Finally, the time has come. As the hours have dragged by, I’ve found myself getting more and more tense. It’s the same feeling I used to get before a battle in the war. It’s the strangest feeling, knowing you’ll have to kill or be killed.
Dread mixes with adrenaline, and you end up a jangled mess of apprehension. You can’t let it win, though, so you distract yourself. In a war, you don’t have many options. Here, there are more. I’ve had more sex with Cassie in the last few hours than we probably had in the past week. I want her again, but I think she’ll be sore if we do.
I sit on the sofa and stare out the window, seeing nothing. Once this is all over, this house is going on the market. I don’t want to use it as a base anymore. I’m also selling my home in the US and using the money to gift to Michael and Lucia. They can buy their own place with it. Although, from what I gathered when I last spoke to Michael, Bianchi senior has a plot of land within his home, and he has said they can build there. It would be safest as they will be guarded and will be able to take advantage of all the security Bianchi has in place.
I’m also going to build them a house on the land Andrius, Reece, and I are buying. The offer has already been put in for the plot, and no one else has put an offer forward, so we’re pretty hopeful we can get it.
That’s it so far as Michael goes. He’ll get a share of my estate when I’m dead, of course, but until then he’ll have to work to make his own way. He’ll have a home, and a bolt hole on Corfu; anything else he’ll earn for himself. I’ve seen too many rich kids fuck up and become addicts because they were handed everything on a silver platter. Having no direction in life is not a good thing.
I sigh as my mind focuses on what’s ahead.
We’ve gone over the plan for this evening about ten times.
I’ve got a horrible niggling feeling in my gut. I hope to God Marcus isn’t about to double cross us. He works with British Intelligence. Damen did a deep dive into his life and said he looked above board. You never know, though. The kind of money Aram has could turn anyone’s head. Plus, Marcus has been under a good long while. Sometimes it gets harder and harder to remember who you are and keep your morals intact.
It’s nearing midnight when I get the text. It’s from Damen, who is monitoring Marcus’ phone. We all decided it would be far too risky for Marcus to reach out to us this evening. This way, we see when they’re on the move from tracking his phone.
“They’re on their way to you.”
That’s all it says. It’s all it has to say.
I head to the kitchen and grab Alexei who is on his way out. “Round everyone up. It’s time.”
Liam and his men arrived a few hours ago, and they were all in the den last I knew, playing video games.
Call of Duty. Liam said it helps him stay sharp, which made me laugh.
Bit by bit the kitchen fills. Soon there are enough ugly, hard men to terrify anyone.
Amongst us all is Cassie.
She’s the only woman here.
I go to her, take her face in my hands, tip her chin up and kiss her. I ignore the whoops and catcalls from the men. When I let her go, she’s red but beaming. She likes me showing her affection in front of others, I realize. I make a note to do it more often.
“Ethan and Richard are going down to the basement with you now,” I tell her. Richard is one of the men I’ve hired. One of the men, Aram believes has turned against me. “Ethan will be in the panic room with you. You won’t be alone.”
“What if I need to pee?” she asks.
“Then you’ll have to use the bucket,” I tell her. “Ethan won’t look. This is about making sure you are safe.”
She doesn’t like it but nods her acceptance.
“Come.” I take her hand and lead her out of the room. Once in the hallway, I push her up against the wall and give her a deep, intense kiss. “I love you, Cassie. You’ve got to stay safe, okay?”