Total pages in book: 130
Estimated words: 131651 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 658(@200wpm)___ 527(@250wpm)___ 439(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 131651 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 658(@200wpm)___ 527(@250wpm)___ 439(@300wpm)
I had to learn that alone.
“Cleo, you can’t do this alone. I’m coming up.”
“Whoa, hold up,” I say too quickly, and even though he can’t see me, I’m blushing. “I’m not alone. I have Holden, like I told you. You remember him, right?”
Dad scoffs. “How could I forget? Dude never smiled once. Made me wonder what Uncle Leo was into, having a stone-faced brute like him around. What’s so important he has Verity shadowing you?”
“Nothing! Jeez.” I’m such a bad liar. “Holden, he’s—he’s helping. Just basic home security and some research. Nothing crazy.” My voice wobbles, teetering on the brink of giving me away. “And for the record, he’s pretty awesome at this job. Nothing gets through that guy. I was never worried about the break-in for a second.”
The biggest lie yet.
“Uh-huh. Have you wondered what’s in it to make Holden Verity stick around?” Dad sinks back into grim silence for a second. I chew on a hangnail nervously. “Don’t tell me Leo’s kept him around for a pat on the head?”
“There’s more to it, I’m sure. Of course, he’s getting a salary, but… it’s none of my business.” I close my eyes. “Can you just trust me for once? I know that’s hard. If this isn’t resolved by the summer and I’m still in Portland, you can yell at me then.”
“Summer,” he repeats blankly. Summer is a broad, gaping chasm, but it gives me three months to get this shit over with. “Fine. After it’s done, you’ll tell me everything?”
“Everything.”
“I don’t know why you’re not telling me now.” He sighs, his age and disappointment creeping in, and it twists my heart. Even though we’ve had a sour relationship for a long time, I still want to give him a hug.
Heck, maybe I want him to give me one, like he did when I was little and I could believe it meant something.
Back when things were simple.
Back when I believed he could still be my hero.
“Leonidas’ whole life was spent stirring drama,” he says quietly, as if it’s the first time I’m hearing it. “There’s no good reason to think he stopped because he died. I saw what happened with your cousins, baby girl. I won’t have you suffering like that. One more whiff of trouble, and I’m coming.”
Oh my God.
Sharp tears sting my eyes. I keep them closed.
They slide down my cheeks, warm and cooling too quickly.
I don’t know why this makes me so emotional, but my throat aches.
“You… you won’t need to, Dad. I’ll take care of this soon.”
“I’m holding you to it,” he warns.
The call ends.
I linger in my room, staring at the ceiling and replaying the conversation in my head, wondering what the hell you do with a father who wants to care, but doesn’t know how.
18
PRECIOUS FEW (HOLDEN)
The blue light from staring at my laptop burns my eyeballs as I plunge deeper in my search for the boot print.
Cleo snores next to me in bed, out like a light and still glowing so beautifully.
Unlike me, she doesn’t have a nightly war with insomnia.
Me, I can’t fucking sleep when there’s a problem I can solve.
I drag a hand down my tired face and sigh as a match appears that stops me cold.
Shit.
If what I’m seeing is real, it’s awful news.
The AI scan says the boot matches a Serbian-made tactical brand, highly popular with Russian-based mercenary groups worldwide. Difficult to trace where this specific boot came from, but if it’s hired guns from that part of the world…
Someone talked.
And that someone was Jasper fucking Fairfax.
Had to be.
If not the little imp himself, then part of his inner circle, the so-called experts. The people overseas he consulted to authenticate the Hera Egg.
And I’d better find our leaker fast before they regroup and come back with reinforcements.
I glance at Cleo, innocent and lost to the world. No need to risk waking her.
Carefully, I tuck my laptop under my arm and head downstairs.
The lamp almost blinds me for a second, and I blink in the murky orange light.
I set the laptop on the table and grab a burner phone from the locked drawer in my tiny home office. Kit doesn’t even know what I keep hidden around here, and neither does Clee.
The door stays locked for obvious reasons, hiding tools I hope I never have to use.
Tonight, I’m not so lucky.
International business in New York never sleeps, and that’s good news for my impatience. When I call Fairfax’s office, I’m not surprised there’s someone waiting to take a message.
But I’m not after leaving that fuck a message.
Absolutely not.
I’m going to speak with the man himself, and I’m not about to let some underpaid assistant brush me aside with a vague callback promise.
Nope. I don’t want him prepared, rehearsing his lies.
I lean back in my chair.
“No, thank you,” I say flatly. “I’d like to speak to Mr. Fairfax directly.”