“She good?” Ace asks as I come down after dressing for the gala. A simple black tux.
I nod once, “Where are we with the drives?”
Isobel saunters into the room, sipping a champagne, “Finally getting somewhere,” she clicks her tongue, “Not just a pretty face then.”
“Belle,” I warn.
She rolls her eyes, “She’s fine, King, she did good.”
“Tech is on the line now,” Ace eyes my sister and then me, “we’re back in.”
I open my laptop and send my screen to the large flatscreen on the wall.
At first, it’s just a bunch of code and then one by one, screens begin to pop up, security cameras each with an audio that can be tapped. With it being late the office is quiet, only the security guys still in the building, but that wasn’t what I wanted.
“Go back a few days,” I say remembering what Eleanor had told me about the guys that had arrived to see Tobias. The feed begins to rewind, hours then days until it pauses and plays. I scan each screen, waiting, watching.
“You’re in?” Eleanor gasps behind me.
I spin on her and lose a few brain cells in that moment.
She’s dressed for the gala and holy fuck, she is stunning.
The dress is perfect for her, tight on the torso, high neck that flows and follows her curves as if it’s been painted on, the subtle sparkle in the material catching in the light as her chest moves with each soft breath she takes. The skirt follows the shape of her hips before flowing down, but then she steps forward, and it opens, revealing twin splits for each leg.
I may as well have swallowed my tongue for what seeing her in that dress does to me. I was right, it was my new favorite thing.
“Eleanor,” I breathe.
“Holy shit,” Ace chokes.
“You look beautiful,” I tell her honestly, my heart suddenly pounding harder, unable to get enough of her in this dress.
A blush steals her cheeks, and she smiles softly, running conscious hands over the dress, straightening the splits to cover her legs again.
It’s a sharp, pained gasp behind me that has me spinning back to the screens.
Isobel is doubled over, clutching her stomach. The glass of champagne slips from her fingers, the glass smashing onto the ground.
“It’s him,” she gasps out, eyes pinned to the screen. “It’s Hunter.”
My eyes ping to the screens.
“That’s Clayton and Derek,” Eleanor confirms.
I watch as the two men in question saunter into the office. I’ve never seen them before, but that was hardly surprising, but that third face, the young one following like a shadow, he was the one I was surprised to see.
I’ve seen him only once, three years ago on the same night I was reunited with my sister, the reason I was reunited with my sister.
His eyes flick to the camera as if he knows I’m watching, as if he knows Isobel is watching. This was days ago. A smirk pulls on his mouth.
I follow him with the cameras as they move through the building, heading to Tobias.
There was no question about who they were now that I’d seen Hunter with them.
The final two heads of the Syndicate.
“Get me everything on those two,” I tell Tech, “All of it. Addresses, bank accounts, I want it all.”
“On it,” a voice crackles over the speaker.
“Isobel,” I turn to my sister, “He’s in the city.”
Her nostrils flare as she straightens, unshed tears glittering in her eyes, turning the blue more vibrant. She hadn’t cried in years, she wouldn’t start now. She squeezes her eyes shut and spins, her feet crunching the glass.
“Don’t come,” she says to me, “This is mine.”
I nod. It would take days, weeks maybe for her to pin him down and tech will tell me if he leaves the city now that we have him, but I didn’t think he would be leaving. Not without the two of them seeing this through.
Unfinished business had a funny way of rearing its ugly head even after years have passed. And the two of them had a mountain of unfinished business.
“Isobel,” I call to her before she disappears, “be careful please. You know where we are.”
She stops and turns, looking at me, and then she does something I never would have expected. She doubles back and hugs me. “You be careful too, brother. I’ll see you when this is over.”
And then she’s gone.
“What’s happening?” Eleanor asks nervously.
“Our plans are finally coming to an end,” I tell her, marking the three of them now convened in the office. Ace pulls out a deck of cards and begins to shuffle them.
“That’s them? Are you sure?” she asks.
“Yes,” I answer, “but tech will confirm.”
She swallows, paling.
I cross the room to her, “It’ll be fine.”
She laughs without humor, “That’s what I keep telling myself, but I don’t think I believe it.”
“Let’s just go to the gala and then after…” I leave the promise hanging there, risking a glance to Ace who smirks and then heads out.
It would be fine, I’d planned for this and would accept no other alternative.