“No. We’re going to Weston.”
“Why? What’s there?”
“Swain.”
“Wait, you’re taking me with you on the—What do you call it? Takedown? Mission? Some super-secret code word?”
Niall smiled. “Operation works fine, but I’m actually taking you to one of the Marchesis’ homes. It’s close to the house where Swain is hiding out.”
“I thought Leo wanted me as far away as I could be from all this.”
“He might’ve thought that at one time, but the most important thing to him is that you’re safe. The Marchesis have security that almost rivals X’s.”
“Will they be there?”
I was curious to meet Angelo’s cousin, Devil, and his brother, Lucien, but I didn’t think I was up for that tonight.
“Devil won’t be. He and Joe are on their honeymoon. I’m not sure about the others.”
“Leo told me Joe was part of your organization.”
Niall glanced over at me briefly. “What else has he told you about us?”
His surprised tone made me wary. “Maybe I shouldn’t say.”
“He rarely talks about our work with anyone, not even the things we do that don’t need to be kept secret.”
“The other night, when I ran out of the shop to help him and saw him shoot a man, he must have decided he better tell me a little bit about what he did.”
Niall laughed. “You would think that, but if Leo doesn’t want to tell you something, he’s not going to.”
I didn’t want to talk about Leo anymore. “How did you find Swain?”
“Our… computer expert—”
“Hacker?”
Niall smiled. “You could call him that. He tracked Swain down for us.”
“That couldn’t have been easy. I’m sure Swain has done everything possible to hide if he’s evaded you for this long.”
“He has, but our guy is really damn good.
“So Swain is in Weston?”
“Yes. The house where he’s hiding out used to belong to a relative of his wife, but it changed hands fairly recently. The new owner only exists on paper.”
“Meaning it’s some alias of Swain’s?”
“Right, a persona he created to hide behind.”
“And now that you’ve found him, you’re going to…”
Niall glanced at me then back at the road. “Don’t worry about the details. We’re going to take care of the situation.”
“I know what you do, and I understand that in Swain’s case it’s necessary. He’s hurt a lot of people.”
“He has.”
“But it’s still dangerous going after him.”
He glanced over at me again. “Leo is the best. Giorgio too. X brought the three of us in because he knew our skills were unrivaled in our agencies. You don’t need to worry.”
Leo was going after a man who had everything to lose, a man who was willing to sell teenagers as sex toys. How the hell could I not worry?
An hour later, Niall and I were settled at the Marchesis’ house. It was massive and beautifully decorated without being showy. Their housekeeper, Gemma, insisted we have hot beverages and something to eat. She brought me coffee that was perfectly brewed and a slice of apple cake with caramel frosting that was to die for. I actually felt happy for a few moments as I sat in a tall-ceilinged room that looked out on the back lawn.
After a few bites, I couldn’t help but tune back into the phone conversation Niall was having as he paced the length of the space.
Suddenly, he stopped moving. I knew immediately something was wrong. He lowered his voice, and I strained to hear him.
“He’s where?… Fuck… All right… We’re on our way… I can’t leave him… I know. See you there.” Niall turned to me as he shoved his phone into his pocket. “Come on, we’ve got to go.”
“Where?”
“Swain’s house.”
“Wait. You’re taking me?”
“I’ll explain in the car. I can’t leave you here, not with… Just come on.”
I raced out of the house after him. I barely had the car door closed before he took off.
28
Leo
Giorgio and I left our SUV on the service road that ran along the back edge of Swain’s property. The whole drive there, I tried unsuccessfully to stop thinking of Ezra. I wished I’d insisted on talking to him before I’d left. He deserved an explanation about what was happening from me. I also wanted to make sure he knew I’d come for him as soon as it was over.
“Let it go and focus,” Giorgio said.
“I’m good.”
“Are you? Because we can’t fuck this up.” We closed the car doors and began to move into the trees.
“I’m not going to fuck this up. I want Swain dead. He came for Ezra.”
Giorgio raised his hands in a surrender posture. “I get that, but you’re thinking too hard.”
I hated that he was right. I was better at this than that. I needed this mission complete so I could get back to Ezra.”
I took a deep breath and pushed everything away, finding that place in my mind where I had to go when a mission reached the critical point. I felt the armor of my CIA-agent personality settling over me and nodded to Giorgio. “I’m ready.”