Page 54 of Run

“Big animals,” she said softly. “Not people’s pampered pets.”

“No guinea pigs or pet rats.” He shuddered. “It was a dumb plan. Tommy would never have let me become a vet.”

She hated seeing him shrug off the dreams of his childhood. “He agreed to you studying business. You could have gotten out. Away from him, once and for all.”

“No, I couldn’t, Elle.” Marcus took another long drink, ending that line of discussion. “You know, I kept a close eye on what Tommy asked you to do when you were a kid.” He cocked his head toward Abasi. “He helped.”

Elle blinked in surprise at Abasi, who was leaning against the wall beside the kitchen area, keeping an eye on her team. “I thought you liked to talk about code.”

“Ellie,” he said with a smile, “I only understood about every tenth word that came out of your mouth. I’m just very good at acting.”

“Huh,” she said. She’d missed that entirely.

“When you were about twelve,” Marcus continued, “something changed. Tommy started looking at you differently. Took me a while to realize he was trying to figure out ways to maximize your skills for the business. Suddenly, the code you wrote and the sites you cracked weren’t only about stealing money or secrets; they were about ending people and starting wars.”

“I know,” Elle said. “I figured it out after watching the news one night.”

“I always wondered how you found out,” he muttered before taking a deep breath. “It was at that point, when the jobs Tommy gave you changed, I realized he was never going to let you go. You were worth too much to him—not only financially but also in terms of power. No secret stayed hidden when he had you; no enemy could feel safe. You were his ace in the hole, and he would have used you until there was nothing left. I knew the only way to protect you was to be on the inside, so I quit school and went to work for Tommy.” He waved his bottle at Abasi. “This idiot came with me.”

“Couldn’t let him go in there without somebody to watch his back,” Abasi said absently.

“You joined the syndicate forme?” Her stomach lurched, and the room spun. Lightheaded, she searched for an exit. Any exit. She had to get out of there. She had to get some air.

“Head between your knees,” David ordered as he gently pressed a hand to the back of her neck. “Give her a minute,” he told Marcus. “Breathe through it, Ellie Blue. It’ll pass.”

Elle felt far too disorientated to snap at him for using that nickname. All she could do was concentrate on breathing slowly while hoping her breakfast didn’t take an encore.

“She okay?” Marcus said.

“Looked like she was going to faint,” David said. “She’s done it before. It’s okay; she’ll be fine in a minute.”

Sure enough, the room stopped moving, and her stomach ceased trying to climb out of her throat. Slowly, carefully, she sat back up. Joe put a glass of orange juice in front of her before returning to stand beside the coffee machine.

Elle frowned at David as she lifted the glass. “How do you know I faint sometimes?”

“Secret stalker, remember?” Before she could tell him to back off, he retreated. But he didn’t go as far as the back door this time.

Taking a deep breath, Elle confronted her brother. “I can’t believe you joined the syndicate because of me.”

“Elle”—Marcus’ voice softened—“think about it for a second. Tommy would never have let me do anything else. He might have allowed me to study business because that would work in his favor, but he wouldn’t have let me turn my back on the family business. I was always going into the syndicate; there was never any other choice for me.”

She shook her head furiously, making herself lightheaded again. “No, we could have run away. We could—”

“Tell her,” Abasi said. “She deserves to know everything.”

Her eyes shot to her brother’s best friend. His face was blank. She turned back to her brother, aware that everyone in the room was listening to their conversation. Bearing witness to the complete and utter mess that was her life.

“Tell me what?” she asked Marcus.

He cast Abasi an angry glance before answering. “I lied to you when we were kids. I told you I didn’t know what the family business was. Truth is, I always knew. Tommy started taking me on jobs when I was barely in my teens. He was grooming me to take over from him. There was never any way out for me.”

“You knew this?” she asked Abasi.

“My dad was one of Tommy’s soldiers. I grew up in the life, just like Marcus.” He glared at her brother. “Tell her the rest, or I will.”

Elle pressed her fists into her stomach, unsure how much more truth she could take. There was a warm presence at her back, and she knew David had taken a step closer. Protecting her. Caring for her. Worrying about her.

Yeah, he really wasn’tthat into her.