Luca shrugged. “Then I’ll kill you both, and it won’t be the easy death you were being offered today.”
“Fuck. Yeah, okay. But I’m not indebted to you, Castellano. If you try, any deal is off. We worked fucking hard not to be tied to any organization. I’d rather die now than have that hanging over my head.”
Luca laughed. “Believe it or not, I don’t need a couple contract killers on my payroll. I’ve got it covered. Don’t let me find out that you’re taking jobs and we’ll be golden. I’ll get you that money, that one-way ticket out of this country, and then we’re done. I’ll hopefully never have to hear your or Andre’s names again.”
Sven’s shoulders heaved. I was sure he was still skeptical, but what other choice did he have? We were giving him a chance he probably didn’t deserve. He would be a dumbass not to take it, and he wasn’t.
“Deal.”
CHAPTER 16
WES
“Damn,Ev, are you sure you never played before? You’re amazing.” Matty laughed, his tone caught somewhere between exasperated and impressed. Honestly, so was I.
After having a really rough night, Matty had taken it upon himself to help Everett relax and show him he was safe here. We would need to talk to him eventually, get a better sense of what he knew so we could protect him, but Matty had told all of us, under no uncertain terms, to back the fuck off today and let Everett breathe.
Since I had a bad habit of hovering, I had been relegated to office duty with Diego. Which was never a hardship because it meant spending time with him. Also, he had cameras in almost every room, and I could spy and keep an eye on the boys without being in their way.
“What game are they playing now?” D asked without looking up from the phone in his hand, where he was doing actual work. Luca and Skye had dropped off Sven’s cell a couple of hours ago, and he was trying to get whatever he could from it. Diego didn’t sound judgmental about my stalking—no one snooped on the down-low more than my angel—but it reminded me how ridiculous I was being.
“Darts. The kid is insanely good at everything,” I muttered, in awe.
“Mm-hmm,” Diego acknowledged. “It’s the math brain thing, probably. Makes it easy for him to figure out patterns.” He groaned and tossed the phone down on his desk, spinning his chair to me. It was Diego’s universal sign for wanting attention, so I dragged my gaze away from the security footage and to my man.
I spread out my legs and held open my arms in invitation and waited. Diego didn’t move right away, likely contemplating if he desired my touch. He knew it was entirely up to him. I would never be upset if he turned me down. Which, he did this time.
“For a fucking hitman, this guy was boring as hell,” he complained, without ever getting up from the chair. “But also smart. He never accessed his banking details from his phone. There’s no contact from whoever hired them, either. I don’t know if Andre handled it all or if he had a burner we didn’t get, but this won’t be as simple as reading text message threads.”
I frowned and scooted my chair closer to him to stare at the phone as if that would solve all our problems. “So it’s useless?”
“Not necessarily. I can see what I can access from the memory, but it won’t be simple. I honestly think our best chance of getting somewhere with this is through Everett. Even if he doesn’t realize it, he likely has all the answers stored somewhere in his brain.”
I had been thinking that too. He had explained some of the way his mind worked when he’d been staying with Ramirez. I couldn’t pretend to understand it all, but it was almost like a database. Everything he’d ever read, even at a quick glance, had been stored. He just had to be directed to access it. It was that part that made him dangerous to the criminal organizations that had exploited him. It was one thing to use his knowledge to make money and gain power, but if Everett ever got away, hecould ruin them. I was sure they’d planned on never letting him live long enough to talk.
“Yeah, I know. But I also agree with Matty. Let them have this day. The kid has been used his whole life. Let’s give him a chance to just be.”
Diego fell quiet as he thought about what I’d said. His practical side likely just wanted to get it over with. After all, this was for Everett’s safety. It wasn’t like it was for our gain. But the more it sank in, the more I thought he’d understand. For someone like Everett, who had only been used and wanted for what he could give people, it would take a long time for him to see the differences about what we were trying to do versus everyone who had exploited him in the past. We likely didn’t have the time needed for him to completely trust us, but we could give him today.
After some time, Diego’s shoulders slumped. He looked exhausted. “Yeah, okay. It can wait till tomorrow.”
“Good boy.” I fucking loved the way his cheeks got red whenever I said that.
The office felt stifling all of a sudden. I didn’t want to be in here anymore, watching while Diego drove himself past the point of frustration while I acted like a fucking weirdo. I trusted Matty. I needed to let him handle this. Being in here wasn’t doing either of us any good. I stood up, stretching my aching back. I was not meant to be sitting for so long.
“C’mon, angel, let’s get out of here.”
Diego looked at me like I’d lost my damn mind. “What are you talking about?”
“I’m talking about how you need to see something other than these four walls, and honestly, so do I. We need a break.”
“What do you want to do?” He sounded so fucking skeptical, and I tried not to let it get to me. After all this time, I wished trustwould come easier to Diego, but that was my problem, not his, so I pushed down my hurt feelings and smiled at him.
“Anything. We can hang out by the pool, take a walk, watch something in the media room. Whatever you want. I’m not picky as long as it’s out of this office and with you.”
That knocked down the last of Diego’s walls. His lip twitched as he tried to fight a smile.
Still, my boy had grown up with Brooks, and no matter what he said, there was a bit of a brat in him. Or maybe he liked to be contrary. “I can’t. I have too much to do. You can go?—”
