Page 17

17

OBI

F lashes of memory, images twisting with terror. Screams. Nails scratching. Swords and guns and bullets.

Blood covering my face, dripping from my hands. Our home, burning. Severed limbs strewn across the street. Vengeance. Control. Power.

A boy, dead at the gate. Shot in the heart.

My youngest sister, accusing, pointing her finger. Tears falling, words thrown in anger and fear.

The truth spoken: I had become what I fought against.

I had become their nightmare.

I woke from the dream with a start, sweat dripping down my back. Brutal, terrible visions of the past.

Reminders of what I had done.

Reminders of how I had to press forward until we were safe.

There would be no more sleep tonight.

After a cold shower to clear my head and shake the tremors from my hands, I found myself drawn to the library. It was my usual refuge of peace and quiet, but since the day we had made our plan to undermine Volpe and steal his power from beneath him, this room had become more.

It was shameful. The way I stared at that couch from my desk, my laptop forgotten on the desk in front of me. I’d tried to imagine what happened between Wynn, Ciel, and Leona.

No. I drug my hand down my face and tore my gaze away from it.

I must do better—be better—if this plan was going to succeed. I could not control how the others felt about her, or she them, but I could no longer let my interest in her distract me.

A boy, dead at the gate. My fault.

The explosion at the club was another reminder, and we had been dangerously close to losing everything.

If I keep my emotions and my desires separate from our plans, we would succeed. As the leader of the Shadows, it was my responsibility to remain in control. To navigate us down the right path. I could not afford to fail by letting my personal desires get in the way.

I’d learned that lesson through the blood painted on my hands.

Tapping the trackpad of my laptop to wake it up, I went straight to my secure inbox to check the status of my latest contacts. I had reached out to the Camorra again, and I was still waiting to hear back if they had any idea who might have teamed up with Volpe as his hacker. On top of that, I had asked if they would connect us to a gun manufacturer.

Asking so much of them, even simple information, might be dangerous.

The Camorra controlled Italy in its entirety. If I was not careful, and they blacklisted us from any contact with Italian suppliers, we would find ourselves at a great disadvantage. Even my connections only went so far.

Which is why I wanted to cultivate multiple options—options that could eventually rival the Camorra.

If that were ever to happen, I must not slip up now.

Though there was no solid plan from my Italian contact yet, the Chinese had responded. The shipping magnate, Zhang, had requested a contract to take out his main competitor. If we fulfilled it, then he agreed to discuss an exclusive contract to transport our goods.

Ryuji and I could take care of that hit as soon as we returned from Los Angeles.

I leaned back in my chair, pinching my cheeks, just like my mother used to, to keep my thoughts sharp.

Our change of plans went exactly as I hoped, and I was not at all surprised Leona had come to the same conclusion I had. Volpe was slippery and dangerous. We could only face him when our strengths rivaled one another. So we had to weaken him as we grew in strength.

We needed more allies.

Makarov and the Russians would not be enough. The Italian men of the Vero Family would not accept Leona so readily as their leader, despite the hope she might have. We needed to be ready to secure their allegiance through any means necessary.

I feared I was the only one who realized what that might take, what it might mean.

To be clear, I believed in her , despite what she may think. The glint in her eye mirrored the same determination in mine. She may falter, but there was no doubt in my mind we would eventually succeed—because I was willing to do anything to get us there.

Including shape her into the leader she needed to become.

She was brilliant, but naive. She needed guidance. She needed to learn how to do what must be done. I could teach her that.

I wanted New York, and I would get it. No matter what it took, we would hold the seat of ultimate power, rivaling any organization across the world. When that finally happened, my family would finally be safe. Everything I had done, all my successes and failures, would be worth it.

The door creaked open. Before her head even poked inside, I knew it was Leona.

“Obi,” she said hesitantly. Her red curls were a mess around her head and her cheeks held a pink flush.

“Come in,” I responded, moving to stand. “Sit.”

“It’s okay,” she said as the door clicked shut behind her. Tonight, she wore an adorable pajama set with shorts that showed off the full length of her legs. My throat bobbed, but I clenched my hand into a fist beside my chair. She hesitated, one hand still on the doorknob. “I just…”

Dark circles hung beneath her eyes. “Nightmares?”

She nodded. “You?”

I relaxed my fist. “The same.”

“Here we are again.” A small smile upturned the corner of her mouth.

“Indeed.”

She stepped into the room and my eyes almost flicked to the couch. Damn it. I needed to get myself together. Her presence mesmerized me, and I found myself reluctant to look away.

How could my brain hold space for all the moving chess pieces in my head when she already consumed every inch of it?

This was why I could not give into my desires as my brothers inevitably would. At least until we had won, I had to stay in control.

She collapsed on the couch. “Do you want to sit with me? So we can talk?”

The tension between us seemed to flood the room, so heavy it felt like I could barely breathe.

She was nervous. Unhappy with me. Despite how every single piece of my life was carefully controlled, down to the detergent I kept in the laundry room, somehow a single frown on her face made me feel like all my hardened edges were in danger of fraying.

“I’m fine.” I leaned back in my desk chair. The wood creaked beneath my frame. “But yes, tell me about your nightmare.”

Her hair bounced as she tsked me. I pursed my lips, amusement blooming in my chest. Only my sisters ever dared to tsk me. “Uh-uh. It’s your turn.”

“What do you mean?”

“Last time, you got away easy.” Her head tilted. “I told you my nightmare, and then we both fell asleep, and you didn’t even share. I’m not letting you get away with that again.”

Despite my prior agreement, my fraying edges made me want to retreat and break that promise. Vulnerability made my stomach sink and my thoughts race. If she knew the full extent of my past, she would reject me as my sister, Ekene, had. The two of them were similar in their steadfast hopes, their determination, their straightforwardness.

Perhaps after discussing business, she would be tired enough to head back to bed and I could return to my few moments of silent peace before the sun rose.

“First, let’s talk business,” I hedged. I glanced at my open inbox. “I have updates from the Chinese, and our pilot has confirmed our takeoff time.”

“Yes, let’s avoid the difficult topic of conversation.” Her eyes twinkled as they teased. “Are our nefarious plans coming to fruition?”

That time I couldn’t hold back my smile. “We are making progress. The Chinese will take on our transport routes and carry our guns if we can complete their hit request. We scratch their back, they scratch ours, so to speak.”

She nodded as she folded her legs underneath her. “Once we get a manufacturer confirmed, we can start moving product. Hopefully, Kofler will agree to take it, and money can start funneling out of Max’s pockets and into ours.”

Niklas Kofler, the arms dealer. With my input, Leona had spent the last three days preparing to speak with him.

“Speaking of Kofler, Ciel has confirmed our meeting, and the location is set.” Our plane was set to leave in the early afternoon, and it would take around six hours before we landed. “After we arrive in LA, we will have a few hours to kill, but hopefully by the evening, we will have an agreement.”

“That’s good.” Her mouth slanted into a slight frown. “Any news on the Italian gun manufacturers?”

My fingers drummed on the trackpad of my laptop. “The Camorra is withholding. They will meet with us, but not for a few weeks. My contact provided no real update or promise besides that. Apparently, they are in the midst of fulfilling a large order.”

She rubbed her eyes. “Okay. How am I going to sell guns to Kofler if I don’t have them?”

“If the Italians do not supply us, we will get them from the Chinese.”

“That’s a start, I guess,” she said, stifling a yawn. “Any other business I should know about?”

Perfect. Perhaps now she’d be ready to sleep. I shook my head. “That is all.”

With a grin, she patted the leather beside her. “Okay, now there are no other excuses. Time for nightmare talk.”

I held her gaze. I wanted to bridge the crack of tension that had splintered between us. But this discussion would most likely exacerbate it.

“Leona…”

Her smile faltered. “If you don’t want to, it’s okay. I understand.”

Her eyes—brown with the most beautiful flecks of gold—were so earnest. Not for the first time, I found myself at a loss. I wasn’t used to dealing with someone so genuine. I was used to dealing with the scum of the earth, people that should never be trusted.

I pushed from the desk and reluctantly sat beside her. Although she did not tuck into my side the same way she did with Caspian, she did inch closer.

“You go first,” I said, staring straight ahead. I still wasn’t sure what I was doing.

“Only if you promise to go after me,” she replied, tone serious.

“I will.” Though I would not share the buried extent of my violence.

“Chiara texted me again tonight,” she offered, staring at her hands clasped in her lap. “I dreamt about her.”

“What did she say?”

Her lips thinned. “Just said my name again, asking if I was there.”

“Did you respond?”

“No.” She rubbed her eyes. “It still feels like a trap.”

Maybe it was meant to be a trap, but Ciel had already confirmed that there was no malware on Leona’s physical device, and he had protected it should she send any outgoing messages. Maybe we could use it to our advantage.

“Perhaps you should respond.”

Her eyes flicked up to mine. “Really? What should I say?”

“Try to get information. We could use her to understand Volpe’s movements or intentions.”

Her fingers curled into fists. “I don’t want to use her. I just want to make sure she’s okay.”

I exhaled. “It may be uncomfortable, but we must wield the tools we have at our disposal.”

Her arms tightened around her middle. “Maybe. But maybe not always.”

The conversation lapsed into uncomfortable silence. The way her eyebrows furrowed only solidified the plan forming in my head. We needed allies, and she was not ready to make the sacrifices necessary to achieve them. We would eventually need to cross that bridge, but I hoped she would not set it on fire in our wake.

I nudged her shoulder. “What was the nightmare?”

“One moment we were laughing and dancing and joking. The next, she held a gun to my head while Max laughed behind her. Then the scene switched, and I had the gun in my hand. She bled out at my feet, begging me to help her. I woke up after that.”

I glanced at her. “I’m sorry.”

She braced her head in her palm and her elbow against the back of the couch. “I feel stupid that I’m bothered by whatever relationship they have.”

“I am upset for you,” I said, speaking honestly. I meant it when I swore we’d never let anyone hurt her again. It pained me to see her conflicted and confused.

“You don’t think I’m stupid?” Her eyes were piercing, her voice quiet. “Immature?”

“No, I do not think that.” Inexperienced, perhaps, but brilliant. I envied her ability to feel . I used my need for control to suck all feeling from of my life. Only violence brought peace, and to perpetrate the violence I had, I couldn’t feel. But this wasn’t about me. It was about her. “In fact…”

Her head lifted. “In fact?”

“I’d like to mentor you,” I said, then cleared my throat. “To teach you how to navigate the underworld.”

Her mouth parted as her cheeks darkened. A few emotions flitted across her face, ending in a slight frown. What was she thinking?

“You are clever and determined, Leona,” I murmured. I hooked my finger under her chin and nudged her so she locked eyes with me. “I want to help you reach your full potential. There’s so much I can teach you.”

The world would bow at her feet if only she knew how to make them. I could teach her that. For all of us. For our future. I could keep her, all of us, on the right path.

She shifted forward as her gaze lowered to my lips; her eyes became lidded. The air between us supercharged. It would take such a small movement to taste her.

Focus.

I pulled back my hand, and she blinked. She moved back, clearing her throat, before she finally spoke. “Thank you, Obi. I would like that.”

A smile pulled at the corner of my mouth, pleased she agreed. “I know you’re worried about Chiara, but this world is a chessboard, and we are all pieces on it. You must learn to see ten moves ahead if we are going to win the game.”

She nodded. “I will.”

“You must be willing to do whatever it takes,” I added. I’d only gained the power I had because I did whatever was necessary. That was how you survived in our world. That was how we created safety.

“I am. I promise.” Her fingers absentmindedly picked at the seam of the leather couch. “There’s something else I can’t get off my mind.”

“What is it?”

“My father sold those guns to the government. I still can’t figure out why. Or even what happens now that he’s stopped.”

My brain had also been spinning on the same thing. It surprised me, still, to realize how similarly our brains worked.

“You worry that this will come back to bite you.”

“Yeah. I mean, if the government was using my father, would they let that go? What if it comes to light? I just can’t help but feel like that’s going to stab me in the back somehow, and I’m never going to see it coming. Maybe the account numbers will give us more answers. If Ciel can find them.”

She was right; it was a question we were nowhere close to answering. But if Luciano had made a deal with the government, they had also made a deal with him. They would not want the truth of that coming to light. Perhaps the deal would come back as a stumbling block in our path, but we could also use that information to protect us.

There were plenty of ways we could use it to take down our enemies.

I poked her forehead. “Between the two of us, we will see it coming.”

She smiled. “Put our brains together and we can take over the world.”

“I am counting on it.”

Together we would own New York. But beyond that, we would become the most respected, most feared organization in the world. We would ruin anyone who stood in our path, and we would build a future that made us invulnerable.

She watched me carefully. Her gaze cut me to the core, as if it could see right through my fears to the part of me that was still the scared little boy who, in the face of death, chose his sisters over his parents.

“You know, Obi, all the other guys have told me more about their pasts.”

My brothers were more outspoken than me, yet less in control of themselves. I knew which person I wanted to be. “You wish I were like them.”

“No, no. But the more secrets you keep…I don’t think the guys have ever pushed you on this before, but all the scheming comes off as pretty manipulative. It’s fine when it’s against others. But not us.”

I huffed. “My scheming, as you call it, is how we all got here.”

“What does that mean?”

My lips thinned. I still had not told them how I had set us on this path when I followed her after her father’s death. How I had pushed us down this road and why.

“This is what I mean, Obi.” I opened my mouth, but she raised her hands in defense. “I’m not holding it against you. You know you’re smarter than all of us. I’m just saying that the more secrets you keep, the harder it is to understand you. To trust you.”

I stood from the couch and moved toward the windows to stare out at the cityscape. My brain and my heart warred inside my body.

I wanted to become closer to her, but I knew it would distract me.

I wanted to share my thoughts, my fears, my plans, but I knew she would reject them.

The path to acquiring power was bloody and violent. It was not one that could be trod when guided by emotion.

“All right.” She stood. “I won’t force you to talk to me.”

“Wait. Please.” I turned as she folded her arms across her chest. “Sit. I promised I would tell you about them, so I will.” I walked the length of the room, pausing to lean against the desk. “I have two sisters and two brothers, back home in Nigeria.”

She raised an eyebrow. “Really?”

I nodded. “My brothers are strong, confident young men. Good men. My sisters are wondrous, headstrong, and beautiful. I have done all that I can to keep them safe.”

“What about your parents?”

Blood. Fire. Screams. Shattering glass . “They were killed when we were children.”

“Obi…”

I waved a hand. “A story for another night.” I did not want to relive how I had a chance to help them, but I chose to run to my sisters’ room instead. We had barely survived. “But they are my responsibility, and I chose this life, one of crime and bloodshed, to ensure they never had to face the horrors I saw that night.”

She sucked in a breath. “Obi, I’m so sorry.”

I refused to meet her eye. I did not need her apology. “Tonight, I dreamt of my youngest sister, Ekene. She…one night, a few years after they died, she caught me returning home covered in blood. At first, she thought it was mine. But when I assured her it was not, she turned on me.”

I looked down at my hands. That night, they had been drenched in sticky gore. Afterward, I had scrubbed them so raw that I needed bandages to heal the skin. In the vividness of the nightmare, I’d once again pictured them drenched, and I’d scrubbed them clean in the shower.

“In the nightmare, and in reality, she accused me of becoming everything we feared since we were children,” I continued. “A violent, ruthless man who killed for no reason other than because they could. It didn’t matter what I said to her, how I tried to explain I was trying to keep her safe—she screamed that I was a monster. She screamed so loudly she woke our other siblings. She told them all how she found me covered in blood. After that, none of them looked at me the same.”

“She didn’t know,” Leona whispered. “She didn’t understand.”

“She knew exactly.” I shook my head. “Ekene is brilliant and perceptive, more so even than me. She was entirely right.”

She pushed off the couch and came to stand in front of me. “You’re not a monster, Obi.”

“I am what I needed to become.” When I met her gaze, she flinched at the hardness in my eyes. “Everything I have done has led me here. I cannot let it all be for nothing.”

Even my failures. Even the boy who taught me that distractions meant death.

She took a step closer, reaching out to grab my hand, where I had leaned it against the desk. Her fingers played across my skin, pausing on my wrist. My heart raced at her soft touch.

“It won’t be,” she murmured. She was so close I could smell the scent of her soap. “We can do this. We won’t fail.”

We would not fail because I would lead us until she was ready. I would secure our future, so she could live as our queen.

She glanced up at me through her long lashes. I could fist my hand in her hair and fuse our lips. My fingers longed to feel her skin.

I pulled out of her grasp. “You should sleep, Leona.”

She swallowed, blinking at me. It was better this way. She would see the truth of that once she learned what we needed to do.

“Okay,” she said as she took a step backward. “You can tell me these things, Obi. We’re in this together. I won’t run away.”

I rubbed the back of my neck and nodded, not trusting myself to utter another word. I forced myself to tamp down the emotion, the vulnerability. Weakness, that’s all it was. We needed strength.

“Thank you for telling me,” she murmured, then pulled open the door and slipped through.

I stared at it until dawn broke over the horizon.

Back to work.