Page 26 of Aries
“You’ve been given your orders. Now get out of my office. I have a meeting to attend.”
With a wave of his hand, we were officially dismissed.
Ronan turned and walked out, not sparing us a glance. We quickly fell in line behind him.
We didn’t stop until we were back in the parlor in Ronan’s wing of the estate. The only ones who dared enter were the three of us and the staff he allowed.
He poured a soda for Nikolai. I’d known the man for eight years now, and he had yet to touch a single drop of alcohol. Generally, people didn’t turn down Victor’s offer of a drink, but even Victor respected his sobriety.
That meeting, when we first brought Nikolai in, was almost catastrophic. Victor was not pleased at being undermined. It might’ve been the first time Ronan stuck to his guns about something, and Victor seemed to respect that to some degree. That was likely our only saving grace.
That and Nikolai is a weapon in his own right.
Ronan had to have a backbone to survive in this world. The Crows were cutthroat, and yes, there was some loyalty to be found, but overall you didn’t disagree with Victor Crow.
Ronan slid my drink across the bartop and I took it, taking a long sip of the bourbon, letting the warmth slide down my throat, warming me from the inside out.
After I set it down, I finally broke the tense silence. “So, who’s the target? I’m assuming this isn’t a simple job.”
My fingers were already itching for the keyboard, ready to track down any and all details. We liked to be well aware of what we were getting into before walking into a job.
“Something about this is not adding up,” Ronan admitted as he took a sip of his drink, glaring down at the paper. “As far as dossiers go, this is limited. He’s not even listed with a Family.”
“Then why would Victor give it to us?” Nikolai questioned, his voice echoing out from across the room. He’d taken up a post in his usual armchair by the fireplace.
“That is the question of the ages, brother,” Ronan drawled. He shoved a hand through his rose-gold hair before dropping into a chair.
“Then we dig. What’s the target’s name?” I questioned, getting almost annoyed with my best friend. It wasn’t like him to be so tight-lipped, but I knew better than to call him out in the moment.
“Elias Vance. I truly think this is some kind of test. Victor wanted us to see if we’d give him flack for a low job.”
“No,” Nikolai said, already shaking my head. “There are a lot of things Victor Crow is, but petty and testing us is not usually his style.”
I ignored their current argument as I downed the rest of my drink, setting it on the bar top and heading out of the room.
They could find me later in my office.
For now, all I wanted to do was dive deeper into this name, because Nikolai was right. Victor didn’t just give out assignments to us without a purpose.
We were his elite team. His go-to when he needed something done right. We didn’t leave behind clues or drama. We were clean and efficient to a fault.
Which meant this was delicate and far bigger than he let on.
There was more to the story, and I needed answers. Like why he wasn’t giving us all the details.
Once I had a purpose, I had a hard time letting go of it. My mind latched onto this and I wouldn’t rest until I found what I was looking for.
Exhaustion was my constant companion, even when the search was closer to home. Like Aries.
I’ve spent the last eight years tracking down every lead I could find on the missing omega. It was like she didn’t exist after that day.
Sure, there was the standard publicly available information on her disappearance and even an obituary. The girl looking back at me in those pictures was just a child, but she haunted me.
She was barely eighteen when she disappeared and only twenty-two when she was presumed dead.
Without a body or a positive DNA match. The police had fabricated an entire death and cremation all to get Nikolai to move on and stop bothering them.
I may or may not have sent a virus through their systems routinely as a way to let them know we wouldn’t let that lie slide. Nikolai may have focused his anger elsewhere, but I made sure they still had their once a month visit one way or another.
