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“Is she giving you a hard time, Lathan?” he asks, crossing his arms and raising an eyebrow in my direction.
Damn it. Dad knows me too well, so I won’t be going anywhere anytime soon.
“No, sir. She just asked me to fix a new piece of tape across her port to hold it in place.”
I gape at him, surprised that he didn’t rat me out. Interesting.
“Hmm. I don’t believe you, but it’s cute that you’re already sticking up for her. At least one of you won’t hate having her on your team.”
Now it’s Lathan’s turn to look at my dad in shock. “Excuse me, sir?”
Before Dad can respond, the rest of Team Basilisk enters my room. I’m so thrilled to see my captors again.
“Ah, everyone’s here, so we can get started.” Dad looks pleased with himself and gestures for all of them to find a seat. My room is big and private with plenty of seating, which is lucky, because it looks like we’re debriefing here and now.
Chapter 4
The new arrivals take seats around the room, the tension escalating as Dad gives them a moment to get comfortable before he starts. He doesn’t bother sitting. He always told me he thinks better on his feet.
“I owe everyone an apology. I lied to all of you, but I am not ashamed of what I did. I let you all believe, if for only a short while, that I had been killed. I have my reasons, which I will explain shortly.” He turns to the guys, facing them directly. “I also didn’t tell you that this would be your yearly evaluation, which you passed with flying colors, mind you, and that the assassination was set up by me to test your skills as a team, even though you were down two members.”
Without waiting for them to respond, he comes over to sit next to me, picking up my hands. “And I hope you will forgive me for letting you believe you really killed me. I knew it would shake you, and I was hoping it would give the team the upper hand in catching you. I hadn’t anticipated how hard you would fight to evade capture.” He winces at the memory of my unsuccessful escape. “Or how hard they would fight to catch you.”
“I don’t care.” I lean in and hug him slightly. “I’ve been hurt worse before, and I’m just so happy that it was all fake, but it is cheating, Dad. I’m pretty sure they wouldn’t have caught me if I hadn’t hesitated.” I don’t meet his eyes, because I don’t want him to see how unsure I am about that statement. They were a well-organized machine. They were able to adjust their plan without hesitation. I might have gotten a little farther than I did, but I don’t think I would have gotten away. I also knew this was a test, so shooting my way out was not an option.
“I can’t believe you told us we were going after Phantom. We wouldn’t have gone so hard on her if we had known differently,” Dayton grumbles, not verbalizing the fact that I’m Percy’s daughter, and the rest of the guys, bar Miller, chime in with their agreement.
Dad and I exchange a glance. I smirk as Dad sighs and turns to them. “I didn’t lie to you about that. You did apprehend Phantom, it’s just that he is a she, and she works for me. All of her kills were agency sanctioned hits.”
The silence in the room is deafening as the five of them process what he revealed. Dad tried to hide the proud tone in his voice, but I heard it.
“Fuck off!” Miller growls, shaking his head in disbelief. Anders and Bishop mirror his sentiment, while Dayton studies me as everyone else makes noise around him.
“Phantom is a girl, and she works for you? Not to mention she’s your daughter, Princess Kensington?” Lathan looks at me with admiration in his eyes.
“There’s no way she’s Phantom and has that many kills under her belt. To do that, she would have had to have been killing for years. She can’t be older than eighteen.” Miller is furious in his disbelief. The clenching of his jaw and tightening of his fists almost make me laugh, because he really is taking this personally.
“Actually, I’m twenty-two, and I’ve been killing since I was sixteen. What, you can’t believe I could have been so successful just because I have tits and a vagina? Believe me, it’s because of said tits and vagina that I have been.” I wink at Miller who scowls at me, and I notice Dad wincing out of the corner of my eye. Oops, maybe I shouldn’t be talking about my tits and vagina and how I use them around my dad. My bad.
“I always knew you had a daughter, since she’s not exactly discreet in the tabloids, but I had no idea she worked for you,” Dayton says, trying to defuse the tension in the room.
Dad nods. “Yes, she has a very solid cover story, and the reason none of you ever saw her here is because she was trained in London with Theseus, while I trained Theseus’s daughter Katherine. Both girls trained in secret to become the ghosts that they are, but now Kenzie will be joining your team.”
There’s another uproar, and a nurse sticks her head in the room.
“If you can’t keep it down in here, I will make you all leave. Including you, Director Watson,” she scolds, and they all pipe down. Even Dad looks properly chastised. I never thought I’d see the day when Percy Watson cringed under the glare of someone who wasn’t my mom.
“Why are you making us take another member? Have we done something wrong to upset you?” Bishop asks as soon as the nurse closes the door. What a fucking cry baby. I don’t want to join their team either. In fact, I had to be tricked to do it, but they should be thankful that I am, since I’m an asset.
Dad pats my leg and stands up, moving over to the guys again. “Not at all, but you know I like my teams to be mixed. You guys are the best I have.” I clear my throat slightly at the insult, and Dad sighs. “The best team that I have, but you are a bit of a sausage fest. You will be a more effective team with a female on it, and who better than Phantom?”
I snort at Dad’s words, and I see one or two lips tick up in small smiles, but they don’t last. The guys aren’t happy. At all. In fact, they look as disappointed at the idea as I am. I perk up a little, maybe this won’t happen after all. I’ll let the guys cry about the situation and see how my dad responds.
“So what? It’s never been a problem in the past,” Anders says lightly, and Lathan shakes his head.
“Well, actually, to be honest, it would have been better to have a female on a couple of jobs we’ve been on. There are just some places they can go where we can’t. Women also trust women more.” Fuck logic. He is not helping the situation.
“Shut up, Lath,” Miller and Bishop both growl at the same time before scowling at one another.
