38. Undercover

~Kaeden POV~

"How do we know if he'll show and not the cops?"

Vahn asks as we lean against the marble arch in our suits with the empty briefcase in hand.

"He'll show," I mutter, annoyed by his dark clouds of doubts as I bury my hands in my pockets.

"If he doesn't show in five minutes then we'll go home," I add which seems to alleviate some of his stress for now.

"Why do you think they took Fin and Mari but not you?" He continues on with the stupid questions and I give him a look to shut up already. I don't like to think of my poor Fin strung up somewhere as nothing but another pawn to the prime minister.

"He's a bargaining chip. The riots are destroying more and more of London each day. It's only a matter of time before we crumble. If I step up as a leader, he's going down and he knows it. So he's using Fin to either stop me or buy himself time," I explain, adjusting my sunglasses and fixing my beanie to cover my new hairstyle.

"But-"

"Vahn, I don't want to think about it, never mind talk about it. The only thing that matters is getting them back alive." I snap and he quickly falls back.

The guilt starts to work its way in quickly after and I let out a long sigh.

"I'm sorry, I'm just on edge is all," I apologize and he nods in understanding.

"Of course, we all are. I'm sorry for asking. I'm just worried about Noell is all, they're like a little sibling to me you know and we're about to go into this gala on the offense with guns blazing. And I don't like the fact that Noell is going to be distracting Giani. I have a bad feeling about this," he admits and I see our contact approaching from the tube.

"We'll have eyes everywhere, they won't be alone," Is all I say about the subject before Danny Withers comes within earshot. He clings to the suitcase and walks up to us. He opens his arms and wraps them around my shoulders.

"Kaeden, oh my sweet boy, thank you for calling," he kisses both my cheeks and we exchange cases.

"Thank you for helping our cause," I pat him on the back and he pulls away, holding my shoulders tight with his large hands.

"For Petunia," he whispers before leaving in the opposite direction as I pick up the new suitcase with an added 30lbs. Vahn follows behind me and we walk back towards our new safe house.

"Who was that?" He asks once the crowds seem to disperse on an empty side street.

"That was Petunia's father. He was one of the police officers at the barricade the day his daughter..." I couldn't bring myself to finish the sentence as the memory of the little girl's innocent blood shed dripping on my hands floods my thoughts.

"You trusted a police officer?" Vahn nearly chokes on air and I stop on the sidewalk to face him.

"No, I trust the man whose daughter became the first casualty in a civil war that never should have happened,"

***

Noell runs her finger along the edge of her sharpened knife before using it as a pointer to mark the first location on our paper blueprints of the ballroom where the gala would be held that night. She sits on the kitchen counter and pushes her blonde hair behind her ear, dressed up, unrecognizable, and ready to fight.

"Look, we just need to lead Giani to the roof, he'll make the negotiations with Kae Kae, we'll find Fin and Mari, then I'll dispose of him," She giggles, popping her gum as she explained the end of our plan, sticking her knife in the blueprint when she finished, disturbing all of us from our distanced preparation.

Vahn shifts on his feet with an uncomfortable glare of disapproval but she ignores him, lifting the skirt of her dress to tuck her knife into the black lace holster on her thigh.

"I don't like the look on her face," Sonya hints as I stand back with Jamie, listening to her words as I loaded my handgun of choice, tucking into my waistband.

"I don't either. I already told Maisie to keep an eye on her," I whisper and Sonya nods, helping me tie my apron around my waist.

"You'd make such a cute waiter, it's too bad you're an assassin instead," she sighs and I gently elbow her in the side of her gorgeous black dress, ready for tonight.

"You look stunning tonight Sonya," I compliment her and she rolls her eyes, flicking my cheek.

"Thank you Kaeden." She giggles and ruffled my dark violet hair, "Now let's get your man back,"