Total pages in book: 85
Estimated words: 83430 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 417(@200wpm)___ 334(@250wpm)___ 278(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 83430 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 417(@200wpm)___ 334(@250wpm)___ 278(@300wpm)
“It’s usually not.”
“So what are you doing here then? Drinking at noon?”
“Something like that.”
Alexan accepts his glass. He’s a big man, taller and broader than I am, but his size and frame hides an extremely sharp mind. He’s one of the best computer specialists on the east coast and he’s incredibly analytical. I’ve come to deeply respect him, not only because he saved my life. He loves and treats my sister like she’s a goddess.
We share a companionable silence. I know he’s not here for a social visit, but it’s nice to have company for a while. I like Alexan, even if our stations in the family don’t allow us much time together. He’s part of the core family, and I’m a has-been thief hanging on to the fringes.
“Riley was talking about you yesterday. She’s worried you’re not acclimating to your new wife.” Alexan says this like he’s relating the local news.
“My sister would worry no matter what.”
“That’s probably true.”
“I’m fine though. I know what’s expected of me.”
Alexan peers into his glass. “And what is that, exactly?”
I’m surprised by the question. I thought it was obvious, but I take a moment to consider. “I’m a hook in the McGrath family. You’re the big one, but it can’t hurt to have two. I’m guessing your brother wants to make sure they can’t wriggle away.”
He nods thoughtfully. “That’s part of it for sure, but you sell yourself short. Didn’t you think maybe Arsen wanted you for your skills?”
I tip my glass to my lips. “Doesn’t seem likely.”
“And yet here we are.”
“The Brotherhood has dozens of thieves, con men, safe crackers, and killers on its payroll. What’s it need me for?”
“You’re good.”
“Allegedly.”
“You still are.” He reaches into his jacket and produces an envelope. “This is from my brother.”
I try to make sense of it but there’s no outward markings. “What is this?”
“It’s a job. Don’t ask me what it says, he didn’t tell and I didn’t bother looking.”
I take the envelope and turn it in my hands. The opener I was playing with disappears back into my pocket. Alexan goes silent, like he tends to, and I struggle to parse out what this means for me.
Arsen’s giving me a job. Which suggests he really does think I’m a worthwhile tool and investment. But why me for this? Why not anyone else? Is it some kind of loyalty test?
Or something worse?
“I’m guessing I don’t get to refuse.”
“You do not.”
“And I’m not getting paid.”
“My cousin isn’t payment enough?” He grins at the look on my face. “I’m kidding. Relax. I like Tallie a lot. She’s a good person.”
“You married her to a piece of shit like me though.”
“Again, you sell yourself short.” Alexan pushes himself off his stool. His glass is still mostly full. “Whatever Arsen wants, make it happen. Prove that we’re right about you.”
“If I don’t?”
“You’re family either way.”
“That’s not totally reassuring.”
He rubs a finger against his forehead and turns to the door. “By the way, when you read that, you’re going to think you have to refuse, but do it anyway.”
“I thought you just said you don’t know what it says?”
“I did? Huh.” He walks off without elaborating.
God, that man is infuriating sometimes.
I look at the envelope until my drink is empty. Justin gives me a refill. I have another murder fantasy, and that gives me enough strength to unfold the pages inside.
It’s a simple dossier. Not much information, nothing personal about a target, but dread fills my stomach anyway. Mostly it contains instructions, a layout, and some vague intelligence on safe models I might encounter.
But I recognize the blueprints. It’d be hard not to, since I’ve studied them recently.
It’s the god damn house Tallie grew up in.
Which means my target is her father.
I shove the papers back into the envelope, my hands shaking. What the fuck is going on right now? Arsen wants me to steal from my own father-in-law? There’s not much on what I’m taking, but I can make some good educated guesses. He’s looking for material, likely bad material, the sort of information that might start or swiftly end a civil war.
Alexan was right: I want to refuse this straight up.
But what choice do I have?
And how is this going to put Tallie into danger?
The house smells like cooking. God, she keeps surprising me. Tallie comes off like a classic crime lord’s princess daughter, the youngest darling girl, spoiled rotten. But I keep finding new layers to her I never expected.
Like the cooking.
“There’s no way you didn’t have a private chef growing up.” I watch her moving around the kitchen with practiced efficiency.
She barely registers my presence. “We had several.”
“How did you learn to cook then?”
“There was this really young cute guy named Rodrigo—“
“That’s not funny,” I say through my teeth.
She looks back, eyebrows raised high. “Who said I was kidding? Anyway, when I was little I’d hang around when Rodrigo was cooking and I’d bug the crap out of him. I think he started showing me what to do and letting me help mostly to keep me from awkwardly staring and making eyes at him. Annie said I was like a dog in heat. But it was more like puppy love.”