Synarchy Book 2: The Ascension (32 page)

Understanding dawned, echoing in the
silence around them. Caleb loved those memories. They had helped
him through some of the more trying moments in his current life. He
didn’t miss Simone’s point, though. "I know what year it is. I know
what's going on here, and I know how it may end. I'm not asking you
to recreate the past, and the only thing I'm planning on in the
immediate future is keeping you safe." He closed the distance
between them and did what Simone told him he couldn't do again:
took her face between his hands and looked into her eyes. "The only
thing that is certain is this moment, right now. So, you tell me
what you want for it."

"This moment?” Simone closed her hands
over Caleb’s, pressing desperately. "Members of my family were
murdered while you and I were having a moment like this. Nothing is
certain! Any one of us could go, at any time, and I won't lose
you!" Her eyes were glassy with unshed tears, and her nails dug
into the backs of his hands. "I can't lose you," she whispered
fiercely.

Caleb felt the desperation and all of
the pent up emotion, in the dig of Simone’s nails. "Now you're
talking to me," he whispered and pressed his lips against her
forehead. He drew his hands down, so he could wrap his arms around
her and pulled her tight, resisting form against his chest. "They
would have died even if we weren't having that moment, babe. You
can't think about the what ifs. You'll drive yourself crazy. Your
job wasn't to save them. You're here to finish this, and I'm here
to keep you alive so you can. And love you, a lot, through it all.
That's it, Simone. That's it."

"They're not what ifs. They're
certainties,” Simone whispered. "This won't end well. And I can’t
do whatever is necessary if I’m standing this close to
you.”

Caleb had a feeling that he wasn’t
going to like what came next. “What are you saying,
Simone?”

Simone closed her eyes for just a
moment, calling up that famed Terenzio resolve; the kind needed to
make impossible choices. She pulled Caleb’s arms from around her as
she looked up at him. “I’m saying you’re right. I need to finish
this. And I can’t do that if we’re trying to rekindle a
relationship that has its place in the past.”

Caleb stiffened. “You think that’s all
this is?”

Simone released his hands, thickening
the veil around her eyes when she saw the emotion in his. “I’m not
her, Caleb, and you’re not him. Just because we had something once
upon a time doesn’t mean we get to have it twice.”

Caleb’s jaw tensed. “You’re not going
to blow off my feelings for you as nothing but a pretty memory of
what was, because you’re afraid of loss. I love you. You,
Simone.”

Simone struggled with a sudden knot in
her throat. She loved Caleb, too. Just him. She would have without
the memories of Kyle to lie on top of it all and sweeten the deal,
deepening her natural affection for him, but she couldn’t be
wasting hours in bed with him, or sharing a private moment when, in
sixteen days, the fate of the world would rest in her hands and her
brothers’. If she wasted time thinking of a future with Caleb,
instead of the battle—if she got her hopes up and she lost him in
that battle—what was she to do, then? What was the point of
dreaming if the end game was nothing but a field of land mines that
she or someone else in her family might willingly step on, just to
call checkmate?

She drew her arms around herself and
looked away, slowly shaking her head. “It doesn’t
matter.”

Caleb looked as if Simone had struck
him. She might as well have. He stared at her in the thick silence.
At length, he shook his head. “Fine. I’ll play it your way. Nothing
but professionalism. Excuse me, Madame President I need to go make
my rounds.”

Simone nodded mutely, watching Caleb
walk away from her. It was for the best, she assured herself. But
that didn’t make it hurt any less.

From the next room, Vasco came to stand
in the doorway, settling his gaze on his motionless sister. He had
been eavesdropping, though not intentionally. “Everything doesn’t
have to be either or.”

Simone whirled around, narrowing her
eyes “Keep your opinions on my personal life to
yourself.”

“
Redirecting your anger at
me isn’t going to make the decision you just made any less stupid,”
Vasco said quietly.

Anger Simone could do. Anger felt a lot
better than the ache in her chest, and what better target than her
big brother? “It was necessary. And you know what, Vasco, while you
were making secret decisions regarding my life, you should have
done the smart thing and kept the gag order in place.”

“
Do you remember
grandfather’s recording?” Vasco continued, as if Simone had not
just taken that shot at him. “Specifically, the part about
love?”

“
Don’t you do it. Don’t you
fucking dare lecture me about love!” Simone came at him, eyes
blazing. “You lived your last lifetime wrapped up in a cocoon of
self-loving arrogance, and you’ve spent this one pretending your
way through your existence. I don’t even think you care about
winning. All you’re doing is going through the motions. So unless
you feel something, don’t begin to think you can understand
me.”

Vasco was the expert at veiling
emotion—or had been, as Stefano Terenzio. Perhaps he was too good
at it, but Simone’s words were not completely inaccurate. “The mp3
player is in the library. You ought to listen to it again. We have
a conference call with Xavier in an hour.”

“
You listen to it. I have
work to do.” Simone strode past him.

Vasco watched her go and sighed.
Turning around, he went back into the den, sinking down in the
plush confines of the leather chair, and closed his
eyes.

§

December 5, 2012 - 11:30 AM

Alcyone Island

Phoenix Isle Detention
Center

Leone was in rough shape. For the last
three days, he had been beaten, tortured and drugged. By some
miracle, he had found the will, the strength, to not tell his
captors anything. After an hours reprieve they had literally
dragged him out of his cell and strapped him to a chair. Blood and
dirt marked his face. His right eye was swollen shut. He was so
exhausted, after being alone for about five minutes, he passed
out.

When Victoria was escorted into the
detention room and saw the condition of her husband, she gasped, a
hand flying to her mouth. “What did you do?” she
whispered.

Olivia shoved Victoria forward. “What
the fuck does it look like we did? Get him to talk.”

Victoria shot a brief glare at Olivia,
but her gaze gentled in sympathy when she looked back at Leone. She
might have had an affair, but she still cared about him. This was
cruel. She never imagined sleeping with Amadeo would lead to
something like this. She had foolishly believed that Amadeo was
just ambitious. Swallowing, Victoria slowly reached out and touched
her husband’s hand. “Leone,” she said gently.

Leone thought he was hallucinating, at
first, and didn’t open his eyes. When Victoria called his name a
second time, he slowly turned his head and looked. Shock stained
his face. “What are you doing here?”

Victoria’s eyes watered as she trailed
her gaze over his badly beaten face. Leone had been such a handsome
man. “Tell them. Please, just tell them where the triplets
are.”

Leone stared at her through the one eye
that wasn’t swollen shut. Finally, he asked, “Did you ever love me
at all?”

For a moment, Victoria felt the sharp
pangs of remorse. She slowly nodded. “Yes, yes I did.”

Leone sighed. “That’s something, I
guess.”

“
Answer the fucking
question, Leone,” Olivia’s agitated voice echoed out.

Leone continued looking at his wife,
pointedly ignoring Olivia. “Did you fuck him in our
house?”

Victoria went very still. She couldn’t
bring herself to admit to her wrong doings, even now.
“Who?”

“
Amadeo. It’s him, right?
Since you’re helping them.”

Victoria lowered her eyes and said
nothing. That was all the confirmation Leone that
needed.

“
Three out of five nights a
week.” Olivia pushed off the wall and stood behind Victoria’s
chair. “And he’s going to do it again after your dead. Which can be
a quick or slow process. It’s all up to you. Where are
they?”

Leone didn’t even bother glancing in
Olivia’s direction, just continued looking at Victoria, sadly.
“He’ll never love you. But you don’t care about that at all
anymore, do you?” He sighed again. “Do what you want to me, Olivia.
I’m not telling you a fuckin’ thing.”

Olivia’s eyes narrowed. The smile that
curled across her lips was like ice. “You know, I had a funny
feeling you’d say that.” She pulled out her gun and pressed it
against Victoria’s temple. The terror that shot across Victoria’s
face went bone deep. Tears sprang to her eyes and quickly spilled
over. “So, how about you tell me, or I’ll kill her.”

Leone’s eye shot open. “What are you
doing?”

“
Aww, you really love your
wife don’t you? This lying, cheating, whore.” Olivia grabbed a
fistful of Victoria’s long blonde hair and roughly yanked her head
back, bringing a startled cry from the woman as Olivia ran the gun
barrel down her cheek. “I bet you can’t stand to watch this? Can
you?”

Leone clenched his jaw. “How can you be
so cruel?”

“
How can you be so naïve?”
Olivia sneered, and then looked down at Victoria. “Open your mouth.
I said open your fucking mouth, bitch.”

Whimpering quietly, Victoria parted her
lips, and Olivia shoved the gun between them. “I don’t give a fuck
about you, and I really don’t care about her, so it’s nothing,
Leone, for me to kill her and let you watch her die. So, who’s got
your loyalty? The triplets, or your wife?”

Leone’s brow creased. His hands
tightened around the arm of his chair. His gaze remained glued on
the barrel of the gun in his wife’s mouth. The silence sprang up,
hot and thick. Olivia didn’t let it linger too long.

“
Guess that’s your answer,
then.” She cocked the gun, and put four out of five pounds on the
trigger.

“
Stop!” Leone jerked in the
chair, but the restraints kept him immobile. A harsh tear mixed
with the blood and grim that caked his cheek. “I don’t know where
they are. But I know a small part of what they’re going to
do.”

Olivia watched him closely. “Are you
fucking with me, Leone? Because your wife here seemed to think you
knew where they were.”

Leone shook his head. “No, no. It’s a
compound my grandfather built, and I know it’s somewhere in Africa
but what country I couldn’t tell you. Only Marcello knew that.” His
lie, he prayed, would be convincing.

That much they knew themselves. Olivia
pursed her lips thoughtfully, her grip still tight enough in
Victoria’s hair to pull a chunk of hair out by the root, the gun
still shoved in her mouth. Occasionally, Victoria would whimper
fearfully around it. “All right, Leone. What do you
know?”

“
We don’t have this
discussion until you let her go,” Leone said
determinedly.

Olivia laughed. “Not a chance. You
don’t get to negotiate.”

Leone glared. “Oh, no, I do. You need
to know something about the triplets, otherwise your employers are
going to know just how fuckin’ useless you are. And I don’t trust
you. So you either let her go, or we both die and you get shit from
me. Good luck figuring it out on your own.”

Olivia’s eyes narrowed. “You fuckin’
weasel, I’ll kill her just to—”

“
Olivia,” Amadeo’s sharp
voice echoed out.

Olivia snapped her gaze over to the
doorway where he stood. “What?”

“
Let her go.”

Olivia frowned at him. “You care about
this bitch?”

“
I care about the
information,” Amadeo snapped back at her. “Let her go.”

Olivia hesitated, but finally pulled
the gun out of Victoria’s mouth and roughly released her hair.
“Free pass, whore.”

Victoria set her tear filled eyes on
her husband. She touched his hand, a gesture that was both
apologetic and affectionate. Leone’s lips quirked into a sad smile,
and he nodded.

“
Come here Victoria,” Amadeo
ordered.

Victoria rose quickly to her feet and
obediently stood next to him. Amadeo centered his gaze on Leone.
“She leaves when you’re done. Start talking.”

§

December 10, 2012 - 10:10 PM

Denver, CO

Penthouse of Tony DeMarco

Tyranny kept a person busy. Especially
when that person was a double agent for such a regime. Tony glanced
down at his watch, sighing. He was home just to shower and shave,
and then he’d be going right back to the base.

Climbing out of the car, he popped a
piece of gum in his mouth. Gabriella had made him give up smoking.
His guardian angel, whose presence had been a wonderful, constant
light the last four months, took up her usual place underneath the
collar of his shirt, humming to him in a pitch only he could hear.
He kinda liked it. It kept him calm and clear-headed.