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Raven lights a cigarette. “If we start tightening the bolts right now, we’ll get a rebellion from Butcher, and then it’s war. So the first thing is to tighten Ayana security so we are prepared. We can’t exactly do that unless we change it completely, but you don’t need Mr. Ortiz to tell you that it’s impossible with Tsariuk’s interest in Zion.”
Right. Today was one of the better days. Drinking with Droga. Talking about anything but business. But just like the weather, the day goes to shit.
“Someone should really go through spring-breakers’ files once again, with a fine comb,” Raven says, puffing smoke and flicking ash into an ashtray that sits next to him on the couch instead of the coffee table, because the table is untouchable, and Raven is respectful of others’ requests.
And the table reminds me ofher.
Everythingreminds me of her. I went into the pool for the first time since her and I were there. And what do you know, she’s like an apparition standing on the edge of it when I come out from underwater.
“If we want to find Milena Tsariuk,” Raven interrupts my thought, “we need to track every relative of every female spring-breaker, contact them and find out why the particular spring-breaker didn’t return to the mainland. Everyone has reasons.”
“That’s a lot of work, and I can’t just trust anyone with the private files. You understand some of them are the wealthiest people in the Western Hemisphere.”
“Then?” Raven looks at me with that same indifferent expression.
“The last time, I did the work myself. It took me a lot of fucking time, and I didn’t find Tsariuk’s daughter.”
“Get Marlow to do it. We need to find time for this.”
Raven takes a drag off his cigarette and looks out the window like he can see through the darkness that forms a wall behind the pool.
I make Raven and me another set of drinks and sit on the couch, enjoying the silence.
That’s the thing about Raven. I feel calm around him. I know he doesn’t sit well with most people. But I know him. Under that cut-throat energy is a man of reason and loyalty.
“I wanna do a line of coke,” I say out of context, feeling restless. Wantingher. Wanting to party and drink and fuck and remember what made me feel alive.
I can’t. I know I won’t stop for the night, and that’s the problem.
“You in?” I know perfectly well that Raven drinks but doesn’t touch anything else. Because of what happened to him in the past. Because of his lifestyle. He sells anything illegal and dangerous and deadly but doesn’t indulge. It’s another thing I respect about him.
Slowly, he turns his head to me, his eyes probing.
“You do this for the wrong reason, Archer.” His voice is always fucking calm.
“Oh yeah? Enlighten me.”
For the first time this evening, there’s a trace of a smile on his lips when he says, “If I tell you what I think, you won’t bear a grudge?”
Whoa. If Raven has to ask me—Raven, who I saw break bones in Carnage during cage fights—I wanna hear what he has to say.
“Shoot.”
“You are like a young dog, Archer. A crazy young dog that’s trained but still has so much energy that it’s overwhelming, making it occasionally snap and rush to its death. You have no sense of reason or preservation when you slip. You are a sophisticated grenade without a safety switch. And the worst part is that you are affected by a girl.”
“Spare me, Raven.” I roll my eyes in annoyance. What’s with everyone bringing up Kat today?
“You asked, I answered. It’s not a tragedy that made you shoot up a month ago. You went through plenty. It’s a girl, isn’t it?”
I tense and don’t look at him, only take a slow sip of my drink. “How do you know?”
I don’t have to ask. Raven is an all-seeing-fucking-eye.
“I have emergency sensors hooked up to my phone. Several people from the upper echelon.”
“Why?” Stupid question. Same reason why Raven knows everything about any given person at this resort.
“Safety. My safety, too. My well-being depends on yours and several others.” Sometimes, Raven scares me. “You were sinking for some time, Archer. This”—he taps his temple—“is messing with you when you do too much booze and drugs. You’ve been on a bend for months then started doing better when you were sneaking around with that girl, Katura. Then she turned on you, or whatever the story is.”
