“There is always someone that means something . . . eventually.”
Friedrich’s cold stare told her there was someone. Maybe more than one.
“You had a chance to finish the job and didn’t. Why?”
He shook his head. “You weren’t the target.”
Olivia did all she could to hide her surprise.
“Everything I learned about you said you’d been tossed in an ocean half a decade ago. No one was more surprised to see you alive than I was.”
“Grant,” she muttered.
Friedrich tilted his head in confirmation.
The knowledge made her sick to her stomach. “Why is he still breathing?”
“You,” he said simply. “He’s one of yours. I didn’t know. Didn’t see you until that night. Made my driver circle twice. I had a choice. Take him, or take you. Or both, I suppose. I researched the people you associate with. Learned that Budanov was part of that team. Stacking up powerful enemies for a low-paying job wasn’t how I wanted to end my summer.”
“So you shot me.”
Another tilt to the head. “Made it look good.”
“A little too good, thank you.”
“You’re still alive,” he countered. “If someone didn’t go down, the resource order on Grant would have remained. You took the hit and his bounty dissipated.”
“How does that happen?” In her experience, once a hit was out, it didn’t go away.
“He was a warning, not an enemy. Pissed off the wrong man.”
“Navi?”
Friedrich shrugged.
“Mykonos?”
A tilt to the head. “You don’t stand up to these people and survive.”
Olivia’s head started to put the pieces together. If Leo was the warning, the person they wanted to shut up could only be Marie Nickerson.
“The trial is over. Mykonos is already in prison.”
Friedrich pulled a drag off his cigar . . . blew it out slowly. “I owe them a hit.”
Olivia held her breath. “Marie.”
Friedrich’s silence was his confirmation.
“You can’t do this. She’s just a kid who was forced into this life . . .”
“I don’t care. You know how this works. You take a job, you finish the job. I spared you. Kept your man alive to avoid your chase . . . avoid Budanov. The girl means nothing to you. Let it go.”
“Don’t—”
“Walk away,” he told her. “Our world thinks you’re dead. Jane Doe in Vegas was nobody. A prostitute, maybe. You open this . . . make it personal . . . and that anonymous face is given a name and you’re once again thrust into this life. You don’t want that.”
“You don’t know me.”
He shook his head. “Pohl went down, you disappeared. Or was it the other way around? If you wanted to continue the work, you could have. You decided to die.”
“So you were Pohl’s recruit.”
Friedrich remained silent.
“Why didn’t you leave? Why still live in this world?” she asked.
“It’s all I know.”
“Bullshit.”
Friedrich laughed. “And how have you earned your money since our benefactor died?”
“Stop buying expensive cigars and Armani suits. You’d be surprised what you can survive on.”
Friedrich shook his head. “It’s not my lifestyle.”
“So sell your soul to the highest bidder,” she countered.
“Who are you to judge?”
He was right, but Olivia had to convince him to walk away from Marie. The girl meant something to Neil and his team. She meant something to Olivia. The strength it took for Marie to go against her enemies and call them out . . . the way Olivia never did with Pohl. She had a considerable amount of admiration for the young girl.
“Let this one go, Olivia.” He sat forward and stubbed his cigar in an ashtray.
“Your father would be disappointed if he knew.”
Friedrich looked directly at her. “I told you my family means nothing to me.”
“Let me rephrase. Louis would be—”
“Don’t.” His voice was tight. “I spared yours. You owe me this one.”
She did . . . even though Leo meant next to nothing to her the night she was shot. That had all shifted and now she had a chance to walk away . . . they all had a chance.
He stood and smoothed the wrinkles from his coat with a slight tug. “For what it’s worth, it’s good to see you alive,” he said. “Cross me, and I will kill you.”
Friedrich walked out of the shadows, leaving Olivia in the dark.
Leo replaced Friedrich the moment her childhood friend left her sight.
“You okay?” he asked.
No. She had a decision to make and didn’t know if she was strong enough to make it.
CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
Olivia remained silent as they backed out of A Róka