Chapter Twenty-Three #2
That felt like a blade sinking into my heart.
Mason, Pete, and Fallon were never my team.
But last night, it felt like they were. It had felt good knowing they had my back.
And the night before felt like it, too, when we worked together to save two young women.
I hoped Mira and Kiara were safe and would be able to find that ever-elusive peace after trauma.
In a moment of weakness, I allowed my gaze to travel around the room. As pissed as I was at Mason, I was glad he had these men and Catarina.
I refrained from telling her they weren’t my team and never would be.
“Yeah, they’re here, why?”
“Put me on speaker. I need to talk to them.”
I’d learned that lesson once today.
“Not until you tell me why.”
“Someone’s digging around, and I need to ask them a few questions.”
Son of a bitch.
I focused on Mason but told the room at large, “Atlanta has a few questions.” I put the phone on speaker.
“Go, Atlanta. But before you ask your questions, you should know Mason had the security footage pulled from the restaurant where I had my dinner with Amir. Whoever did the hack must’ve triggered the alarm. ”
“Why the hell would he do that?” Atlanta spat, not hiding her anger.
Because he was an entitled asshole.
“I don’t know,” I told Atlanta. Then asked Mason, “Why’d you go behind my back?”
Mason’s jaw clenched, a clear sign he was seriously unhappy with my attitude.
Not that I gave a shit what he was or wasn’t happy with at the moment.
Depending on who was digging and what they were after could mean a delay in taking Jason down once and for all.
It could mean years before he left the safety of Berlin again, where he’d built an empire of filth.
No, he hadn’t built it—his father had. Jason just erected the protective walls around the fortress.
He bought protection from local and government authorities, had connections his father never managed.
Which made him untouchable. He rarely left the city.
My only chance of taking him out was when he only had a few guards with him and not the full force of the establishment.
“You know what, that doesn’t matter,” Atlanta said diplomatically. “For the last eight hours, someone’s been digging into you. You, Calista, not you, Zara. Which led them to digging into Mason and Fallon.”
“We know,” Pete said. “Or I should say, Fallon and I and the rest of my team know. We hadn’t briefed Mason and Calista yet. But it was to be expected, and whoever’s looking has hit roadblocks, and the deeper they dig, the easier it will be for us to track them.”
I narrowed my eyes on Pete. I didn’t have to ask how he knew—Shepherd Drexel was how. It was on the tip of my tongue to confirm for Atlanta they had Shep in their pocket, but for some asinine reason, my loyalty to the three wouldn’t allow me to.
“I already know who it is,” Atlanta announced. “Archie Evans.”
Jason’s guard.
Yeah, I was royally fucked. Up shit’s creek with no paddles in sight.
“Who’s Archie Evans?” Pete inquired.
“Former SBS turned scumbag protection,” I told him.
He could find out the specifics from Shep if he felt so inclined. I had bigger issues to worry about.
“There goes any hope he didn’t recognize me,” I grumbled.
It had been twenty-one years. I was hoping I’d at least have age on my side and it would take him a few minutes to figure out who I was. Time I would use to end him. Now I’d lost the element of surprise. Jason knew I was in Dubai. He knew that I knew who he was.
“Is there any way I can spin this?”
“Spin what?” Mason rejoined.
I ignored his question and asked another one of my own. “Is that all you had for them?”
“Yeah. I felt compelled to warn them, but that’s all I had, and they seem to have it under control.
So I won’t interfere.” That was nice of her to give them the consideration she hadn’t given me when she’d interfered to get them there.
“But you could use them. Keep your cover and go to the party. Get close to him that way. There will be cocktails before the auction. You could get him alone before the inspections begin or he has time to burn you.”
Inspections.
Another reason I was glad I was done. I couldn’t stomach having these conversations anymore.
I never really could, they’d always left my stomach in knots, but now I felt the bile crawling up my throat, threatening to choke me.
I’d lost whatever it was that had driven me for years to continue down this dark and murky path.
I was one step away from a new road, one that wouldn’t make me want to vomit and cry at the same time.
My new route would have me burying my head in the sand and pretending the world where women were inspected before they were sold didn’t exist.
“That won’t work,” I told her. “I need to think. But before I let you go, you should know I quit today and told Tom never to call me again.”
“About fucking time,” she breathed.
I had to believe she meant that.
“The only thing I ask is, if he sends you in to take me out, that you show me respect and do it while looking me in the face.”
Mason made a feral sound that wasn’t quite a growl and more of a beastly snarl.
“If I wasn’t in Berlin, I’d smack you, Calista, for even thinking I’d do such a thing.”
I had to believe she meant that too. I was out of options. I needed to be able to trust that Atlanta would have my back on one more thing.
“Berlin?”
“Yes, bitch.” Her insult held no heat. “Berlin. You know, where Jason runs his den of debauchery. I’m looking for his traitor, though I hate to say it, I’m coming up with nothing.
But that doesn’t mean I’m going to give up until you put him in the ground.
After that, it won’t be necessary, because he’ll take the power, and we’ll know who was looking to overthrow the king. ”
“I’m sorry I said that to you.”
“You’re forgiven, but only because I know why you think the worst of everyone. Call me back when you’re done thinking or if you need help coming up with something. You’ve got three days to make your move, then he’s scheduled to fly home.”
“Got it. Thanks.”
“Who’s Jason Anderson?” Mason seethed.
He could seethe and foam at the mouth for all the answers he wanted. None would be forthcoming.
He’d fucked me—in more ways than one.
“Ask Shep,” I tossed out, and started for the archway that would lead to the foyer. “I’m going out to get a coffee from the corner. I’ll be back in thirty minutes to get my stuff and get out of your hair.”
“Calista, I don’t think you should go anywhere until we understand what’s going on,” Pete said.
His tone was neutral and placating; however, the pinch of his brows and stiffness in his shoulders told the real tale.
He was anything but relaxed. He was firmly on Team Mason and pissed I hadn’t divulged my plans.
“I appreciate all your help, please believe I mean that. But this isn’t your business either. Mason has the information for the auction. Obviously I cannot attend. I can hook you up with my man here in Dubai. He can get you whatever weapons you’ll need. But I’m out.”
Mason stood so quickly the chair he’d been sitting in wobbled before it fell back on its legs. Too bad I couldn’t have my foundation shaken and land back on my feet so quickly. A decade’s worth of planning and maneuvering and obsessing—all leading me to this very moment—could go up in flames.
I no longer had the upper hand.
Jason knew I was coming.
“You’re not going out to coffee,” Mason denied. “We need to talk.”
“I have nothing to say to you, Mason. You took something from me I wasn’t offering, and in doing so, you might’ve taken away my only opportunity to find the peace I desperately need.”
I didn’t wait for his rebuttal. I turned and stomped into the foyer. It wasn’t my most graceful exit from a room. I was no less infuriated when I stabbed at the button to call the elevator, but the guilt of my low blow had started to form.
“Calista, wait!” Catarina called from behind me.
Goddamnit.
“I’m sorry I didn’t get a chance to talk to you, but I need to leave.” My new plan was slowly starting to come together as I waited for her to try to talk me out of going.
“Let me come with you. We can get your coffee and catch up.”
As appealing as it was, I wasn’t going to entertain her idea. I didn’t need to get close to another person only to have them torn from my life. And I needed to focus on Jason before it was too late and he bolted.
Thankfully, the doors in front of me slid open.
“We’ll talk when I get back,” I lied. “I just need some fresh air and a little bit of alone time.”
Not that I’d get either of those if I could flush Jason out.
“Calista, I really wish you’d let me come.”
I stepped into the elevator and smiled at Catarina. “I know I was bitchy back in Mexico and didn’t properly thank you for the assist, so I’ll do that now. You had my back, I’m grateful. Maybe one day I can repay the favor.”
I hit the close button on the panel.
“You can do that now—”
“I can’t, Cat. I have somewhere I need to be.”
With that, the doors closed.
By the time I was walking across the stupidly lavish lobby, a tiny bit of logic had seeped in. It wasn’t Mason’s fault Jason knew I was in Dubai. That was the universe’s doing—wrong place, wrong time.
Mason’s only crime was being an asshole thinking he had a right to something I didn’t want to share.
But even that didn’t sit right, because if I thought about it—which I didn’t want to—I’d know he’d only stepped over the line because he’d felt my reaction to seeing Jason.
He had a front-row seat to my shock at seeing the man who’d stolen my sister from me.
Over twenty years had passed and still the wound was fresh. I’d accepted her death, but until Jason was dead, I couldn’t mourn the last years of her life—how she’d died, what Jason and his father had caused, the ripple effect it had on my family.
Only vengeance could right that wrong.
Jason had to die by my hand.
He owed me his life.
As soon as I stepped out onto the sidewalk, the heat of the day smacked me in the face. Clearly, settling in the desert was out of the question. A nice mountaintop somewhere sounded perfect.
Or the beach with Mason, my treacherous heart filled in.
If there was one thing to be said about downtown Dubai, it was clean. Spotless. Gleaming. Polished. Healthy green trees lined the boulevard.
I waited until I rounded the corner before I stepped off the curb and waved down a taxi.
The red-roofed car glided to a stop in front of me. There was no reason for me to waste my time roaming the streets, hoping Jason would find me.
Not when I could walk right up to his hotel room and knock on the door.
I heard footsteps pounding on the sidewalk behind me. When I turned to look, Mason was running at me with a face like thunder.
“Calli! Wait!”
I slipped inside the cab and slammed the door. “Go. Please.”
The taxi shot forward. My gut roiled and my heart painfully shriveled back to its pre-Mason size.