Page 106 of The Echo of Forever

“Whatever. Have you heard from your mother?”

Kai started to follow me to the elevators and then stopped.

“Actually, I haven’t…” he pulled his out and scrolled for a second. “Not since Friday. She called asking if I’d heard from you, then hung up after I said no. But I ain’t think shit of it. That’s typically how our conversations go.”

So fucking odd.

“Okay, I’m headed down to see her. She’s usually here on Sundays, right?”

He nodded and slid into the elevator to follow.

Kai had gotten his love for numbers from our mother. Her family was knee deep into gambling; it was one of the most lucrative underground businesses in Everwood.

Ironically, the only legitimate casino around was owned by her father, a man who didn’t claim us and never had.

“You think she went on a job?”

We both shook our heads after I asked. She hadn’t worked as an assassin in years, not since killing Demetrius’s father, and she’d come out of retirement to do it.

Now that I knew more, something about my mother taking that job as a favor felt more significant than before.

“Hey, Gina,” Kai greeted, stopping the weekend receptionist on the accounting floor from leaving her post. “Did Quinn make it in today?”

Gina looked between us and then shook her head.

“She hasn’t been here in weeks, actually. We thought you knew.”

Weeks?

“What kind of business are you running here, Kai? How did you not notice your head of accounting hasn’t been working?”

Our mom was only doing the job for fun, and she hadn’t missed a day since Kai begged her to keep his books straight per society standards.

Everwood was a cesspool of illegal activity. Anything was game, especially for a decorated member. Still, some preferred to rig an already rigged game, and my brother was one of them.

“I only go looking for people who aren’t doing their jobs.” He shrugged. “Our quarterly reports were finished early.”

When did she ever finish reports early?

Quinn was a weird lady; she purposely moved slowly and to the beat of her own drum. Never controlled, but always compliant.

What are you up to?

And then it hit me.

“I know where she is…” I met eyes with Kai. “You can get back to work. I’ll handle the default this week.”

He nodded but looked reluctant to let me go. I left anyway and headed straight for my ma’s apartment in the neutral zone.

She’d only used it for jobs, but if I had to guess, it was still very much her business hub.

I checked my glove compartment for the access card she’d given after I became the broker, then called Demetrius before going inside.

“You miss me already?” he asked after picking up.

The man didn’t know how not to flirt. He couldn’t even hold it back with another man’s wife, all to get me riled up.

“I want to suck your dick so bad,” I all but moaned, holding back my laughter.