Jude
I looked out the deeply tinted window over the Prague skyline.
The red roofs had always captivated my interest. When I was younger, I enjoyed making patterns of them in my mind until they were a sort of obstacle field I could mentally kick a soccer ball over.
Now, it was nothing more than a screensaver.
A reminder that life went on while we were holed up here, thanks to a member gone rogue.
This wasn’t the first time, and it wouldn’t be the last.
Not for the first time, I wished I could tell Bryce the truth without putting us all at greater risk. I couldn’t bring a baby into this life, much less a wife. A trained killer was on the loose, gunning for my dad and anyone close to him.
The hitmen never knew that it was impossible to be truly close to Father.
Mother and I were possessions to him, as valuable as a piece of art on the wall or a gem displayed on a finger. He kept us like one would keep objects in a museum. Surveilled and protected. Put up for display but not loved.
Because what could be loved could be used against you.
“It’s dinnertime,” Renata said in her thick Czech accent.
I turned to see her waiting in the doorway to my room, her dark-brown hair pulled into a twisted bun atop her head. She was young, maybe twenty.
“How did you get your position here?” I asked her, lingering by the window.
Her eyes darted around like she wasn’t sure she was allowed to answer.
“A family connection?” I guessed.
She didn’t respond.
“A boyfriend on the inside,” I tried again.
Her dark eyes darted toward the ground.
Poor girl hadn’t learned the rules of love yet. It was a tool and nothing more.
“You don’t need to escort me to the dining room,” I told her as I walked closer to the door.
“I’m not going anywhere.” It was almost a joke.
Although we were free to move about the home and its many rooms, every exit and entrance was barricaded.
Even the glass windows were inches thick of unbreakable glass. I’d tested them all over the years.
She didn’t argue, but her footsteps sounded softly on the stone floors several feet behind me.
My phone vibrated in my pocket, and I retrieved it, looking at the message, knowing every single one was being read while I was here. When I got back to Dallas, I would need my security detail to sweep the phone and remove all the spyware yet again.
Founders Group Chat
Cruz: Heads up.
He linked to an Instagram post by Aleyna.
I opened it, feeling more frustrated by the minute. Who had leaked it to his kids? One of the hospital staff most likely. But it wasn’t safe to show emotion here, so I wiped the slate clean as I reached the dining room.
Mother and Father were sitting at the long table, as well as Father’s right-hand man.
“Sit,” Mother said. “And put your phone away. This is a family meal.”