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“Whether you understand my reason for doing so or not doesn’t concern me. Only Bexli matters.”
“You, of all people, should recognize that will not work. You’ll put Bexli in greater jeopardy, not to mention yourself.” Ares’ anger hadn’t diminished in the slightest. “This is insane.” He shook his head. “You’re smarter than this.”
“Hang on,” said Poseidon.
“I want to talk to Cayman alone,” Ares said without looking at him or my father. His gaze rested solely on me.
“Go ahead.” I motioned to the two men Ares had asked to excuse themselves. Once they were gone, Ares paced to the opposite side of the room.
“You know better, Winston. What you’re planning is dangerous. No, it’s more than that. It’s fucking stupid.”
I had no intention of defending myself, no matter what he said.
“We trust the mission. Trust the team. Trust our training.” He looked up at me. “Do you know the caliber of people participating in this mission? They’re the best in the world. Notamongthe best.Thebest.”
I nodded but didn’t speak.
“You worked hard to get where you are. Sandhurst, Monckton, the work you did at MI5. I also know you’re who everyone’s looking at to replace Z when he retires.” He shook his head. “And instead of using your own experience, the experience of everyone on this mission, you’re going to do the very thing you’ve said time and time again you didn’t want to do. You’re going to rely on your family’s money to rescue Bexli. If that were the better option, even a viable one, we would’ve already discussed it. Youknowit isn’t. Goddammit—you fucking know it isn’t.” He stopped talking and looked into my eyes. “I’m begging you not to do this. Fucking begging. And the only reason I am is because I will never forgive myself if anything happens to you or Bexli—”
He turned and faced the wall when his eyes filled with tears and his voice broke. “You’re like a brother to me, Cay. Not like a brother. Youaremy brother. Felixstowe, Edirne, Losovo. We did damned good work in all of those places. We saved a fuck ton of victims who, right now, would be in the hands of assholes like Mithras. Is that what you want? Is that what Bexli would want? How’s she going to feel when she hears you went against everything you believe is good and right to rescue her?”
He put his hands on his hips, and his eyes bored into mine.
I looked down at the floor and spoke barely above a whisper, “I don’t know what to do.”
“What’s your gut telling you?”
“Both options equally.”
He shook his head. “Listen harder.”
“If I make the wrong decision, I lose Bexli. Forever.” Tears I tried desperately to blink away spilled over onto my cheeks. “I couldn’t bear it.”
“Then, do what you already know is the right decision. Trust yourself and us, the people who have dedicated our entire lives to protecting and saving the innocent.”
“Guys?” said Poseidon, sticking his head in the door. “Time to move out.”
Ares walked over to me and put his hands on my shoulders. “We’re doing this, Cayman. We’re all in. Come with us.”
When I nodded once, he put his arm around my shoulders and walked me out of the room.
I was nauseated by the thought I was making the wrong decision. If I’d chosen the other plan, I would’ve felt the same.
6
BEXLI
My feet hit sand as soon as I jumped off the seawall and landed in the bay. The warm saltwater seeping into the cuts on my soles nearly had me screaming in agony. I didn’t, though. I couldn’t risk being heard.
What was pain compared to what I would face otherwise? My life hung in the balance of whether I could escape the guards and their fast-approaching dogs. If I couldn’t, I’d either be tortured until I begged to die or killed immediately. As long as I remained out of Moretti’s clutches, I’d fight and claw my way to freedom with every ounce of strength I had left.
Once wet, the silk sleeping gown I wore turned to dead weight, but since it was the only thing covering my naked body, I wasn’t ready to leave it behind. I swam farther from the seawall rather than toward the shore. I’d be harder to spot the longer I remained in the water.
While I had no idea what day it was, based on how long I’d been locked away in the room, I knew it had to be close to mid-November. Given the temperature, the oppressive humidity when I’d exited the villa, and the warmth of the water, I knew I was somewhere close to the equator. If wherever it was, was still in Italy, it had to be somewhere in the farthermost south. Not that I’d ever been there. I’d never been anywhere outside of Shere—besides the Cayman Islands—before I made the worst decision of my life and went to Milan.
Based on what I could see from the water, this place was more like my small hometown than a bustling city. The visible structures were mostly dark, even though it didn’t seem late enough for them to be.
The muscles of my arms and legs burned enough that I knew I’d have to exit the ocean soon or I’d drown. I treaded water for a few seconds and wiped the saltwater from my eyes. If I could swim a little longer, it looked as though I could get out near a section of beach where small fishing boats sat overturned.
