ESTELLE
I blinked in disbelief. And Willa had never been tempted to check his brother online or go to Osmium to visit him. Either she trusted him so much, or she couldn’t endure the agony of knowing how dangerous her brother was facing every day.
I mean, gathering intelligence was a risky business. I’d seen movies where people get killed and tortured for information.
“She does, but only about the firm, and she doesn’t have to. I’m just protecting her from the risk of knowing the nature of my work.”
“Now, I’m more curious.” Willa frowned further.
“That’s all you have to know.”
“No. I want to know everything.”
“Honey, Willa.” Moses drew a deep breath. “The Hover Company has subsidiaries. Hover Defense and Hover Space and Security. They are the largest private gathering information agency. They gather intelligence and information around the globe. We detect threats, support decisions, and share with our government contract agencies. And these guys and among others who work at Osmium are highly trained as defense forces who support our military, intelligence service, and secret service.”
“What? You’re kidding, right?” She snorted. “My brother does that? I don’t believe you.”
“Right now, his focus is to run Osmium. He oversees the head of other Osmium headquarters and directs strategic operations.”
Speechless, she looked at Moses and back to her brother before she gulped. “It’s not that I underestimate his intelligence, but Gabe does all that? I thought he just assigns his guys to guard and keep this safe, something like that.”
“Why haven’t you visited Osmium?” Dad asked.
“Because I wanna sleep at night. His job scared me when he went on tours. I didn’t want to wake up and find his officer giving me bad news. And now I know the risks of his job. I think I’m going to die young.” She looked at me. “How do you do this? I mean, how do you stay calm?”
“Willa,” Linden called her.
“How could you keep us worried and you still you? Unbothered.” She was about to cry. Her chin trembled.
“Believe me. This is why I don’t wanna tell you.”
“Does Dad know?”
“Yeah. Pops does because when I’m still single, I have to put his name—”
“I don’t wanna know.” She raised a hand to stop her brother.
“I always thought of you, Pops, and everyone I cared about whenever I went out there. Right now, I don’t do that anymore.”
“But the danger is always following you wherever you go. And here I thought Mr. Bladwyn was got mugged in his house. But it’s more than that, isn’t it?”
“My former business partner is apparently dirtier than me. He was entangled with bad people. His son came to me wanted to get revenge and blamed me for his father’s death.”
“He shot you?” Willa’s eyes widened as she stared at Dad.
“Yes.”
“So, who is this guy?”
“One of the most dangerous organized crimes in history,” I had to tell her. She had to know now. I didn’t want her to get more confused.
“Baby,” Linden warned me.
The line between her brows deepened as she turned to me. “That guy who called Gabe?”
“Trust me. It makes her feel better to know the truth. It sets her free. That’s what happened to me when I got to know the truth. And I picked up quickly.” I faced Willa again. “Yeah. A future grand mafia don. He is groomed to take over the family business in Russia.”
“A mafia? Like—”
“The Godfather. I like that movie.” Lynx crossed his arms over his chest. “The Irishman. Damn, De Niro is a god. John Wick is dope.”
She chuckled. Thankfully, Mom and Micah weren’t here anymore. I, Linden, Lynx, my father, and Moses were in Dad’s office.
“You know I wanna laugh like crazy, but judging by everyone’s face, and Mr. Bladwyn and your boss are here and not joking around, I believe you, brother. How did you get entangled with this kind of people.”
“Not entangled. I don’t have any association with them, but it’s a long story, and I cannot disclose, but this is real. I’m waiting for him to contact me.”
“You should take the whole team with you. If what I saw in the movies is true, they are raging homicidal maniacs and don’t care about killing innocent people.”
“I’ll be fine. This is not my first encounter with the mafia.”
“Wow. You’re full of surprises, aren’t you, Gabriel Rembrandt? One day, I will just be shocked when your enemy comes into my gallery and points a gun in my head, asking for you.” She pointed her finger at her brother. “And I know you assign someone to look after me. He’s working across the street. He’s cute, by the way.”
“Willa,” another warning came from him.
“Don’t worry. He’s too cute for my taste. I’ve learned my lesson. Does this guy look good, though? I mean, bad boys in the movies are always drop-dead gorgeous.”
Linden locked his jaw and groaned.
“So, he is, then. Does he have an Instagram?”
I laughed silently.
“What’s so funny, Estelle?” He was pissed at his sister, and I also added to his trouble.
“Your overprotectiveness doesn’t work on her anymore. Suck it up, Gabriel. But don’t worry, Willa knows her boundary, and she’s just messing with you.”
“I think I need a drink. Do you have something strong around here, Mr. Bladwyn?”
“Call me Gustav, Willa.”
“My brother is crazy.” She went to find something in the cabinet and helped herself with the whiskey.
“Easy.”
“I won’t listen to you anymore, big brother. You keep telling me to take care every time we parted ways, and I didn’t think you should tell that to yourself every time you leave your house.”
“I’m sorry, sis.”
“No. You are not.” She began crying. “You should stop what you’re doing, but nothing and no one is capable of doing even your wife. Do you know you’re also putting my niece in danger? She hasn’t been born yet. Her life is already at risk.”
I looked down because she was telling the truth.
“How many times Estelle’s life has been in danger since you married her, huh?”
“He didn’t put my life at risk, no offense, Willa. The car chase was my fault. I went behind my details. Some delinquents recognized me and chased me. You can ask Qamar. This time, I was with Dad. Tyrion was Dad’s former business partner. His son Klayton was supposed to be my husband. I was arranged to that fucker—”
“Language,” Dad reacted.
“Sorry, Dad.” I briefly looked at Dad before focusing on Willa on her second shot of whiskey. “But your brother helped me out. I couldn’t count how many times he saved my life, even if it wasn’t his job, and he would do it all over again for all of us. He saved my father, London, Jasper, and I’m sure his men can vouch for him.”
“I can’t lose him, Estelle.” She was still crying, wiping her tears from her face.
“You won’t. That’s why I’m not telling him to stop because this is what he does. He’s good at it, and he’s been doing this before I met him. He knows what he’s doing, so I trust him, and I know he will always find a way to go home to me, his family, you, the people around him, and his men. You just to believe in your heart that he’s safe wherever he goes.”
Linden got up, went to his sister, and pulled her in his arms. “I love you, sis. I promise I’ll be careful.”
“God, I hate you right now. My palm itches to slap you.”
“You may have to ask consent from my wife if you want to do that.”
“Just shut up.” Willa scoffed as she hugged her brother back.