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“Butterfly?” He walked over and put his hands on my upper arms. “What’s going on?”
“Whatever it is, just say it,” I snapped.
Instead of doing as I asked, he unwound my arms, put them around his waist, then pulled me into him.
“It’s work-related. Something Doc, Merrigan, and I have been talking about since my release from prison.”
“Go on.”
“Can we please discuss this elsewhere?”
While my tension was increasing with every passing minute, I agreed and followed him down a floor. “Are you sure this is where you want to have this conversation?” I asked when he led me over to the bed.
“Yes. And every other one we have when I see a deer-in-headlights look on your face, so I can hold you while we talk.”
We lay on the bed, side by side, facing each other. Before he began, Brand lifted my leg and rested it over his hip, then scooted closer.
“As you know, when I was in London last month, I had a meeting with Nemesis.”
My feelings of dread were multiplying. “I swear, Brand, you need to get to the point a fuck of a lot faster than you are.”
He leaned forward and brushed my lips with his, then pulled back. “She proposed a hypothetical scenario where I would infiltrate the Calabrian Syndicate.”
“Go on.”
“She believes the art fraud was perpetrated by the Sicilians, who used it to expropriate whatever headway the Calabrians had made.”
“Forged-art turf wars?” I asked.
“Precisely.”
“What would your involvement be?”
“As you know, Nemesis is the head of the human trafficking coalition, so my infiltrating what is believed to now be the most powerful Italian mafia has little to do with art.”
“Except it’s what would get you inside. I’m going out on a limb here. You’d offer to help them take down the Sicilians, build back the forged-art part of their business, and gain their trust in order to get information on their trafficking involvement.”
His eyes were wide. “In a nutshell, that’s the entirety of it.”
“Don’t look so surprised. I’ve watched a lot of crime TV in my life.”
“In that case, what are your thoughts?”
“Risky as fuck, which I’m guessing is the reason why you waited so long to discuss it with me.”
“My apologies.”
I shook my head. “I’m not angry. So, is this why you’ve been painting so much?”
“Yes and no. I’ve wanted to paint, and I’ve needed to practice.”
“You want them to believe you’re back in business.”
Brand cocked his head. “Seriously, why did I meet with Nemesis? You put this together far faster than I did.”
“I told you. Crime TV. And books too. Actually, books outweigh shows and movies. There’s more of a buildup when I’m reading, so more time to figure out who the bad guys are.”
“Fascinating.”