Page 48 of Forge the Blade

“Plausible deniability,” Ellisandre said, at last. “That’s what I’ve given your sister, and you, by extension. In a few months, that plausibility is going to be stretched. You probably already know that.”

Richard laced his fingers together on the desk and leaned forward. “I’ve never asked, Ellisandre. You told me no one was coming for you. I believed you.”

“No, they came for you first.” Ellisandre met his eyes. “There are resources I have access to that I’ve kept quiet, for reasons. It is possible that in the next few months they may become more applicable. I’ve already tapped a few of them, namely training for Alice.”

Richard gave a slight smile. “I noticed.”

Ellisandre snorted with wry amusement. Of course Richard had. “Someone should probably know where I come from, and I would prefer it not be Linda.”

Richard inclined his head.

Ellisandre went on. “My teens were spent involved with European law enforcement, specifically undercover for the anti-organized crime units. I volunteered, because I wanted out of the life my father had designated.”

“How old were you?”

“Fourteen. The mission lasted years. We were successful in eliminating my father and the crime family he belonged to. By that time I was highly trained and I went on to use what I’d learned on other criminal cases. Eventually, the criminal organizations that were left came after me personally.”

There was no reason to speak of Sevastyan in this moment. That would come . . . soon. And suddenly Ellisandre knew why they were having this conversation.

“I got caught out alone on a mission. An informant called me. The bosses weren’t prepared to lose any more men. It had already been several days of fighting, casualties were high. They decided to drop a bomb on the property. By then there were at least a dozen organizations working together to eliminate my position. I used the cover of the explosion to escape on a motorcycle.”

“That’s why you were in the hospital, before you showed up again.”

Ellisandre nodded. “I changed my name, changed my appearance, and stepped back from operations. Technically, I never retired.”

“Have they activated you?”

“They owe me,” Ellisandre said. “I still do work for them, when it fits around Linda’s schedule. “I tell them some things. They tell me some things. They know where my priorities lie. What I do have is access. You drop my name in the right places, doors will open.”

Richard’s lips spread slightly in a smile. He stroked his thumbs against each other. “That answers one question.”

“Which one?”

Richard smiled more broadly. “Why every attack seems to target Émeric and I more than Linda. I always suspected it was you. Before you arrived, it was the other way around.”

“Oh, the attacks didn’t stop coming.” Ellisandre stood. “They just stopped arriving.”

Dark amusement filled Richard’s eyes. “Plausible deniability.”

“Your sister is a good woman.”

Richard pushed back from his chair and rose, buttoning his jacket.

Ellisandre studied him, looking for discomfort, withdrawal, or even shadow. But there was nothing except for a slow, dark, simmering anger. The kind that built armies. The kind that dared.

He was smiling faintly. “My security informed me of activity in the back staircase below The Residency. No breach, just . . . activity.”

Ellisandre gave one slow blink in response. “I hope they tracked it down.”

“I doubt very much they will. Considering all the evidence disappeared within minutes.”

Their eyes met for a long moment.

“Thank you for taking care of Linda,” Richard went on as if neither of them had ever paused. “I’m sure we’ll see each other for the music video shoot.”

“I’m on costumes, with Damian.”

“And I’m on, well, several things.” Richard smiled. “It’s been nice to get my hands dirty again.”