Violetta didn’t answer.
Slater said, ‘What you say next is going to reveal to us who you are, Violetta. Choose your words carefully.’
She didn’t blink.
Instead, she looked at King.
She said, ‘Does he speak for you, too?’
King knew what it meant.
He knew their separation of business and pleasure was on the edge of a precipice.
One slight tip in the wrong direction, and it would all fall apart.
But he was not a man of compromise. He was a man of integrity, and he’d been operating with the same moral code for his entire life. The moment he gave in, even for a moment, the walls would come tumbling down. If he jumped into bed with the wrong side based entirely on his own personal attachments, that was something he might never come back from.
So, despite the potential consequences for both him and the woman he loved, he said, ‘Yes. He does.’
91
No one spoke.
Slater could see Violetta contemplating what to say next.
He got there first.
He said, ‘Don’t assume we play by the rules.’
‘I never—’
‘You did. You thought because you’re dating King you could walk in here and reprimand us for what we did. We don’t work for you or the government. We accept gigs because we want to help, and we agreed to lend our services to you with the understanding that we don’t operate within the normal parameters. We’ve spent our whole lives in this game. We know deep corruption when we see it. We handled it. And now we don’t expect anything to result from it if you want to keep this mutual partnership in place.’
She said, ‘And you shouldn’t assume I play by the rules either.’
Slater said nothing.
She said, ‘I could snap my fingers and the two of you no longer exist. I don’t care what personal ties I have to either of you. The personal side of things is a non-factor right now. Sure, you’re strong, and you’re fast, and you’re tough — but you’re just two men. I could assemble the resources of our entire government to take you out. It wouldn’t take much. Put a sniper in a building across the street and both your heads would go up in clouds when you step outside this tower. That’s what I can do. Don’t think you’re the only one showing restraint.’
‘That’s the route you want to go down?’
‘No. But if I punish you for what you did without our permission, then there’s nothing you can do to stop me.’
‘Oh, but there is,’ Slater said. ‘It’s real easy to give orders. But you’re here now, with us. You’re comfortable with the knowledge in the back of your mind that you can call for backup. But they’re not here yet, are they? You think because we know you we won’t hurt you if it comes to that?’
Violetta didn’t respond.
Slater said, ‘Your boyfriend might hesitate for obvious reasons.’
She stared at him.
Slater said, ‘But I won’t.’
She said, ‘Then let’s mutually agree that we have something to lose. If it comes to a war, none of us will make it out alive.’
Finally, King piped up. ‘Agreed.’
She looked over. ‘A war is not what I want.’
‘Nor do we.’
‘But you two have to understand that when you accept a job from us, we expect you to—’
‘That’s your mistake,’ King said. ‘You shouldn’t expect anything. It’s your choice to hire us. If we do good work, then use us again. It’s completely up to you. But we’ll never follow orders we don’t agree with. And we’ll never stop ourselves from following every operation to its natural conclusion. Whatever that entails.’
‘Whatever that entails,’ Slater said.
She didn’t say a word.
King said, ‘If you don’t like what we did, and you think we deserve punishment for it, then that makes us enemies.’
Silence.
Slater said, ‘Do you want to make us enemies?’
‘No,’ Violetta said. ‘I don’t.’
‘Do you understand why we did what we did?’
‘Yes. But that doesn’t make it right.’
‘Nothing is right. This world is dark and murky and corrupt. That’s the way it’s always going to be. If you don’t let us stand against that, then you’re no better than they are.’
‘You realise you haven’t changed a thing, right?’
They raised their eyebrows inquisitively.
She said, ‘You think modern empires fall apart just because the person at the top meets an untimely demise? Each and every one of the four people you killed will be replaced. Life will go on.’
‘Then let’s hope their successors take a closer look at their business practices,’ King said. ‘I think we delivered a fair warning.’
‘And if they don’t get the message?’
‘Then they’ll have us to answer to.’
‘You’re going to keep tabs on all the corruption in the world?’
‘We didn’t say that.’
‘You’re sure acting like it’s a possibility.’
Slater shrugged. ‘We’ll just do what we’ve
