Why does it get to be them?
It’s my life that’s been ruined, my family that’s been destroyed.
“Leave!” Harris barks, and I imagine Bradley has the exact same thought in his mind right now.
But I don’t.
“Come and talk to me,” I say, straightening up and crossing my arms across my chest. “Too scared of a face-to-face?”
Harris doesn’t reply.
“Unless you’re not really here, which is exactly what I would expect from someone like you. Y’know, I used to think you were so cool? I thought you were so slick and funny, and then all this shit with my brother happened and you know what I realized?I’ve spent my entire life weighed down by other people. Weighed down my expectations after my parents died, weighed down by taking care of my brother and living up to other people’s demands of me.”
The lies flow easier and easier as I talk to the closed door.
“And you know what I realized? The only time I felt alive was during those heists. I was in charge. I was scaring people, I had the power, and then I walked away with the loot.” Nudging the case with my foot, I sigh dramatically. “Loot I nearly lost because of you… or Peter. It was all… exciting once I let go of the expectations of my old life. It was even exciting setting you up with the cops.”
“Setting me up?” Harris asks.
Ahh, so that got his attention.
“Yeah,” I reply as if it’s the most obvious thing in the world. “Did you really not ask yourself why you were able to trace the car but found no diamonds? Sure, I removed them, but I activated that GPS to lure you out. I wanted to test you. One, you’re obviously greedy, but I wanted to know how far you’d go for the gems. See if you’d be willing to do anything to get them back. And you did. You killed for them, which surprised me. I thought you were too chicken. Didn’t you even ask yourself why I came here?”
Silence greets me but the more I bullshit, the more confident I become.
“I could have run with these diamonds and there’s nothing you could have done because you have nothing on me. No way to hurt me or control me now that Peter is gone, so I could have run. But I didn’t. I came because I realized we’re the same andI have something else in the works. Something worth way more than uncut diamonds. So if you’re interested… Call me.”
I turn on my heel and make it to the top of the porch steps before the bolt on the door thunks open and hinges creak. Spinning back, my heart punches against my ribs as Harris comes into view with an assault rifle in his hands, aiming it directly at me.
Sweat warms my shoulders and I bite the inside of my cheek, using that pain to keep myself calm.
“Something… worth more?” Harris asks and his eyes glint with greed. Then he lowers his rifle. “Maybe we should talk.”
35
BRADLEY
“No apology needed,” I murmur. “We’re with you every step of the way.”
As the words leave me, my stomach twists into several knots and I lean back in my seat. It feels like a lie. I should be with her, right next to her.
Better than that, she shouldn’t even be going. When I agreed she could be part of this, I didn’t think it would be slap bang in the middle of the meeting and confirming Harris by herself. Half of us are skilled enough to sneak toward that house without her putting herself in danger, but Zira was adamant.
And I can’t say no. Not when it’s written all over her face how much she needs this, how much she needs to confront Harris and find her own end. It doesn’t make it any easier, and I lean back in my seat at the tree line watching Zira’s car blink along the map on my pad.
“She’ll be okay,” Frank says from beside me. “We’ve got eyes on her from all angles.”
“But not with her,” I reply stiffly. “She’s by herself, driving alone, and for all we know, Harris is waiting along that road somewhere ready to jump out at her.”
“Cassian is close on the quad.” Frank reaches over and taps the screen to expand the map which now shows a second dot blinking alongside Zira’s car. Cassian on the quad racing through the tree line away from prying eyes but ready to step in if need be. “She’s protected.”
“It doesn’t feel like enough.” A deeper breath does nothing to ease the tension in my chest. “We should just flatten that fucking house.”
“As ideal as that would be, we have to make sure he’s even there andthenwe have to make sure he’s not got anyone else waiting in the wings. For all we know, he has a backup plan that will swallow those diamonds whole if anything happens to him. Zira’s the only one who can get close to him.”
Dragging my eyes from the tablet, I glance up at Frank’s kind face. “Since when did you become the voice of reason?”
“I’ve worked with you for a long time,” he points out. “I know you and I know how you work. Although this might be the first time I’ve seen you this twisted up over a woman.” As he speaks, one of the rear doors of the car swings open and Valentina slides in, catching the tail end of the conversation.
