Page 233 of Legacy
Never again.
“We’ll need someone tailing Arsen,” she continues. “If his last known location was here in the city, we need someone undercover. Do we have anyone?”
“No.”
She sighs, pacing. “Then get someone. Or ask Luciano.”
“He doesn’t want to be involved.”
She snorts, bitter and elegant. “Too bad. He shipped me off in exchange for ports and an alliance.Thisis what alliances do.”
I nod slowly, but my stomach tightens.
The deeper she digs, the more beautiful she gets, like she’s building a war and I’m watching her sculpt it bare-handed. But under the awe, a different feeling coils.
Hesitation
Not of her plan.
Of telling my brother.
“I’ll talk to Luciano, but Santo… he’s in the dark about a lot of this,” I say. “I’ll tell him everything, but not before I warn Maksim.”
She frowns. “Why? Santo’s your brotherandyour underboss, he does what you say. He can be angry or hurt by the whole warehouse fire thing, but this is a war, he has to fall in line.”
I pause.
That one question drops ice straight down my spine.Why?
Because I love my brother, but I also fear Scythe. Because if I don’t handle this right—
“You don’t know him the way I do,” I say quietly.
She watches me. Waiting.
“He seems cold, calculating, but no. Santo is… something else. And I’m not talking about his position.”
“Then what are you talking about?” she asks.
I take a breath.
Here we go.
“He’s notjustSanto,” I murmur. “He’s Scythe.”
She stills. “Yeah, so? What the hell does that mean?”
“He split in two when our mom died. Scythe kills, Santo does surveillance. I don’t know if he can control it, we don’t talk about it.”
She pauses for a beat. Then shrugs.
“Not my husband, not my problem. We can set up a dinner, explain it together, united front. Vasilisa will be there. She’ll keep his ass in check. Okay, next.”
I’m stunned.
That’s it?
No fear. No flinching. No hesitation.
