Page 5 of Honor and Claim (A New Reign #2)

Chapter Five

COSIMA

C alm down, I tell myself as I shove more items into my bag.

It’s a stupid thing to tell myself. Calm isn’t really my style when I get worked up, and I’m all kinds of worked up now.

The more I think about that stupid note, the madder I get.

I don’t know where Z went, but he’s lucky I don’t know.

I want to choke the hell out of him. He may be a lot taller than me, but I bet I could take him down if I really wanted to.

I still can’t believe he did this. When I feel the sting of tears in my eyes, I stop myself and focus back on my anger.

Yes, I want to stay in that state of mind.

I’m so not crying, not yet. Not until I get my shit together and get the hell out of this house.

Once I’m on my flight with an ocean between him and me, I’ll let myself feel all the things. I just need to focus for now.

The problem is I can’t just up and leave. It’s not easy to come and go from the farm. The whole estate is surrounded by a massive stone wall that appears to be beautiful. That is until you’re trapped behind it.

It wraps around most of the property except for a section of thick woods that has motion detectors all over it. You don’t come and go from here without War or Z knowing. They are, after all, Z’s security and motion detectors. The man always knows where I am. Except now I have a secret weapon.

I grab my phone off my bed, calling Marks. She answers after a few rings. “Yo,” she says through the line.

“Is this secure?” I ask.

The plan when we met up yesterday was for her to make sure my phone wasn’t being monitored by Z. I have my phone back, but when she was messing with it is when everything went sideways. I’m not sure if she was able to do whatever computery tech smart things to it to see if he was and get him out.

“You think I talk on nonsecure lines?”

“I don’t know. Your ass disappeared like Houdini.”

“Who what?”

“Never mind,” I tell her. “I need to get out of here.”

“You and me both,” Marks mutters.

“Are you still here?” I honestly don’t know where Marks is from.

She doesn’t talk about family except for a mention of her dad here and there.

Marks bounces all around. Tova says she is never quite sure where she is.

It sounds interesting but also lonely. I can relate; maybe that’s why we clicked so easily.

“I’m always around.” I hear her blow and pop a bubble. “And I’m dodging work, so you need out of the Marino compound?”

“The farm.”

“Same shit.” Not sure that’s true, but I’ll take her word for that.

“Why are you dodging work?”

“It’s kind of work, and I don’t want to. Last time my handler threatened me with prison.” I can hear Marks’ eyeroll.

“Prison?” The hell?

“It’s not his first time to threaten me with it. The fucker has to find me first.” Marks lets out an evil-sounding giggle. I didn’t know an evil giggle was a thing, but she has nailed it.

“You really think they can’t find you?” I ask out of curiosity.

“I could go dark, but it’s not easy to simply disappear. I have an out plan, but when you resurface, which most do, you’ll be found.”

“How does one go dark?”

“You’re not going dark.” The hell?

“It’s a pain in the ass. You have to disconnect from everything. Like walking out the door with nothing.” I grab my purse off my bed.

“Everything?” I hold it closer. Okay, I love nice things. Hey, we all have our vices.

“Yeah, everything.”

“Okay, can I just go gray?”

Marks bursts into laughter. “What’s going on, and I’ll see what we can do.”

“Z.”

“I had a feeling you were going to say that name. I will say I was surprised to see him lose his shit. That’s not the Zero I know of.” A wave of jealousy fills me, and I push it down. It’s not really about Marks; it's about people getting to know more about Z than I do.

Once upon a time, we told each other everything. At least I did. I was probably na?ve. I’m sure he was hiding things back then, and I don’t really know Z. The Z I thought I knew would never fuck me and then take off leaving only a fucking note! I take a breath, getting my shit back together.

“I want to go back to Europe, but I don’t want Z to stop me.” Marks goes quiet. “Hello? Is that not possible?”

“I tend to be rather blunt.” Marks finally speaks.

“I’ve noticed.” Marks has this strange way of being blunt but also sneaky. The girl really can be a mystery.

“So I’m going to hit you with it.”

“All right.”

“Hasn’t Zero been asking when and saying you should go back?” I sit down on the side of my bed. “Shit, I’m sorry.” Marks’ voice softens. “But if you want to be a sneaky brat, like I know you love to do, to needle at Zero, then I can help with that.”

“I do want to be a brat,” I admit. Maybe he doesn’t care if I leave anymore. He’s hit his limit with me. “But I want to be a brat that he can’t get into contact with. So my phone is clear?”

“For now.”

“For now?” What does that mean?

“Yeah, for now. I can’t predict what Zero will do, and he’s better at all of this than me. I’m still a baby when it comes to this world. I mean, like Boss Baby but still a baby.”

I’m not shocked. Z always knows what I’m up to and where I am.

“I get it. I only want to send him a message, you know? That he doesn’t have all this control over me.

Not fully.” I want to piss him off. Is it petty?

It is definitely petty, but if he insists on calling me a brat all the time, then I might as well embrace that label.

“You really want to sneak out of there?”

“Is it possible?”

“It will be in twenty minutes.”

“Why in twenty minutes?”

“Zero isn’t home, is he?”

“I think he snuck out this morning.” Did he do the walk of shame? Gah, I’m so pissed and hurt.

“Yeah, I figured as much.”

“Wait? How do you know that?”

“I have my ways. Ways I can’t talk about.” I’m far too nosy to let that stand without some push.

“You know where Z is?” I wonder if I called him if he’d pick up, or is he now going to full-on ignore me? Will he pretend he never took my virginity? I grit my teeth. Yeah, he can get fucked. I’m not calling him, and I’m not making myself available to him.

“I have an idea. Some shit is going down, and I want no part of it. I've got my own crap to deal with,” Marks says.

“What kind of crap are you dealing with?” See, nosy. I can’t help it.

“We have a window here. Ten minutes, and part of that is that you’ll have to maneuver yourself. I can’t get eyes inside that house, honestly. I’m not going to try. I think I have poked enough at the Marino brothers. I don’t need to be on their shit list any more.”

“I’m good with that,” I tell her. “And as much as I adore you?—”

“You wouldn’t help me get in, and I wouldn’t ask.” I smile. I'm really happy Tova introduced me to Marks. It’s nice being able to openly talk to people who get things about the world I live in.

“Move your ass, Cosima, and put sneakers on.”

“Like with shoestrings?” I cringe. I’m not even sure I know where to find a pair.

“Well, I was going to take you through the woods, but after your tussle with Psycho Cop yesterday, maybe you can scale a wall.”

I debate which would be easier. The wall would be hard to get over, but the woods have bugs, and I loathe bugs. Sadly, I’m not sure I can do the wall, and I might end up falling off it.

“I don’t want to scale the wall, but wait, can you scale a wall?” That hooker popped up out of a ceiling yesterday.

“If I planned for it, probably. Your family isn’t the only one who is trained.”

“Say more.” Now I want to hear this.

“Timetable, Cosima. Focus.”

“Right.” I jump up, grabbing my AirPods to put in before changing my clothes. I push over the standing jewelry box my mom got me years ago to pull up the board I have money and other things stashed in. I toss what I need into my bag. “I’m ready.” I pull my hair into a ponytail.

“Head for the tree line and tell me when you’re there. I’ll kill the motion sensors.” I hear Marks clicking away, I’m sure on her computer. I can barely remember my passwords, and this girl can hack anything. I can speak a few languages. Does that count for anything?

Those thoughts are depressing because I know where they’re leading. To the fact that I’m not really great at anything. Especially when it comes to my brothers and Z. They each have their own talents, and as for me, I’m just Cosima.

We both go quiet as I make my way out of my room and down the hallway.

I use the back stairway. I want to tell Tova that I’m leaving, but she’s likely still in bed with my brother War, and I don’t want to put her in a weird position with all of this.

I’d already done that with the whole shopping trip, and I feel terrible about it.

“Pick up the pace,” Marks orders when I make it out of the back.

“Okay,” I huff, hurrying down the east side of the house and toward the woods. It’s not a short trek.

“All right, you have five minutes once I say go.” How the hell did she know I was at the tree line?

“How did you know I was here?”

“I know everything.” She lets out a playful villain laugh that has me smiling. At least with these shenanigans going on, I can stop thinking about Z for a few moments. I’m dreading when I have to go to sleep; lying down in a bed with my own thoughts sounds brutal.

“Are you now tracking my phone?”

“Not at the moment, but look up.” I drop my head back to see something small way up in the sky.

“Is that a drone?” What else could it be? When I was younger, Z played with them and let me fly them. That often ended with crashing them, but he hadn’t cared. That seems like a lifetime ago. When he was actually sweet and easygoing with me.

“Yep, cool, right? I love these things.”

“How close are you?”

“I’m not there,” she tells me. “Are you ready?” I shift my bag, tossing it over my shoulder.

“Ready as I can be.”

“Go.” I take off on a dead run. “Damn, Cosima. You’re quicker than I thought you would be.”

I don’t bother responding to her. I’m saving my breath. Although I'm not a runner, I learned how to control my breathing when necessary. Thankfully, we all played in these woods as kids, and I still remember them.

That was back when most of the security was done by men. There still are men on the grounds for that purpose, but they don’t do rounds. So unless there is an alert, no one should be out here. I inwardly cheer when I see the end of the tree line come into view.

“Now what?” I ask a few seconds before I break through the trees and onto the gravel road. “Oh shit.” I start to backpedal when I see a car coming.

“That’s me,” Marks says.

“It’s you?” I stop moving, the car coming to a stop. “I thought you weren't here.”

“I’m not.” The driver side door opens, but there is no one inside. “In you go. Hop to it, Cosima.” She claps twice.

“I can’t drive.” Wow, my privilege is showing.

“Get in the car!” I jump inside. The door closes on its own before it takes off.

“The hell?” I sit up, my hand on my pounding heart.

“Welcome to the future.”

“Holy crap.” I shake my head. “Z says these electric self-driving cars aren’t safe.”

“They aren’t. I wouldn’t ride in one.”

“Well, then. I guess I’ll just die,” I say dramatically, making Marks laugh.

“It’s because they’re electric. See, I’m not there and controlling it. I’m sure he’s worried that someone could take the wheel from him.”

“Oh.” I hadn’t thought of that. I’m more of an act and think about the fallout later kind of person. “Where are you taking me?”

“It’s a surprise.” Marks sounds excited about this. “We’ve got a bit of a drive. You want to tell me what happened after Zero lost his shit on you yesterday?”

Do I? Who else am I going to talk to about it? I think Marks might be the only person I can openly share the details about my mess with Z, so in true me fashion, I unload.

“Hello?” I ask after I’m done and there’s a long stretch of silence.

“That’s a lot.” I bark a laugh. Marks isn’t all rose petals and love notes, but she does enjoy a good dirty book.

“He popped your cherry then took off, only leaving a note. That’s messed up.

” It’s a lot more than that. It’s devastating to me, if I’m being honest. While Z and I haven’t seen eye to eye a lot lately, I thought he had more respect for me.

“Like I’m some random girl!” Thinking about it pisses me off all over again, or at least brings that anger back to the surface.

“So we need to plot revenge.” The best revenge would be him not being able to locate me because it would drive him insane but not sure that’s possible.

“I don’t know. Right now I just need…” I trail off, not sure what I need.

“You need girl time.” Damn. That does sound nice.

“If only,” I mutter. Tova is with my brother, and Marks is, well, Marks. Z is like a son to my mom, so I don’t wanna pull her into the middle of it.

A knock on the window has me screaming bloody murder.

“My ears!” Marks shouts right back.

“I’m stopped and someone is knocking at my window,” I rush to tell her as I hear the locks unclick, the door opening. I reach into my pocket, my fingers wrapping around my knife.

“It’s me!” Marks holds her hands up. I didn’t even realize the car had stopped.

“The hell! You scared the crap out of me.”

“You said girl time,” she deadpans, then a smirk plays across her lips. “Where do you wanna go?” Marks steps back, and I notice we’re at a private airport. “The possibilities are endless.”

It’s not the private airport or the plane that’s shocking to me. In fact, I’ve been to this airport many times. It’s Marks popping up here ready to go. She’s becoming the definition of ride or die.

“You know,” I grab my bag, stepping out of the car, “I think it’s your turn to spill.”

Now, more than ever, I want to know who the hell Marks truly is.