough to be caught. I wasn’t that stupid.
Torrance gritted his teeth at my apparent stupidity. “Lucian isn’t what he appears. He masquerades as a successful billionaire and political mover and shaker, but he uses his public persona as a cover. Lucian Forsyth has his fingers in a lot of illegal pies. He’s done a deal with Vasily Orliov, which involves pushing us out of the picture. The Irish too, but we don’t give a fuck about that stronzo Seamus Kelly.”
“So what, you think if Cassian gets arrested with a substantial quantity of drugs, the press will look deeper at the family?”
“Yes. The press will fan the flames, but there is a small contingent within the NCA that doesn’t work for Forsyth. They will pick up the batten, helped along by some of my associates.”
He smirked. “I’ve created a trail so the drugs you plant lead back to Lucian and Orliov. Once there is an established link, not even Lucian Forsyth will have the means to bury it. It should be enough to bring him down, thus leaving room for us to move into the power vacuum. Orliov is old and his wife keeps him busy. We have formed a strategic alliance with the Albanians. If this works as we expect, we’ll have locked down the supply routes across Europe and into the Americas. Killing the bastard is the preferred option but he has too much security thanks to his high-profile public persona. Your father had hoped you’d find a way to get the job done, but alas.” He threw a look that told me how much of a disappointment I was and then handed me a plastic keycard. “You’ll need this too. It’s coded for his suite.”
“OK, I’ll do it.” It was the last thing I wanted to do, but what choice did I have?
After tucking the bag and card into my jacket pocket, I went to stand. The sooner I got this over with, the better. My stomach churned with nerves and guilt. Killing Lucian was by far the better plan, but Torrance was right. The one and only chance I’d had, Cassian had interrupted us.
Pushing Cassian into the press like this was wrong. He wasn’t a drugs user. I’d spent enough time with him to know that. Hell, he didn’t even vape!
Like most people, I was aware of the story that lost him his place at Cambridge, but I felt sure it was a one-off crazy night. I mean, he was still only 17 when it happened, and most kids that age do dumb shit.
Not me because my father had me working under the watchful eye of Torrance, but if I’d been a normal teenager, I’d have been out drinking and experimenting with recreational drugs.
Drinking, casual sex, smoking weed, snorting coke… in the circles Cassian frequented, shit like that was practically mandatory behavior. A chance to blow off some steam before adulting beckoned.
“I purchased a few items for you. The hotel is very upmarket, so you need to fit in.” Torrance handed me a bag. I peeked in to see a black dress with the label attached - designer - as well as some shoes and lingerie.
The thought of Torrance purchasing lingerie for me was vomit-inducing. He licked his lips and winked when he clocked my expression. “Don’t worry, cara , it will fit you perfectly.”
Why was he suddenly acting as if I was fair game? He knew damn well my father had plans to marry me off, with my virginal status a selling point. Then it hit me.
He must know about Kyril. Had he watched the video feed at the club the night Kyril shot Roberto Pesci? If he had, I was in big trouble.
There was no way my father would believe nothing else happened.