Chapter 5 - The Woman They Thought Was His WeaknessAt 6:30 the next morning, Declan arrived at Audrey’s apartment with Gideon.
He did not bring an army.
That was progress.
Audrey opened the door wearing jeans, a black sweater, and an expression that told both men she had no intention of behaving like a frightened civilian.
Gideon looked at Declan.
Declan looked at Audrey.
Audrey looked at both of them.
“No.”
Declan frowned.
“I haven’t said anything.”
“You were about to tell me I’m moving.”
“Yes.”
“No.”
“Audrey.”
“No.”
Gideon cleared his throat.
Declan turned toward him.
“What?”
“I’ll wait downstairs.”
“Coward,” Audrey said.
Gideon nodded.
“Absolutely.”
He disappeared.
Declan entered.
Audrey shut the door.
“You cannot stay here.”
“I can.”
“Sloane knows the building.”
“Then changing locations tells him he successfully scared us.”
“This isn’t about pride.”
“Exactly.”
Declan’s voice rose.
“This is about keeping you alive.”
“And I’m telling you I will participate in that decision.”
“You’re being unreasonable.”
Audrey laughed.
“Do you hear yourself?”
“Yes.”
“Apparently not.”
Declan paced toward the window.
He had not slept.
There was soot on the cuff of his shirt.
A small cut crossed his left cheek.
Audrey noticed.
“What happened to your face?”
“Nothing.”
“No lies.”
“A beam fell.”
“You were inside the warehouse?”
“One of my men was trapped.”
“And?”
“I pulled him out.”
Audrey stared at him.
“Is he alive?”
“Yes.”
“The dead man?”
“Thomas Bell.”
Declan looked toward the window.
“Fifty-one.”
“Worked for me seventeen years.”
“Wife.”
“Two daughters.”
The anger drained from Audrey.
“I’m sorry.”
Declan said nothing.
“Did you know him well?”
“I knew his employee number.”
That answer seemed to disgust him.
“I knew he preferred the night shift.”
“I knew he was reliable.”
“I did not know his daughters’ names until Gideon told me this morning.”
Audrey walked closer.
“Emily and Kate.”
Declan looked at her.
“How do you know?”
“I handled the company Christmas list.”
Of course she did.
Audrey remembered everyone.
Declan looked away.
“His wife will receive enough money that she never has to work again.”
“That helps.”
“It doesn’t bring him back.”
“No.”
The old Declan would have treated Thomas Bell as a cost.
A line on a ledger.
This Declan was beginning to understand that a ledger contained human beings.
Audrey touched the cut on his cheek.
He went still.
“You’re bleeding.”
“I’ve had worse.”
“I know.”
Her thumb moved carefully beneath the cut.
“That isn’t something to be proud of.”
He caught her wrist.
Not hard.
Just enough to hold her hand against his face.
“I want you somewhere secure.”
Audrey sighed.
“What are the options?”
Declan blinked.
“You’re asking?”
“I said we decide together.”
He released her wrist.
“I own a house outside the city.”
“Absolutely not.”
“You haven’t heard anything about it.”
“It’s your fortress.”
“It has walls.”
“No.”
“Security.”
“No.”
“Bullet-resistant windows.”
“Very romantic.”
“Audrey.”
“Other options.”
Declan thought.
“Hotel.”
“Too public.”
“Gideon’s apartment.”
“I would rather take my chances with the assassin.”
Declan almost smiled.
“Mercer Holdings.”
Audrey stared at him.
“The forty-second floor?”
“Yes.”
“No.”
“It’s secure.”
“It’s a glass cage.”
The words stopped him.
Audrey watched his expression.
He understood.
“Then here.”
She blinked.
“What?”
“I stay here.”
“In my apartment?”
“Yes.”
“You have an empire.”
“It can survive.”
“Can it?”
“No.”
That earned a reluctant smile.
Declan continued.
“But Gideon can manage it.”
Audrey considered.
“If you stay, you follow my rules.”
“I know.”
“No men outside my door.”
“One in the lobby.”
“Declan.”
“One.”
She sighed.
“Fine.”
“And cameras.”
“No.”
“In the stairwell.”
“Existing cameras only.”
“Agreed.”
“No cameras inside.”
He looked offended.
“I wasn’t suggesting—”
“You once asked to inspect my phone because I smiled.”
“Fair.”
Audrey nodded.
“Then you stay.”
For the next three days, the most feared man in the city lived inside a seven-hundred-square-foot apartment.
It was catastrophic.
Declan hated Audrey’s shower pressure.
He hated her mattress.
He hated the upstairs neighbor who practiced drums at midnight.
He particularly hated the refrigerator.
“There is nothing in here.”
“There is food.”
“There are six strawberries, mustard, and something in a plastic container that may have achieved consciousness.”
“It’s soup.”
“It moved.”
Audrey pushed him aside.
“You are spoiled.”
“I employ a chef.”
“You are proving my point.”
On the second evening, Declan attempted to cook.
He burned pasta.
Audrey stared at the blackened pot.
“How?”
“I was on a call.”
“For twenty-three minutes?”
“It was complicated.”
“Water evaporates, Declan.”
“I’m aware now.”
She laughed until tears appeared.
Declan leaned against the counter and watched her.
This time, Audrey did not tell him to stop.
For a few minutes, there was no Sloane.
No empire.
No blood.
Just burned pasta.
Then the phone rang.
Gideon.
Declan answered.
His expression changed.
Audrey knew immediately.
“What?”
Declan put the call on speaker.
Gideon’s voice filled the kitchen.
“Sloane contacted us.”
“What does he want?” Audrey asked.
Gideon paused.
Apparently still adjusting to the fact that Audrey was now included.
“He wants a meeting.”
“With Declan?”
“With both of you.”
Silence.
Declan said one word.
“No.”
Audrey looked at him.
“You don’t decide that.”
“Yes, I do.”
“Apparently our three-day experiment with equality has ended.”
“Sloane is not Brody.”
“I understand.”
“No, you don’t.”
Declan crossed the kitchen.
“Sloane is patient.”
“He enjoys hurting people slowly.”
“He will look at you and see a weapon he can use against me.”
Audrey’s eyes narrowed.
“Maybe that’s useful.”
Declan stopped.
“What?”
“He thinks I’m your weakness.”
“You are.”
The immediate answer surprised them both.
Audrey’s expression softened.
Declan did not retract it.
“You are the one thing I cannot approach rationally.”
“Which means he expects you to behave irrationally.”
Declan understood.
Audrey continued.
“What exactly did he ask for?”
Gideon answered.
“Dinner.”
Audrey almost laughed.
“Dinner?”
“Tomorrow.”
“Neutral location.”
“Restaurant called Saint Vincent.”
Declan knew it.
“Private dining room.”
Gideon confirmed.
“Yes.”
Audrey looked at Declan.
“We go.”
“No.”
“We go.”
“No.”
“Would he expect you to refuse?”
“Yes.”
“Would he expect you to threaten him?”
“Yes.”
“Would he expect you to hide me?”
Declan said nothing.
Audrey smiled.
“Then we do the opposite.”
The following evening, Audrey wore red.
Not because Declan chose it.
Because she did.
The dress had cost eighty dollars.
She had bought it that afternoon with money she had earned at the antique shop.
Her money.
Her decision.
Her armor.
Declan stood outside her bedroom when she emerged.
He forgot whatever he intended to say.
Audrey noticed.
“That bad?”
“No.”
His voice was rough.
“That is definitely not the word.”
She adjusted an earring.
“Remember something tonight.”
“What?”
“I’m not your hostage.”
“I know.”
“I’m not your employee.”
“I know.”
“And I’m not bait.”
Declan’s eyes hardened.
“I know.”
“We walk in together.”
“Together.”
Saint Vincent occupied the top floor of an old hotel.
The private dining room had one table.
Victor Sloane was already seated.
He was younger than Audrey expected.
Perhaps forty-five.
Silver at the temples.
Elegant.
Relaxed.
The kind of man who did not need to display violence because everyone in the room already knew he possessed it.
Two guards stood behind him.
Gideon remained outside.
Audrey had insisted.
Sloane rose.
“Miss Collins.”
“Mr. Sloane.”
His smile widened.
“You’re prettier than the photographs.”
Declan moved half a step.
Audrey touched his wrist.
Not to seek protection.
To stop him.
Sloane noticed.
His smile widened further.
“Remarkable.”
“What is?” Audrey asked.
“You.”
Sloane sat.
They joined him.
“You managed something no one else could.”
“What?”
“You put a leash on Declan Mercer.”
Declan’s eyes became ice.
Audrey took a sip of water.
“No.”
She placed the glass down.
“I removed one.”
Sloane studied her.
The answer interested him.
Dinner arrived.
No one ate.
Sloane finally leaned back.
“I want the eastern docks.”
“No,” Declan said.
Sloane ignored him.
He looked at Audrey.
“You understand business.”
“I understand extortion.”
“Same family.”
“No.”
Audrey smiled faintly.
“Business creates value.”
“Extortion steals it.”
Sloane laughed.
“I see why he likes you.”
Declan remained silent.
That took effort.
Sloane continued.
“Declan is becoming sentimental.”
“He shut down profitable operations.”
“He released contracts.”
“He stopped collecting protection.”
“He thinks he can become respectable.”
Audrey looked at Declan.
Then back at Sloane.
“What does that have to do with me?”
“You’re the reason.”
“Maybe.”
Sloane raised an eyebrow.
“But you made a mistake.”
Audrey leaned forward.
“You think that makes me responsible for his choices.”
“It doesn’t.”
“He changed them.”
“He owns them.”
“If you have a problem with his decisions, discuss them with him.”
Sloane’s amusement faded.
Audrey continued.
“And if you photographed me because you thought threatening me would restore the version of Declan you prefer, you miscalculated.”
Sloane’s gaze sharpened.
“How?”
“Because the old Declan would have killed you already.”
Silence.
Audrey smiled.
“The new one is sitting here.”
“Talking.”
“Negotiating.”
“That should worry you more.”
For the first time, Victor Sloane stopped smiling.
Declan looked at Audrey.
He understood what she was doing.
She was not making him weaker.
She was demonstrating discipline.
Sloane leaned forward.
“You think love civilizes men like us?”
Audrey answered carefully.
“I think choice reveals them.”
Sloane’s eyes shifted toward Declan.
“And what happens when he chooses wrong?”
“Then I leave.”
Declan’s face tightened.
Audrey did not soften the answer.
“That’s the difference between what you think I am and what I actually am.”
“You think I’m his weakness because he can’t afford to lose me.”
She shook her head.
“I can leave whenever I want.”
“He knows that.”
“That’s why he has to control himself.”
Sloane stared at her.
Then he began laughing.
Not mockingly.
Almost appreciatively.
“You are dangerous.”
“No.”
Audrey picked up her purse.
“I’m free.”
She stood.
Declan followed.
Sloane remained seated.
“You haven’t heard my offer.”
Declan finally spoke.
“We didn’t come for your offer.”
“Then why did you come?”
Declan looked at Audrey.
Then at Sloane.
“To tell you she is not part of the negotiation.”
Sloane’s smile disappeared.
Declan’s voice remained calm.
“You want docks?”
“Talk to me.”
“You want money?”
“Talk to me.”
“You want war?”
“Talk to me.”
“But if you photograph her again, follow her again, or say her name to one of your men, there will be no negotiation.”
Audrey glanced at him.
“No threats.”
“That was information.”
“Borderline.”
Sloane laughed again.
They left.
Inside the elevator, Declan exhaled.
Audrey looked at him.
“You did well.”
“I wanted to put his head through the table.”
“I know.”
“I imagined it in considerable detail.”
“Progress comes in small steps.”
The elevator descended.
Declan turned toward her.
“You meant what you said.”
“About what?”
“Leaving.”
Audrey met his eyes.
“Yes.”
Pain moved across his face.
She stepped closer.
“That is why this matters.”
“What?”
“I stay because I can leave.”
Declan stared at her.
Then Audrey took his hand.
His fingers closed around hers.
Not tightly.
Not possessively.
Just enough.
The elevator reached the lobby.
The doors opened.
Gideon was waiting.
His expression was wrong.
Declan saw it immediately.
“What?”
Gideon held out a phone.
“There was another attack.”
“Where?”
“The care facility.”
Audrey stopped breathing.
Declan grabbed the phone.
Gideon spoke quickly.
“No casualties.”
“Security intercepted two men outside.”
Audrey’s knees weakened.
“My father?”
“Safe.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes.”
Audrey closed her eyes.
Declan turned toward the hotel entrance.
Murder entered his face.
Audrey saw it.
The old Declan.
The weapon.
The man who solved fear with blood.
She grabbed his hand.
“Declan.”
He looked at her.
“He went after my father.”
“I know.”
“I’m going to kill him.”
“No.”
“He went after your father.”
“I know.”
His breathing became heavy.
Audrey stepped directly in front of him.
“This is the moment.”
“What?”
“The one that decides whether any of this was real.”
Declan stared.
Audrey’s eyes filled with tears.
“I want Sloane punished.”
“So do I.”
“I want him stopped.”
“So do I.”
“But if you murder him because you love me, then eventually your violence becomes something I’m expected to forgive because it was done in my name.”
Declan said nothing.
“I won’t live like that.”
His jaw trembled.
“What do you want me to do?”
Audrey looked at Gideon.
Then at Declan.
“You have records.”
“Shipping manifests.”
“Payments.”
“Names.”
“Yes.”
“Enough to destroy Sloane legally?”
Declan understood.
His expression changed.
“That would expose parts of my organization.”
“Yes.”
“I could lose everything.”
Audrey held his gaze.
“Maybe that’s the price.”
Declan stared at the woman he loved.
Behind her stood the doors to the city he had ruled through fear.
Ahead of him was a choice.
Keep the empire.
Or become the man he claimed he wanted to be.
He took Gideon’s phone.
“Call the federal prosecutor.”
Gideon blinked.
“Which one?”
“The one I’ve been bribing for nine years.”
Audrey stared.
May you like
Declan looked at her.
“I told you civilization was complicated.”
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