The Family Business 3(8)

“What . . . why?” I questioned as I took the blade from him.

“Paris, you make me nervous like a little schoolboy. I’m not used to feeling all open and shit, but I do believe fate brought us together back in Spain. I love you with all my heart, you crazy, sexy woman, and I’m ready to commit to you. When I get back, we’ll lay it all on the line, me and you, and see how things go.”

I was stunned. On top of my frayed emotions, this left me speechless.

“Just something I needed to get off my chest,” he said, “on the off chance that something does happen to me and I don’t return. Tomorrow’s never promised, but I need you to know that my love for you is.”

Niles kissed me tenderly. As he pivoted, I locked my grip on the single blade, mad at myself for enjoying the kiss. When we finished, neither of us spoke. I drove away from the side of the road and let him direct me back to the private airstrip. I pulled my car up to the plane and let him out. God, I didn’t want to. I wanted him to stay here with me. He unloaded his bags and then turned to face me.

“I need to know something before I leave. Are you all in, Paris?”

“Yeah. I am,” I said solemnly.

“Good. Because I know you know who my next assignment is,” he stated, startling me. “Just wanted to show that I trust you with my business . . . no matter who says I shouldn’t. No secrets. I love you, ma,” he said, oblivious to who I really was: the daughter of the man he was hired to kill.

“I love you too,” I replied. “Always.”

“Then we’re on the same page.” He gave me a quick kiss on the lips, holding me around the waist. As his hands fell away and he began to move, I grabbed his arm, holding it firmly. At first he looked confused, because my grip had intensity, but when his eyes met mine they were soft, smiling.

“Do you trust me?” I fought back tears.

“Yes, and that’s not something that comes naturally to me,” he said, holding my gaze.

“Then believe me when I say you can’t go. You have to walk away from this job.” I heard my voice catch from the emotional hell swirling deep down at the core of my heart.

“Babe, it’s gonna be all right. I’m not leaving you. Plus, I need to finish this job so that I can walk away from Nadja.”

“I don’t care. Do another job for her. I need you to stay with me.” I knew the begging wasn’t sexy, but I couldn’t just let him go. He reached out and swooped me up in his arms and held me close, but by the time he put me down, I knew he’d made his decision and nothing I said would deter him.

I watched as he walked toward the plane and stepped up the ladder, disappearing into the G5. Just like that, he was gone.

I climbed back into my car, and with trembling hands, I donned a pair of gloves that I’d hastily stowed in my pocket in anticipation of this moment. From the opposite pocket, I produced a wireless transmitter and removed the safety with a flick of my thumb. I waited until the plane had taken off, imagining him there in the cockpit, thinking about me the same way that I was here thinking about him.

Taking a deep breath, I closed my eyes and counted to three as I fought back tears. In the end, the outcome was predetermined from the moment I had looked in that file back in a cheap motel in Valencia.

Niles had once taught me a valuable lesson about having to make hard choices when he wanted me to prove I was “about this life.” Well, I am, I thought as I opened my eyes and pressed the trigger.

“I love you, Niles,” I spoke out loud, although he was miles in the air by now.

Only when I saw the flames of the airplane lighting the sky and falling into pieces over the hill was I convinced of my success. However, success was synonymous with misery as the transmitter fell from my open hand and I closed my eyes again.

“Niles!” My chest heaving, I screamed at the top of my lungs, but there was no one there to hear it. I opened my eyes, and suddenly it was all gone. No smoke, no fire, no plane, nothing. Just Rio and Sasha sitting across from me, looking at me like I was a fool.

“You all right?” Rio asked, leaning as far as his seat belt would allow.

It took me a second, but I finally got it together and realized it was all a dream, and that we were on the ground, buckled up in the company G5. I glanced out the window as we made our way to the hangar.

“Paris, you all right?” he repeated.

“Yeah,” I said, angry about where my mind had taken me. “That motherf*cker LaSalle f*cked my head up. I was dreaming about that last day with Niles.”

“Damn, that must have been some good-ass dick! You still dreaming about him after he’s dead.”

“Shut up, Sasha,” Rio and I said in unison. “Shut the f*ck up!”





Brother X





5


“Two ninety-nine, three hundred.” I finished my last pushup just as the sound of the cell block changed from the normal jailhouse chatter to a hushed whisper. This could only mean one thing: there were more than the usual number of corrections officers, or screws, as we inmates called them, on the floor. Within seconds of this observation, two of my most trusted associates, Brother Muhammad and Brother Jules, were posted outside my cell.

“Jefferson and Nugent are headed our way, Xavier,” Brother Muhammad said without moving from his post.