Bow Down(22)
“You rang?”
“I knew you’d do this.”
“Can’t resist a challenge.”
“Is that what that was? I thought I was just asking for you to call me back.”
“What’s the fun in that?”
“None. You’re totally right.”
“Glad you think so.” I smiled to myself. “What did you need?”
“I wanted to meet.”
“Already?”
“I want to discuss business.”
“I didn’t know you were interested.”
“Of course I’m interested.”
That was good. I genuinely wasn’t sure if he wanted to team up or not, and part of me was assuming that he didn’t want anything to do with it. I was worried that he was just using me to get what he wanted from me, though I couldn’t tell exactly what that was. Maybe it was just sex, maybe it was something else.
But now we could stop with the bullshit. We were going into business together, and I knew that was going to work.
“Good. When and where?”
“Tonight. Same place that I saw you last time.”
I paused, frowning. “The house?”
“Yes. Meet me there at ten.”
“Fine. See you soon.”
I disconnected the connection and made sure that nobody had tracked us. Government employees were always being watched by the NSA, but the NSA had too many eyes. It was easy to hide from them if you knew what you were doing.
I shut down my computer and looked up at the ceiling. I could tell something was happening. I felt like I was on the edge of a breakthrough, but I couldn’t tell in which direction. Something was going to happen, and I hoped that it was because of Wyatt. Maybe the war would destroy us both, or maybe we’d do what we set out to accomplish.
Either way, things were coming and I could feel them on the horizon.
Brooks parked the car a block away from the house. He looked at me.
“You sure?”
“Of course. Wait here.”
He nodded.
Brooks was a good solider. Once upon a time, he was a hitman for my father’s people. But when he fell in love with a woman, and she decided to join me, he came over to my side. Ever since then he’d been an incredibly useful man, and incredibly loyal.
I stepped out of the car and walked down the block. I was a few minutes late, just as I planned. Ahead, I saw that the door to the house was left open. Ethan was sitting on the stoop as I approached.
“He’s inside,” he said.
I nodded and went to walk by him.
“Be careful,” Ethan called out as I went in. “There’s lots of broken glass.”
I glanced back at him but said nothing. He was just trying to intimidate me. I understood that. My girls did that sort of thing to people I was meeting with. They meant well, but they didn’t realize that people like Wyatt and me didn’t need the help.
I found Wyatt sitting inside on the staircase. He smiled as I approached.
“I like this spot,” he said.
“Why?”
“There’s something poetic about it.”
“There’s nothing poetic about sex.”
He laughed. “No, probably not. It’s dirty, sweaty, and gorgeous.” He stood up. “But that’s not what I meant.”
I followed him as he walked into the parlor. “The war with your father was fought in this place,” he said. “There’s something interesting about the two of us meeting here.”
“Women were saved from this house. That’s more important to me.”
He shrugged. He was wearing his usual suit, and I had to admit that he looked incredibly handsome.
“I need to talk to you about your father.”
“What about him?”
“He came to me earlier.”
“What did he want?”
“He wanted me to help him defeat you.”
I stared at him for a second and felt a bubble of anger begin to inflate in my chest. “That bastard.”
“He didn’t put it quite that way,” he went on. “But he did want me to put pressure on the police chief to begin trying to prosecute you guys.”
“That won’t work.”
“I figured as much.” He smiled a cocky and knowing smile. “Why is that, anyway? Your father is throwing a lot of money at them.”
“Belief can make men do a lot of things.”
“So can money.”
I shrugged. “Did you bring me here to rub my father in my face?”
“No,” he said. “I didn’t. But you need to know what you’re getting into.”
I felt my patience begin to wear thin. “I understand. You’re involved with my father. I don’t want to have anything to do with someone that he has bought and sold.”