30. Puppet Master
Agent Sebastian Riley stands in front of me as disheveled as he was when I first met him nearly two years ago—back when Cecily brought me her plan for how to discredit her brother and his claim as my heir.
“Heard you’ve had some trouble,” he says.
I lean back in my chair, barely resisting the urge to shrug. “It’s to be expected in war.”
“Hmmm…your public residence and your private one were both hit…as well as a warehouse where you held your most marketable product… Some would say this is the beginning of the end for you.”
I let out a hollow laugh. “Only those who plan to lose would agree with that. I am not worried. Have I lost more than expected? Yes, but war means sacrifice, and every move I have made came with accepted risks.”
He huffs a laugh. “Good to know. Is there a reason you called me down here? If it’s not to falsify evidence to pin the arson on the Council?”
Clenching my hand into a fist, I force myself to take a deep breath at the reminder. “I have plans in the works to deal with the Council, permanently. It is good to know you would be willing to help with that situation, though.”
“You held up your end of the bargain, got someone in the SAIC position that I could work with, and have…allowed me to have some fun with your men, so there’s no reason to spit in your face now.”
“Indeed. No, my purpose here is to make sure you keep far away from this Organization until I call you. After all, you want to stay out of cuffs, or the ground. The next move…things are going to get messy, and I need someone I trust on the outside to make sure things go my way.”
“Care to share those plans? It’ll help me better anticipate what type of help you’ll need.”
“No.”
My flat tone doesn’t seem to bother him, as he grins and shoves his hands into the pockets of his suit pants. “Fine, be that way. I suppose it’ll be more fun, anyway. Is this where you threaten me again?”
I snort. “I think we both know the score. There’s enough damning evidence on us both… Mutually assured destruction, yes?”
There’s a glint in his sharp blue eyes that would unnerve a weaker man, and I wonder if it’s that hint of danger that helped draw my son to him…
Not that it made it right, but still, I suppose there is a certain appeal when you are choosing that type of partner, especially someone as soft as Kieran was.
“If that is all…” The words hang in the air for a moment, and when I say nothing else, he huffs. “Right, I suppose I will wait with bated breath for your next call.”
“It truly is a shame that you have to debase yourself the way you do, Agent Riley,” I tell him. “You could have made a name for yourself on the wrong side of the law.”
He smirks. “Mmmm, but I do love playing on the edge of the knife. No, this suits me just fine.” With that, he turns on his heel and stalks out of the office.
Any other man would have gotten shot in the back for such disrespect, but I see a lot of myself in the young agent. It is as I said, too bad he chooses to go against nature…
Alone in my office, I get up and pour myself a drink, feeling the need to toast myself into a good outcome.
Because, while the final card has yet to be turned over, the deck is stacked in my favor.
After all, I did everything a man in my position is supposed to: the house, the career, the wife, and the children.
For all the good that did me. Both my children are dead, and the Organization my family spent decades building lies in tatters. But those are simply stumbling blocks, stepping stones to meeting the ultimate goal. For every hit against me, every step back, my adversaries have faced far more.
So they can continue to burn my world down around me, as their shortsightedness will work in my favor. Despite every match struck against me, the Council still has not won, nor will they.