This wasn’t as simple as saying yes. She still had to submit a contract bid, we had to accept the terms and prep, and the others would need to agree. Taking on a job to kill one of the heads of the Italian mafia might have repercussions we weren’t prepared for.
Leona’s fingers still played with the necklace and its pendant. Then she pulled it off and held it out to me. “With this?”
Caspian watched with wide eyes as I took the jewelry and inspected it. His emotions played across his face clearly: this necklace was meaningful to them both. How? I wasn’t sure.
Ciel would have to complete the evaluation, and Obi would need to sign off on the appraisal, but it was a decent piece. Rows of diamonds on the chain, a beautiful starburst filled with large gems. Delicate yet luxurious. At least two hundred grand.
It was beautiful and valuable, yet it was nowhere near enough. Our contractsbeganin the millions.
But she needed my help.
I was interested in her. The fire in her eyes ignited something in me, too, and I wasn’t ready to say goodbye to that yet. I needed to understand it first.
“This is a start,” I said, laying the piece on the end table between my chair and her couch. It was enough for me to take to Obi and see if he’d accept a contract.
She sighed in relief, a radiant smile breaking across her face. “Thank you.”
Caspian stared at the necklace.
“What if we can’t pay?” he asked, his voice hard. “What if that’s not enough?”
I tilted my head to the side. “That would be unfortunate.”
“You’d have to kill us.” His nostrils flared, and his fingertips dug into his knee.
“If we took on this contract, we would require payment.”
We didn’t let contracts slide. If we completed the work, we got paid. Anyone who failed to hold up their side of the dealalwaysregretted it.
I hoped that wouldn’t be the case here. While I might want to give Leona some leeway, Ryuji and Obi would never. Ciel likely wouldn’t care either way.
She had to know what she was agreeing to if she asked for our help.
“Leona,” Caspian groaned softly as he looked at her. “This is a mistake.”
Her lips turned down in a frown. “Cas, we’ll talk about this later.”
“No. You can’t let him leave believing we have the money to pay for this.”
She pulled away from him. “I will figure it out, Cas. It’s not your call.”
He gritted his teeth and stood from the couch. His hunched shoulders and heavy breaths showed the war inside his head. As her bodyguard, he wanted to protect her. But he couldn’t tell her no.
My phone vibrated in my pocket.
Ciel: Who is closest to New York right now?
Ryuji: Definitely not me.
I frowned. Why doesn’t Ryuji ever answer clearly?
Obi: I’m in Africa. Wynn is closest.
Wynn: I’m in Philadelphia. What do you need?
Ciel: Call me asap. Need your help.
Annoyance flared within me, not at Ciel for asking for help, but at my brothers as a group. We rarely communicate these days, simply completing our separate contracts as individually as possible. It had been years since we’d taken on a project that required all four of us, and it showed in the way we acted around one another. We’d become complacent and disconnected. Like nothing truly held us together besides Obi assigning us contracts. It was different than the beginning. Back then, we were inseparable. The brotherhood I found with them literally saved me and gave me something to hold on to when I had been in my darkest places. Now, we’d go days without speaking or seeing one another. I didn’t know what to do about it.
