AllFreeNovel
Share Us
"You brought me in his office, though," Caspar said.
"That's because you're one of mine. My secrets are your secrets, and vice-versa," she murmured, squeezing his knee once again.
"You're tied together now, whether you like it or not. Besides," Chance said with a malicious grin, "If the secret got out, we'd know who told."
"Don't try to scare them," Mykie said, holding back her own giggle when she felt Caspar tense under her hand. "Caspar will stick around, but Corbus can run whenever he wants to.“
"I'm not going anywhere," Corbus said sternly. He sat up in his spot and leaned forward so his shoulder brushed against hers. Mykie turned her head, and their faces were only a few breaths apart. "We're in this together. It didn't really hit me before...not until I was looking around here. Sure, you do a lot of scary-ass things apparently, but that doesn't change who you are. You're still the same girl that drove me home after I got drunk and made sure I was okay after. Even after you told us about being a part of the Cantil, you weren't any different than before."
Mykie raised their clasps hands and pressed a kiss to the back of his hand before laying them in her lap. "So, you trust me? You believe me?"
"I believe that you wouldn't intentionally hurt Renly. Trust?" He sighed. "I'm going to work on it. You've got a lot of pressure on your shoulders, and you don't need me to get on your back about it."
"Thank you," she whispered. The boys on either side of her believed her, and it felt surreal. She thought that Corbus would be the hardest to convince, but the fact that he was starting to trust her made her chest fill with nuggets of hope that things would start going her way and balancing out.
"So, what's your plan, Myk?" Chance asked.
She looked at the boys on either side of her with a frown. She knew this conversation with Chance was important, but she needed to figure out what she was going to do with the boys first. The incident with Caspar and his family only made her realize that she dropped the ball when it came to her duties to him. She said that it was her job to protect him under the Cantil laws, but she never thought to check in with him and learn more about his past. He was more than just an assignment or her job. More than just her duty to the Cantil. More than a mess up that Dexter or Chance couldn’t just fix for her.
She suddenly remembered that Chance had asked her a question.
"I need to let things settle with Renly first.” She looked at Chance before glancing at Corbus. “I don’t want to get back on this deal too soon and burn bridges. I know it sounds heartless, but if we time this right, the Harper company will be an easy acquisition, once I prove that it was the Vultures that killed him, not us.”
Mykie then explained in more detail about the events of the day, including that the secretary saw her and had tried to warn Earl of her arrival.
“How do you think we can prove your innocence? You were there, and you said Renly is convinced that you did it,” Chance said, lighting another cigarette.
“How did the Vulture leave unseen?” Corbus asked.
Mykie shrugged. “I don’t know. Maybe it was all a setup and conspiracy to blame me for his death. I just need to show Madeleine that the deal her husband was involved in was what got him killed, and that we can give her a better one from here on out.”
'Is that true?" Corbus asked. “Would the Vultures just have killed him for no reason but a deal going wrong?”
“That’s not really an answer I can provide, but my assumption is yes. I’ve seen it happen for less. I’ve done it over less.” Caspar squeezed her hand at that moment. “The reason he is dead is because Chance and I showed interest, then we offed one of the Vultures' informants. It was to send a message to you, Chance, that they're getting closer and it's your move now."
"My move, my ass," Chance murmured, taking a drag off his cigarette. "They think this is a game, so we'll show them a game."
"How are we going to do that?"
Chance blew some more smoke in the air. “Give me time to decide our next move before we act. What happened to Earl Harper was a personal attack towards you.”
"I agree," she said. "The Vulture that keeps following me said about the same thing."
“I think the first step for you is to ask Ghost about your follower. See if he knows more and can tell you, now that you know about his status.”
“I think I will,” Mykie said as she stood up. "I believe it’s about time that we head out, though, now that we have this figured out, and you're in the know of the threat. But before I go, I've got a request."
"Hmm?" Chance hummed.
"Burn that braces picture."
Chance snorted.
"It's not funny," Mykie growled half-heartedly as she waited for the boys to stand up and for Caspar to grab his crutches. She'd have to wait until they were at her apartment before she had him try to walk on his foot.
Mykie waited until they were about a few houses away from Chance's house before she spoke. "Another, ah,secretI guess I should share is that I'm sort of involved with Ryker, Renly's brother. He's even more important than I am. Chance doesn't know how close we actually are."
“Does Renly know?” Corbus asked. Caspar hit him with one of his crutches, making Corbus sputter. “I didn’t mean it in a judge-y way! I just didn’t want to accidentally say something and cause more problems.”
