and if you'd been one of those organization's assets, all hell would have rained down on her as soon as you gave your statement."
"Ah, faulty logic, counselor." He chuckled at the frown and narrowed glare she sent his way. "I am attached to an organization which is building a case against not only your mother, but others in a larger organization. My employer wants me to return to you in the hope you'd be willing to help us build a case and gain information against the people your mother works for."
Her eyes blinked several times, and he watched as she processed the information. "My mother doesn't work for anyone."
"We believe she does. We believe she has vital information which links several... layers of criminal activity together." The thought of using her to get to her mother and perhaps squeeze the woman for information on the upper level of Stratus felt dirty, but he was going to be upfront with Pilar from the start. If she wouldn't help, he'd find a way to get to her mother. His personal hatred for the bastards responsible for his torture and imprisonment aside, the organization which enabled someone to do this to him, and others like him, needed to be brought down in a smoldering heap. No survivors. He'd leave nothing to grow back into the abscess carved by Stratus or the Fates.
"Who is 'we'?" Her fingers tightened around his. He glanced down at their joined hands.
"Guardian."
A sigh preceded the sudden release of tension in her small body. "Guardian Security." She closed her eyes and a tear fell down her cheek. "God, I've hoped for a way for so long. I'm having difficulty believing what you're saying is true."
"I know. Is she following you? Monitoring your activity?"
"Ah... yeah, every day, all day. Like I said, the butler, security, my driver, and my paralegal were all hired by her, so I'm assuming their loyalty is to her." She winced when she moved her foot. He reached back and repositioned the towel and ice pack on her injured toe. "Why?"
"If you were to cancel your appointments and, say, hire a charter while your toe healed, would it cause difficulties?"
"It depends on how long you want me to be gone. I can manage a week or so, maybe two, but she's got plans which include me after that point."
"Plans?" He arched an eyebrow. He'd fucking take the woman down if she was planning to hurt Pilar. One twist of her neck would finish the woman's plans for anyone.
"Oh, I'm sorry, we haven't been properly introduced. According to my mother, I'm going to be the first female President of the United States. According to the machine she's put in place, my mayoral campaign starts in three weeks." A lift of her slim shoulder spoke of a resignation he didn't like.
"I'll start the wheels in motion. Tomorrow you'll receive a call from a skipper who is contacting you about a form you filled out tonight for a charter."
"But I haven't—” He held up a finger silencing her. "I know. Please stop questioning the process. It will happen. He will call you and give you a quote for a two-week charter. You'll call your mother. Explain your accident in the dark and use whatever rationale she'll believe. The skipper will give you the name of the boat. Relay it to your mother. The cover will be solid. Bring whatever information you have on your mother. Anything you can get your hands on which may incriminate her or anyone else attached to the corporations she oversees."
Her eyes narrowed but she nodded.
"I need you to trust me, Pilar. The same way I trusted you. I will not let anything happen to you, and your mother will be brought to justice."
She nodded and then cocked her head. "If I had a normal relationship with her, I'd be horrified at the thought of handing over information which could cause her imprisonment."
"But you don't have a normal relationship, do you?"
She shook her head. "There's no closeness. No bond of any kind. I have more fond memories of my nannies and school teachers than I do of her. But she's my mother, and you'd think I'd harbor some... reticence at plunging headfirst into providing you information to convict her."
He cupped her cheek. "The crimes she's committed are not yours to bear."
"The sins of others always affect those who try to live within the confines of decent social constructs. It's why we have a legal system. Justice