My cheeks reddened. That made sense.
As much as it scared me to admit, I realised he was right. We'd been on the back foot for so long and we'd stay there, unless we took a chance. This might be our last opportunity. But, beyond that, I was sick of running, sick of being hunted. If I was going to be put in danger again, I wanted it to be on my terms.
"Okay, if you think we can pull it off, then I'm sold," I said. "But don't think for one second that just because you kept saying 'I' while I was saying 'we' that you're going in there alone."
His expression hardened. "There's no need for both of us to take the risk. I'm not going to let you put yourself in danger because of my mistakes anymore."
"Well I'm not letting you walk into that death trap by yourself," I countered. "You think it's any easier for me seeing you put yourself at risk? If you went in there and didn't come out, it would rip me open knowing that I might have be able to do something. I may not have much experience with this sort of thing, but last time shit hit the fan, I stepped up. Maybe I can be useful again." It amazed me how easily I was able to talk about that incident. Maybe I really was becoming desensitised.
I put a hand on his knee. "We're in this together, Sebastian. Whatever happens."
He stared at me for a full ten seconds, somehow managing to look touched yet incredibly anxious. Eventually, though, he broke into a sad little smile. "Together it is, then," he said softly, reaching out to squeeze my hand. And somehow it felt like an incredibly tender moment, instead of an insane suicide pact. Yep, definitely desensitised.
Joe arrived a short time later and we went out for breakfast to discuss everything. He sat, wearing an unreadable expression, while Sebastian recounted everything that had happened so far. He'd heard the short version, but now he was getting the gory details.
"If you have any other suggestions, I'm all ears," said Sebastian, when the story was over.
Joe pondered. He didn't even look surprised. "Nothing springs to mind," he said eventually. "Whoever this is, they're not making many mistakes. When I looked through our system, I couldn't find any loose ends. According to the database, nobody besides you and your team swiped into your Alpha house. They cleared everything. If we don't take this chance, we might not get another."
A scary thought suddenly occurred to me. "If you were using the Alpha system," I said to Joe, "doesn't that mean they could have tracked you somehow? Maybe picked up your trail?"
Joe smiled. "I wouldn't worry about that. I've got a few tricks up my sleeve."
I shot a questioning look at Sebastian, but he just shrugged. He certainly didn't seem concerned, so I let the issue drop.
He scooped up his coffee and threw back the last sip. "Well, there's no time like the present." Reaching into his pocket, he removed his phone and tapped the screen several times before lifting it to his ear.
"Hi. My name is Sebastian. Your boss and I have unfinished business. Tell him I will give him a million dollars for five minutes of his time."
* * * * *
Everyone stayed silent on the trip to see Anton. Sebastian's million dollar offer had apparently been enough to buy us entry, but what would happen beyond that was anyone's guess. The closer we drew, the more heavy my stomach felt. I knew I wanted this, to be proactive and take matters into my own hands, but that didn't change the fact that we were driving straight into the lair of a man who, only two days ago, had been trying to kill us. When my brain phrased it like that, it just seemed like a really, really bad idea.
For his part, Sebastian wore a look of grim determination. That comforted me a little. To anyone who was paying attention it said 'fuck with me and you'll regret it,' and I hoped Anton would get the message. I suspected we'd need every little edge we could get.
We were meeting him in the back room of a Kings Cross strip club, which he undoubtedly owned. I'd never really spent much time in the Cross. It's as close to a red light district as Sydney has, and thus the people there are most certainly not my sort of crowd. Between the metric fuckton of makeup that made all the women look like drug addicted clowns and the rather scandalous skin to clothes ratio on display, whenever I visited I wound up feeling trashier just by proximity.
The sight outside the window was no different than I remembered. Even on a weeknight, the main strip was seething with neon light and fake tan. We pulled up outside the club. We'd hired a limo and made a big point of being seen stepping out of it by the two bodybuilders, with sleeve tattoos and steely expressions, who stood guard out front. For appearances, Joe was once again relegated to the role of driver. We had to look calm, in control, and dangerous, rather than desperate and out of options.
"You ready for this?" asked Sebastian.
I took a deep breath. "As ready as I'm going to be."
"Good." He shot me a reassuring smile. "And don't worry, we'll be fine."
I nodded, trying to let some of that confidence seep into my skin.
The men looked us up and down as we approached. They were both as tall as Sebastian, but much wider, which made them incredibly intimidating, by any standards. They looked like someone had taken two plastic bags and crammed them full of walnuts. The larger of them smirked as his eyes rolled over my body, which gave me the sudden urge to go home and take a long shower, but that leer fell away once he turned to Sebastian. My partner was practically radiating danger now, and it was enough to make even these guys pause.
"My name is Sebastian and this is Sophia. We're here to see Anton." His voice betrayed no emotion. 'Just business as usual,' it said.
"Who is Anton?" said giant number one, a look of mock confusion appearing on his face. "I think you must have the wrong place, my friend."
Sebastian didn't even miss a beat. "I don't have time to play games. You know as well as I do that your boss is expecting us."
The man glanced at his partner, who gave a little nod and disappeared upstairs.
The first guy stared daggers at us for several seconds. Apparently he didn't like having his little power trip interrupted.
"I need to search you," he said.
"We're not stupid enough to be carrying here," Sebastian replied.
The guy shrugged. "Then you've got nothing to worry about."
Sebastian waited a few beats then gave a curt nod and stretched his arms out to the sides, gritting his teeth while the guard patted him from head to toe. He wasn't gentle. He almost looked disappointed when he came up empty-handed.
"They'll probably check for these," Sebastian had said to me earlier, nodding towards our guns. "I'd never get one past them, but you just might. Most men struggle to see women as a threat. They never check as carefully."