“No. I know who you really are, X.”
“That was my nickname in the army,” X acknowledged.
“That’s bullshit, and you know it.”
It wasn’t, we’d called him X when running classified ops with him.
“And what does knowing a nickname I may or may not have had matter? What is the purpose of this important, private business?”
X was using his haughtiest tone, the one honed from growing up in a family with immense wealth and power.
“Don’t play games with me.”
“You’re the one playing games.” X brushed something from his lapel. “You still haven’t told me the point of this conversation.”
“I know about your organization and your secret identity.”
X’s laughter sounded genuine. He truly was a good actor. “You make me sound like some sort of superhero. I’m hardly Batman, though I like to think my car is as nice as his.”
“I think some people in this city would say you’re as powerful as he is.”
“Well, money is power, and I certainly have plenty of that, but then you’ve got a decent amount yourself.”
“I know what really happened to my colleagues. I know what you did on the island you now own. I know about your teammates and those they care about. I know about your son.”
I saw X stiffen and began running scenarios through my head of how we could make it look like Swain attacked X first. If Swain continued to threaten Lane, X would kill him there and then.
“You will not touch my son.” X’s voice was predatory now. He’d completely dropped his fuzzy-headed academic pretense. He was the man I knew now, the real X. I couldn’t see Giorgio, but I knew that wherever he was, he was readying himself for the kill as well.
“I could be convinced to leave him alone.” Swain’s smug tone had me itching to step in.
“I’m not interested in convincing you of anything, but you’re a dead man if you come near my son.”
“I’m not the only one who knows. Do you think I’d be that stupid? The information I have on you is ready for others to uncover if anything happens to me.” I wished I was closer so I could more easily assess if Swain was lying. “If you share any of the horrendous accusations you’ve made against me or interfere with my reelection campaign, information about who you really are, all the men you’ve killed and the criminals you work with, will become public knowledge, and the people you care about will die off one by one.
If the situation weren’t so dire, I would’ve laughed. He sounded like an over-the-top movie villain. Unfortunately, his network of contacts was large, and until we eliminated him, the threat was very real.
X took a step closer to him. “If you know who I am and what I’m capable of, then you also know threatening me will not make me back down.”
“I’m not bluffing. I will hurt your son, your friends, your ex-wife.”
“No, you won’t,” X snarled.
The conversation was interrupted by the emcee for the evening taking the stage and asking for quiet.
As a hush fell over the room, X stepped away from Swain. “Excuse me, I have an auction to open. Niall and I were in position, and Giorgio was now visible through the opposite ballroom door.
I readied myself as X turned his back on Swain and walked to the stage.
Swain didn’t move, but he watched X until he began addressing the crowd. He stayed at the auction long enough to have put in a good appearance for himself, then slithered out like the snake he was.
When everything had wound down for the night, X, Giorgio, Niall, and I settled at his kitchen table with one of his finest bottles of whiskey.
After tossing back my first glass, I said, “We need to find out if Swain has told anyone else what he knows about you or if he’s only storing the information somewhere.”
X nodded. “I’ve already sent a message to Emilio. He’s going to attempt to track down any safe-deposit boxes or other places Swain might have stored something as well as look for any indication of chatter about me. I told him it’s a top priority.”
“Damn right it is,” Giorgio huffed. “I called in extra security to watch Lane.”
“I checked in with Angelo. Ezra is safe for now.”
Niall smiled. “Marco told me if he finds anyone sniffing around, he’s going to shoot first and ask questions later.”
Giorgio smiled. “That sounds like him.”
I took a long drink of whiskey and set my refilled glass down. “When do we get to kill the son of a bitch?”
We devised scenario after scenario as we argued fiercely over how much risk we should take, but ultimately, we hashed out a plan we could all live with.
25
Ezra
Several days later, I awoke to a tickling sensation along my side. When I looked down, I realized Leo was stroking me with the frayed end of a piece of purple rope.