Page 5 of Breaking Rosalind
“Didn’t you make mistakes when you were eighteen, or are you too elderly to remember that far back?” I ask.
His amusement fades, leaving his face a tight mask. “Don’t tell me you’re falling for Leroi Montesano.”
“I prefer men in their twenties.”
“Some say you don’t prefer men at all,” he mutters.
No amount of nips or tucks or fillers can compensate for Gunther’s antiquated views. No amount of time can make this decrepit old bastard forget I once rejected his advances.
He and others from the Moirai think I’m in a relationship with Britt because she helped on my side quest to save Miranda and doesn’t shun me like everyone else, but we’re just good friends. She’s the only person in the Moirai who isn’t a backstabber.
I’m not looking for any form of romantic relationship—I fuck enough assholes as part of my job. Besides, if I didn’t want Gunther ten years ago when he didn’t look half as gruesome, I sure as hell won’t want him now.
My gaze wanders to the laptop. “We both know I can complete this job. Authorize me to take out the brothers directly?—”
“Denied.” He leans back in his seat.
“Why?”
“The client wants a swift execution with no chance of retaliation, which means simultaneous assassinations and no loose ends.”
Pursing my lips, I exhale my frustration in an outward breath. Gunther has already demoted me to an analyst. If I tell him the truth about losing my connection with Leroi, I may as well dig my own grave.
“Leroi isn’t taking anyone into the Montesano estate. Let me hook up with one of the brothers.”
“Impossible,” he says. “The oldest is safely behind bars, and the middle brother hasn’t shown an interest in anyone since his broken engagement.”
I rub the back of my neck and sigh. “You’re just reciting information I gave you.”
Gunther double-clicks a recent photo I took of Cesare the last time I spotted him at the Phoenix nightclub. “And of course, the youngest is so protected, he only gets to fuck the help.”
Cesare Montesano is classically handsome with sharp blue eyes and a Roman nose but hides his masculine beauty with piercings, floppy hair that he ties back, and tattoos.
At twenty-four, he’s four years younger than me. Bestowed with two parents, siblings, cousins, and a spectacular mansion at the top of Alderney Hill, he’s had a dream life. While I was creating cadavers, he was dissecting them at Beaumont Central Medical School. And when he dropped out, his family handed him a nightclub with an attached restaurant.
I shake my head. What a waste of gifts.
The picture disappears, bringing my attention back to Gunther. “So you see, the only way into the family is through a trusted relative.”
I reach for the laptop and open another file. “Or there’s the bodyguard, Gilberto Agostini. He drives into the club with the brothers. He’s at their house every day, is a natural flirt, and has a closer relationship to the family than Leroi.”
Gunther slams the laptop lid shut. “You’re not authorized to approach him.”
“Why not?”
“Because another operative is working on him.” Before I can call him out on his bullshit, he rises off his seat and flings open the door, letting in the scent of a freshly mowed lawn. “On the subject of family… How’s your sister?”
My stomach plummets, and I glance past Gunther’s smug features to what’s beyond the van’s exit. We’re at the gates of Tourgis Academy.
He’s threatening Miranda.
Who is, of course, not my little sister.
I don’t correct his mistake. Only three other people know Miranda’s true parentage. I shot one between the eyes and took care of the second with a grenade launcher. Britt is the third, and I trust her with my life.
“She’ll be fourteen now,” Gunther says, his voice carrying a hint of nostalgia.
I maintain a poker face, using all my training to appear detached. This is exactly why I’ve kept Miranda at a distance. Gunther will exploit any vulnerability to keep me under his control.