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“Convincing me won’t be the issue,” I said. “It’s Silvano and Liam and Griffin you have to worry about.”
“We’ll deal with them.” Redmond nodded to himself and stood. “Will you stay much longer?”
I glanced at Melanie. “No. We need to get back to Palo Alto.”
“Very well. We’ll talk more. Before you go, we’ll establish a secure channel.”
“That works.”
I stood and we shook hands. It wasn’t an alliance or a peace deal, but it was a start. He frowned at his sister and left the room at a brisk walk. I watched him go, wondering if I doomed myself and the others, or if I saved all our lives.
“Why the hell would you talk to him without me?”
I looked down at Melanie. “He walked in. This wasn’t planned.”
She seemed annoyed. “Redmond’s stubborn. I was going to try to soften him up for you a little first.”
I sank into my chair. “That went well enough.”
“Because I showed up.”
I leaned closer. She glared at me, all the softness from the day before gone.
“I should thank you then. I have a few ideas how I could do it.”
She pushed away and got to her feet, shaking her head. “I think those should stay ideas. I know what you’re thinking, and the answer’s no, no thank you.”
I leaned back and laughed as she hurried to leave, following after her brother.
I was alone again. A minute later, the staff girl refilled my coffee. I took a long, hot sip, and stared at Redmond’s untouched muffin.
This could play out too many ways. Coming here was a gamble, but I couldn’t see any better path. Silvano trapped me with his drugs, and there was a part of me, a stupid, awful part that wanted to step away and let this all play out. They could kill each other, and I could swoop in at the end, the last man standing, the strongest left on the field.
I wouldn’t do it. I was no coward. And I wondered how Melanie would look at me if I tried.
No, it would be either war or peace, and it all hinged on what Redmond took away from that meeting.
Chapter 17
Melanie
Nervosa didn’t speak much on the flight back to Palo Alto and I didn’t mind one bit.
The conversation with Redmond played in my head. I closed my eyes and saw the look on his face. Lips curled back slightly, eyes wider than normal. His skin was tight around his jaw.
He was furious.
He wouldn’t say it. Not outright. But rage filled his heart, all because of this threatened war.
My brother was a decent person. He wanted to do the right thing for the family and for the world. He believed that the Oligarchs could be a force for good—and agreed with Darren that they needed to be more proactive about their altruism.
But he’d been forced in my father’s house. We learned young and we learned hard that people couldn’t be trusted. My father turned from a loving, doting, gentle man to a violent and aggressive bastard. It hadn’t happened overnight, but through a long, slow process, as the stress ate away at him, and he finally snapped when Maeve broke his heart.
The flame of that nightmare forged a harder monster in my brother’s heart. It made me jaded and bitter. We both changed, and not necessarily for the better.
Which was why I knew that Nervosa’s plan failed. Redmond didn’t hear the genuine offer. He’d only heard the implicit threat of war.
He’d refused to talk to me about it after. He left the manor and went back to be with Erin in Chicago. But I could tell something was wrong.
And I couldn’t let Nervosa walk away thinking that’d gone well.
“My brother took that meeting as a threat,” I said quietly as we pulled up near my dorm. Students walked the paths and seemed so happy and free, and I wondered what it must be like, wandering through the world with no more obligation than your own tiny orbit.
Nervosa looked at me beneath hooded eyes. “Are you sure?”
“Not positive. But I think so. He saw that whole encounter as a threat, not as a warning.”
He let out a long breath and leaned his head back. “Then this will be more complicated than I hoped.”
“I don’t know about that. I can talk to him again. He’ll listen to me.”
He shook his head. “I won’t want to drag you in deeper. You’ve done enough. Our deal is finished.”
I didn’t speak. I chewed on my cheek, considering the problem.
War would be bad for everyone. If I let this encounter devolve into outright killing and fighting, then my mission would get so much harder. Redmond wouldn’t let me stay at Stanford, and any hint of freedom would be taken away. I’d be hidden in the house with Mother for my own protection.
