22. Michelangelo

Ihad no medical training to base my prediction on, but I had a feeling the woman sitting in the backseat with her daughter and grandchild might not make it.

“We’ll go straight to hospital,” I said to Penelope after glancing over my shoulder and seeing Julie, or DeDe—I’d forgotten which was her real name—was asleep like her mum. “You take the daughter and baby to the apartment. It’s not wise to take an infant into a place where they might catch something.”

“Good thinking, and again, thank you so much for doing this.”

“She means something to you.”

Pen nodded. “From the first time I saw her, I felt like she and I were destined to meet. Maybe this is why.”

Like I hadevery day for the previous four, I escorted DeDe—whose name I was now certain of—inside the hospital, telling her I’d be in the lounge, waiting for her. When she was greeted by a nurse as soon as we arrived, I feared the worst.

A few minutes later, it was confirmed that Cherrie Smith had passed away from complications from sepsis after undergoing surgery.

I immediately called Pen. “I’ll stay here with DeDe for as long as is needed,” I assured her.

“Thank you, Brand,” she reiterated like she had so many times. And, as I had every time, I told her I was glad to be able to help.

The truth was, I also felt as though DeDe was meant to come into our lives. I hadn’t shared that feeling with Penelope, but I believed it just as much as she did.

A week later, when Pen went to check on her and her daughter, they were gone.

“I get it, you know,” she said when she told me. “I hope that someday she won’t have to run anymore.”

“Do you think she’s hiding from the baby’s father?” I asked.

She shook her head. “I can’t say why, but I don’t.”

“You’re up early,”I said a couple of weeks later when I came up behind her as she stood in the kitchen, looking at a date book. I kissed the back of her neck and, when she still seemed lost in thought, poured myself a cup of coffee. “Warm up?” I asked.

“Please.”

I got some for her, then sat at the counter, next to where she stood. “What’s on your mind, Butterfly?”

She groaned. “The holidays. I hate them. I mean, I don’t hate them, but you’d think, after all these years, my mother would stop asking if I plan to spend Thanksgiving and Christmas with her in the Bahamas. Every single year, I say no. At least I haven’t heard from my dad, bugging me to come to LA.”

“Have you heard anything at all from him?”

Pen shook her head. “I probably won’t until he and Hail break up, which I expect will happen any minute now.”

“You usually spend Thanksgiving and Christmas with the tribe, yes?”

“We did when we were all single. Now that just about everyone has kids and grandparents are included, it’s chaotic. There’s a plan to meet in California since three of the five of us live there.”

I pulled her onto my lap. “Where would you spend Christmas if you could do it anywhere in the world?”

“I wouldn’t know where to begin…”

“Let’s check. The top ten places in the world to spend the holiday. Prague, the Maldives, Troms?, Aspen, Rome, Salzburg, Honolulu, and the North Pole.”

“The real North Pole? I thought it was somewhere in the Arctic Ocean.”

I shuddered. “Strike that one.”

“No, to Honolulu. No offense to Hawaii, but it doesn’t seem very Christmas-y.”

“Shall we strike the Maldives for the same reason?”

Pen looked over her shoulder. “Don’t be too hasty with that one, but no, on Rome.”

“Agreed. Aspen?”

Her nose scrunched.

“Very well. That leaves Prague, Troms?, Salzburg, and maybe the Maldives, where there are endless white-sand beaches, private villas where?—”

“We could spend New Year’s there and Christmas in Salzburg. I mean, if you can be away that long.”

When Doc and I discussed the possibility of the coalition mission a week ago, he alluded to a conversation he’d had with Nemesis a few days earlier. It had been similar to the one I’d had. “You learn, in our line of work, to take time off when you can, Brand. Missions can last hours, days, weeks, or months. Sometimes, we just don’t know. You may feel anxious, but let me tell you, when you do have to deploy, you’re going to wish it wasn’t time to leave yet.”

At some point, I needed to tell Pen about that conversation as well as my most recent chat with Nemesis.

“Have you heard anything about the mission?”

My eyes opened wide. Had I said any of that out loud? I didn’t think I had. “Mind reading now? I was just thinking about that very subject.”

“I keep waiting for you to say you have to return to London.” She stood, walked over to the sofa, and I joined her.

“When I spoke to Doc about it last week, he said to enjoy my time off while I can.”

She rested her head on my shoulder. “I’ve been doing some research on human trafficking. I’ll admit I saw signs in ladies’ rooms, mainly in airports, and ignored them. But, Brand, it’s horrifying, and I keep thinking about DeDe. What if that’s who she’s running from? God, and she has a baby.” She looked up at me. “What are you thinking?”

“I hate the idea of leaving you.”

“Is that the only reason?”

I sighed. “It’s the primary one.”

Penelope shook her head. “I can’t be the reason, Brand. I can’t. Kade arranged for you to get out of prison early because he believes you can make a difference. Maybe going undercover to take down the mafia wasn’t quite what he had in mind.” She smiled and winked. “But if you’re called to do this, how could you say no?”

“You’re right.” I felt like a wanker for even hesitating when she put it that way.

She sighed and dropped her head back on my shoulder. “It’s easy for me to say when I’m not the one to face danger. So, um, I’ve heard London is nice at Christmas.”

“I can’t tell if you’re being serious.”

“Would I be allowed to meet any of the people you’ll work with?” she asked.

“I would think so, but I’ll confirm.”

“Shere looks really beautiful.”

“Does it?”

She nodded.

We agreedto spend Thanksgiving in Cambria, where the rest of her tribe would be gathering, then go to London. The Maldives and Salzburg would have to wait for another year.

Penelope and I arranged to stay in a house right on the ocean, just the two of us. It was close enough to the compound where Ava and Razor lived, and where we’d have Thanksgiving dinner, that we could walk. It was also far enough away for us to have time on our own. Something told me that soon, we wouldn’t have as much of it.

“So, um, I just got a message from Tara,” said Penelope, walking up to where I stood, looking out at the sea otters playing in the ocean.

“Yeah?”

“Your dad is here.”

“Bloody hell,” I said under my breath. “She didn’t think to mention that before we arrived?”

“Maybe she was afraid you wouldn’t come.”

“She would’ve been correct in her assumption.” I put my arm around Pen’s waist and pulled her close. “I don’t mean that. I know spending the holiday with your friends is important to you. It’s important to me too.”

“You haven’t spoken to him since your birthday.”

I nodded. “I intended to last month but realized I still hadn’t consulted with an attorney.”

“Have you now?”

“I’ve not.”

Pen rested her head on my shoulder. “I’m an expert on avoidance, so I understand.”

I kissed her forehead. “I appreciate you saying so.”

“Doc and Merrigan will be here too.”

“I get what you’re suggesting, but I cannot rely upon them to run interference for me. Eventually, I’ll have to deal with Richard on my own.”

“Is there anything I can do to help?” she asked.

“Not that I can think of, other than continue loving me the way you do.”

She smiled. “That, you can count on.”

When my mobile rang, I dreaded looking at it, but answered when I saw it was Doc calling.

“Brand, glad I reached you,” he said when I answered.

“What can I do for you, sir?”

“I wanted to make you aware that I came across a brief issued by Nemesis, saying you’re slated to join the UK task force?—”

“What? We haven’t?—”

“Hold on. I contacted her immediately, saying as far as I knew, no decision had been made.”

“She doesn’t seem the type to make a mistake of that nature,” I said under my breath.

“I agree. She apologized but said she was anxious to meet with you again. I know it’s a lousy time of the year, but can you swing it?”

“Yes. In fact, Penelope and I have made arrangements to spend Christmas in London.”

“Does Nem know that?” he asked.

“Not yet. But you know who might?”

“Who?”

“Z Alexander. He seems to know everything, including what I had for breakfast this morning.”

Doc chuckled. “You’ve got that right.”

I should’ve knownRichard Emsworth wouldn’t wait for me to show up. It was the reason he never would’ve won the game he’d tried to play with the Sicilians. He knew nothing about saving face. He was the quintessential New Yorker. He came in brash, like a bull, and made demands he’d been raised to believe no one could deny. It had all but gotten us killed when he tried the tactic with the Calabrians. If it hadn’t been for the K19 crew, he wouldn’t have lived to see the next day’s dawn. And had he ever thanked them? Fuck, no.

Rather than treating Doc and his wife with the respect they’d never demand, he’d confronted them at the party my darling Butterfly had thrown for me. The asshole.

“Brand, you owe me a conversation,” he said when he barged through the front door as Pen opened it.

My first inclination was to say I didn’t owe him a bloody thing, but I kept my mouth shut. It was made easier since I could see Pen over his shoulder. Her knowing smile soothed me in a way nothing else ever could other than having her in my arms.

“Wait,” I said when I saw her heading in the opposite direction. I approached and took her hands in mine. “I know it’s a lot to ask, but…” Before finishing my sentence, I realized subjecting her to Richard Emsworth far exceeded “a lot.”

“If you’re asking me to stay, I will. I also understand if you’d prefer privacy.”

“Are you certain you wouldn’t mind sitting in?”

“Brand, after what you did for me with my father, how could I say no?”

“I don’t want you to feel obligated.”

Pen squeezed my hand. “I love you,” she whispered.

Richard raised a brow when I invited him to take a seat and pulled out a chair for her. “This is family business?—”

“Penelope stays, or this conversation is over before it begins.”

He scowled but nodded.

“You have an obligation to take your place at the helm of the Emsworth family business. In conjunction with me, of course.”

“This conversation is premature?—”

“In what way?” my father demanded.

“I cannot comment on anything until I have a full copy of the will, trust, and any addendum, amendments, or codicils.”

“That isn’t necessary?—”

I stood and tossed a business card on the table. “See to it the items I require are forwarded to my legal counsel. Until such time as they can review it, I will not be prepared to discuss any of this with you. Now, if you’ll excuse us, we have a full agenda today.”

“I should’ve anticipated you’d be just as difficult as you’ve always been. Most people would find the position you’re in to be quite enviable.”

“Those people wouldn’t be aware of the strings attached to my so-called obligation.”

He stalked out of the house in the same way he’d barged in.

I let out a breath I’d been holding and shook my head.

“It’s amazing how much he’s like my father. Quinn is the only one who’s lucky enough to have a dad who isn’t an asshole. Ava and Aine had it the worst, though.”

She was right. Their father had lived their whole life under an assumed identity—one of a man he’d arranged to have murdered. Once discovered, he’d tried to kill the twins, along with their half sister, in order to get his hands on bank accounts he’d put in their names. So, yeah, Richard Emsworth and Harold Ramsey were assholes, but to the best of my knowledge, they weren’t murderers.

“Whose business card did you give him?”

“A law firm Doc recommended. I should reach out and warn them they may hear from Richard soon.”

“Are you okay?” she asked when I rubbed the back of my neck.

“Yes. Fine. I don’t let him get to me. It’s more that Nemesis is anxious to meet. I fear?—”

Penelope put her fingertips on my lips and shook her head. “We’re going to make the best of today and every day until the time comes that we have to be apart.”

“Agreed.”

She took my hand in hers and led me in the direction of the bedroom. “Starting right now.”

Thanksgiving dinner had been chaotic,as Pen predicted it would be. Thankfully, though, Richard chose to leave early. I expected Tara to be disappointed he had, but she appeared relieved too. More than likely, he’d made everyone uncomfortable by creating a scene over me not giving in to his demands.

Now, we were on our way to London, where we’d stay until the new year. Nemesis had made arrangements for a flat so we didn’t have to stay at a hotel, and while Pen assured me again and again that she didn’t mind being away from the tribe, I sensed her melancholia.

Fortunately, we remained as busy as we could, given the number of meetings—called briefings—I was required to attend at Vauxhall Cross.

Even then, Pen assured me she was perfectly fine sightseeing on her own.

“I made contact with someone I knew from my days at Emma Stanley,” Penelope said when I returned to the flat after being gone most of the morning. “You might know her cousin. His code name is Saint.”

“Yes, he and I met briefly.”

“Anyway, she’s invited us to meet her for dinner this evening. She said, ‘Meet us,’ but I wasn’t clear on whether Saint would be joining us or someone else. Apparently, the place we’re going to is quite exclusive.”

Given the next couple of days would be more intense than the ones prior, I hoped Pen might be able to spend some time with this friend after the meetup. “What’s her name?” I asked.

“Eliza Fox, and she’s a hoot. Had she spent more than a semester at the academy, I’m sure the tribe would’ve grown to six.” Her expression grew more serious. “Her family was equally dysfunctional, sadly, and like Quinn, Tara, and me, she’s an only child. I mean, just Quinn and me. Sorry.”

I pulled her into my arms. “Neither Tara nor I knew we were half siblings until long after she left Emma Stanley. You did not offend me.”

“I feel like I should ask about your day, but I don’t know how much you can talk about.”

“Being at Vauxhall Cross reminds me of our time at Camp Peary but without the physical training. The amount of information I’m told on a daily basis is quite overwhelming, particularly given how little of it pertains to my specific op.”

What I’d learned about the human trafficking ring the coalition was investigating sickened me. Worse was that I was convinced both the Sicilians and Calabrians were heavily involved in it. To be able to infiltrate either organization and come out unscathed would take a plan that was crafted to the most minute detail.

Given Nemesis’ strong belief that the Sicilians were responsible for the art-forgery scheme that had bilked what we now knew were over one hundred world-renowned galleries out of millions, we made the decision to contact them first. Using their own game against them, I was able to create a recent history of alleged art sales, showing I was heavily back in business. Another thing that worked in my favor with them was that when I was brought down for my crimes, I hadn’t taken them with me. I took full responsibility for the forgeries sold to the Calabrians that resulted in Richard and Tara being abducted and almost killed. Additionally, I’d made restitution to the victims far exceeding what I should’ve been responsible for, all in an effort to keep my collaboration with the Sicilians a secret.

Doc’s words played over in my head, reminding me that when I did deploy, I’d wish I had more time.