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“My idea is that Constantine will put a bounty on my head and leak it to the underworld. Meanwhile, I’ll have ‘stolen’ a ship, and when my father comes to catch me, I’ll lead you all to him.” Talia tipped her chin in the air. I hated every word of that declaration.
“The Bratva will keep the rest of the underworld from tracking you down,” Sophia stated, bobbing her head in agreement.
Jakob snorted. “Are you all fucking insane?” he snapped, pinching the bridge of his nose. “Drakos? Are you listening to this?”
My veins were ice. “Yes. I hate it.”
“Okay, let’s say no one comes to claim the bounty. How do you know the devil will come? And, if—and it’s a big fuckingif—he does come, how do you know he won’t kill his daughter on sight?” Jakob asked, calculating the situation effectively.
“We don’t.” Talia sounded so brave, her back straight and body poised.
On the inside, I was a wreck. I wanted to shout and rage that Talia needed to be locked away. Buried deep as a treasure. I wasn’t letting the devil take her, not in a million years. But that would do no good. These so-called experts couldn’t find her family. As Talia had pointed out, this was the only way.
Meeting Talia’s dark gaze, I said firmly, “We’re not doing that plan. Too many variables.”
Her shoulders fell, but she still opened her mouth to protest.
I held up my hand. “I’ve made up my mind. We’ll use Talia as bait, but we’re not putting a bounty on her head for the whole underworld to chase her.”
“But any situation we set up has risks that the devil won’t bite,” Talia insisted, voice sharp. “Putting a bounty on my head attracts him.”
“He’s got to have eyes on the villa, right?” Sophia piped up. “Send Talia away in a clear manner. Make it look like she’s escaping—taking buses and trying to hide. Make her suck at it. And make sure you have a tracker on her.”
Talia held up her ring. “Like this?”
Sophia nodded.
“You still can’t guarantee the devil won’t shoot her on sight.” Jakob glared at me, and the weight of his gaze made me shudder.
“He won’t. He’ll want me to pay,” Talia said confidently, her finger trailing to her side. But her reminder only served to make me think how her body couldn’t take another encounter with her family. There was nothing about this situation I liked. If there was any other way, I would have taken it.
“We need a backup in case he takes the ring,” Talia added, voice cracking.
“Can you imbed the nano technology in a birth control ring? That’s easily hidden. I could code it,” Sophia mused, drumming her fingers into the table. She seemed to be itching to get at the computers, her gaze sliding to the monitor on the rolling cart against the wall.
“No birth control.” My words fell heavy in the room. The implication sent a blush flaming over Talia’s cheeks, and I could feel the smug smile rolling off the Russian.
“It doesn’t have to be working birth control, but a replica to hide in the same spot,” Jakob said in a tone that conveyed how annoyed he was by the semantics. He was a bigger issue kind of guy. “This plan is still full of flaws. If the devil knows your bride struck down his son, he’ll be incensed.”
“So tell me what to do!” I snapped. “You’re the expert, Webber.”
Jakob gave me a level stare. “You know I won’t make those decisions for you. Advice yes, but instructions? No. Never. And you don’t want me to. Not really, not deep down.”
He was right, damn him. I looked to the ceiling and cursed under my breath. Setting her glass of wine down, Talia came to stand beside me. Her fingers slipped into mine, fitting perfectly.
“We have to fight, Constantine. For our future.” Those words were spoken low, for my ears only.
She was right. We were going to run out of time if we didn’t act. “Fine. Let’s do this.”
