Page 29 of Pretty Threats

“He got it all,” War says without hesitation.

“Every one of you failed at some point,” C says. “You see that, right?”

War nods. I’ve already admitted my mistake but incline my head anyway.

“The girl came to see you in the middle of the night for a booty call, right? So, you’re close?” C asks.

“No, not for sex. She came to talk about something.”

“Bullshit. What college girl comes out at four-something-in-the morning to a sketchy neighborhood to visit a house she’s never been in, just to talk?”

“She was afraid to ignore me. For what it’s worth, she knows other things about me. Things that predate my coming to work for you, of course. She’s never told anyone what she knows.”

“That you know of,” C fires back.

“Right, but no one’s ever tied me to the worst things I’ve done. The cops definitely would’ve brought me in for questioning if they’d gotten wind of those things.” I lean forward and look him in the eye, so he knows I’m not avoiding it. “I know her, who her friends are, a lot of what she’s said to them in text and email.” I touch my chest. “Hacker. I don’t monitor everything daily now, but there were times when I did. She never mentions me at all. Not even casually.”

C leans back. “You’ve been breaking Rule 2.”

My brows pinch together in confusion. “Rule 2 is no moonlighting. The only crimes that get done are the ones you guys order.”

“Exactly.” When I still don’t understand, C looks at Trick.

Trick’s brows rise and fall. “Sounds like the girl pretends you don’t exist and tries to not have a relationship with you. Today, she comes over because she’s afraid you’ll react badly if she doesn’t. And you’re tracking her movements and hacking into her communications.” Trick taps his fingers on his leg like he’s playing a beat for me. “Stalking is illegal in Massachusetts and the rest of the fifty states. If she complained about that alone, you’d be on campus police and local PD’s radar. GU would expel you.”

“Oh. Well, my watching her predates my coming to work for you. And I… didn’t think of it as stalking. But you’re right. It is.”

“Could you stop if ordered to?” Trick asks.

“Yeah,” I say, but I hesitate, and they see it. I’ve never cut myself off from keeping current on what’s happening with Raine. Going even a few days without checking spurs me into action. Unlocking her phone to look through it. Scrolling through her email accounts.

C turns toward Trick. “He let them chain him to the bed with her. So, he’s not as cut off from the world as we thought.”

“And keeping tabs on a girl, we’ve all done that from time to time.”

“Sometimes to excess,” C murmurs.

Trick smirks, then his smile drops when he looks back at me. “If stalking this one girl matters more than finding a new one who hasn’t seen the worst of you, it’s time to change the dynamic. Fear might keep her quiet, especially if she’s been able to get on with her life and pretend your dirty deeds never happened. She could put last night in a box, too. People can do it for years or even a lifetime. The problem is it doesn’t sound like you ever let her forget you. Eventually, she’ll have had enough. Maybe she already has. Then, if the police bring her in for questioning and convince her they can protect her from you, she’ll give you up. Why wouldn’t she when fear is all she has to look forward to if she stays quiet?”

I fold my arms across my chest. He may be right, but I refuse to say so.

“You can’t stop stalking her,” C says. “That’s clear from the look on your face when I suggested it. But we’ve invested a lot to get you into position on that campus. You’re not just there to get a business degree. And if this girl burns you now, it won’t just bring the heat for you. It’ll burn all three of you. That can’t happen. So she either has to die, as painlessly as possible because she’s innocent, or…”

My face stays the same. I force it to. But Trick grimaces when C mentions killing Raine.

I’m trying to figure a way to leverage Trick’s reaction when he says, “Or you have to make her okay with your obsession.”

I stare at them. “How would I do that? Brainwash her?”

“Yeah, actually. You get her to fall in love with you,” Trick says.

C nods. “Consider that your new op. You’ll tell her she has to stay in the house until your bosses say it’s okay for her to roam free. Tell her you’re going to escort her places and keep track of who she talks to, but act like you’re sorry about it. That if it was up to you, you’d let her go because you trust her. And start to behave like she’s the princess who’s tamed the dragon.”

My brain tries to work out what that would entail and draws a blank. Which doesn’t matter, because she’d never believe it of me anyway.

War mumbles a skeptical, “Yeah, right.”

C’s attention turns to him. “If he fails, you all fail, you feel me? You chained her to a fucking wall, making her sleep in the same bed as the guy who’s been terrorizing her. So now, you’re in this fucking stew with him. And if I have to pull you out and replace you, you and O’Rourke can fuck off back to Europe.” C leans forward. “Killian’s a psychopath. He’ll probably never feel much for anyone.”

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