Synarchy Book 2: The Ascension (23 page)

“
Fine. Go hole up somewhere
and wait for instructions. You keep tabs on your crew, though.
Think you can handle that?”

“
Yes, sir.”

“
Wonderful. Now get the fuck
out.” Tony walked back over to the LCD screen, still smoking
heavily.

Caesar saluted him, and then let
himself out. An hour later, Caesar got himself into Tony’s
penthouse.

§

July 12, 2012 - 10:10 PM

Alcyone Island

The Zanzibar Beach Club

The crowd at Zanzibar was good company;
a mix of civilians, military, and Dion Corp Security. The club
itself sat on the beach just outside the official city limits,
about two miles from the residential complex. Door less, with
exposed beams that held up the thatch-covered roof, it was the
perfect spot to stop at on the way home from work. A long bar sat
on one side, a stage for the random musical acts on the other, with
chairs and tables and oddities spaced in between, like the jukebox,
a pool table (it was covered when rain was coming), and a strange
totem that looked like a cross between an eagle and a phoenix that
a crayon box had vomited on.

Coming off shift (though he left each
of the triplets with a small security detail), Caleb left his suit
jacket in the jeep, rolled up his sleeves, and headed inside the
tiki hut. He said his hellos to the regulars and landed at the bar.
Leaning into it, he scanned the selection on tap, settled for a
Heineken and pulled over a stool. Leone Vaughn, Chief of Police,
appeared at his side a few sips in.

“
Still no fuckin’ leads. Not
one.” Leone’s voice was tight with frustration.

“
Get this man something
strong, Frank,” Caleb said to the bartender, looking over at his
friend. “I read your report. You’re making some
headway.”

“
Nothing a two year old
couldn’t figure out.” Leone set his elbow on the bar and pushed his
fingers back through his hair. “The number of people who even know
Marcello Terenzio exists means it had to be an inside job. Someone
wanted something from Marcello and Demetrius. Information. And…” He
leaned closer to Caleb, speaking lowly. “…we found a bug in
Marcello’s room.”

Caleb arched a brow. “SVT
Securities?”

“
Someone there, yeah,
probably. Someone in the upper tier, too. It’s making me nervous
how deep this could go.” Leone straightened and pulled his
cigarettes out of his pocket.

Caleb took a long, thoughtful swallow
from his glass. Olivia was sloppy, leaving the device in Marcello’s
room. He hoped that Leone caught her. “How’s home life?” Caleb
asked, switching the topic to something he thought would be a
little more light-hearted.

Leone lifted his glass and nearly
swallowed his scotch and water in one gulp. “My wife is having an
affair,” he said, the lines of his richly tanned face
hardening.

Caleb almost choked on his next sip.
That was completely new news. “Victoria’s cheating on you? With
who?”

“
Don’t know, yet.” Even for
a man in law enforcement, Leone had a gentle gaze and soulful brown
eyes. But In light of current news, they got a little edgy. “But
I’m gonna find out.”

Caleb watched him, sympathetic. “How do
you know, Leo?”

“
A man knows these things,
Caleb.” Leone stared down into his glass. “If a man loves his wife,
he knows.”

“
Love is highly overrated.”
Olivia Terenzio came strolling up to the bar, sliding onto the
stool next to Caleb’s.

Caleb almost instinctively tensed, but
forced the tightness from his shoulders. He turned his head to
Olivia, and nodded politely. “Miss Terenzio.”

Leone gave Olivia a quick salute.
“Ma’am.”

Olivia rolled her eyes and waved a
dismissive hand. Her long, manicured fingers were decorated with
small stoned, flashy rings. “At ease, boys. We’re all off duty
right now. Mai Tai, Frank.”

“
I would have taken you for
a martini drinker. Frank, put Miss Terenzio’s drink on my tab.”
Leone lifted his glass in salute, finished his scotch, and pushed
off the bar. He slapped Caleb on the back of his shoulder. “Have a
good night. Ma’am.”

“
Goodnight, Leone.” Caleb
smiled at him, making a mental note to check on him at some point
tomorrow—and to let the triplets know about Victoria’s
infidelity.

“
I would rather have you buy
me a drink,” Olivia said, turning on her stool to face
Caleb.

“
Sorry to disappoint you.”
Caleb wasn’t, but he saw no sense in being rude. Yet,
anyway.

“
You know, I never
understood anyone who thought once was enough.” The curl to
Olivia’s lips turned as coy as the hooding of her eyes. “Especially
when it was so good the first time.”

Caleb stared straight ahead at the
racks of expensive bottles behind the bar. Everyone had a moment in
which they had done something they regretted. A drunken one night
stand was not an uncommon occurrence in a man’s life. Olivia had
been his. Caleb had not been aware of her loyalty issues at the
time, and Simone had just gotten married. Olivia had come onto him,
he’d been plastered and that had been that. “That’s just the booze
talking, Miss Terenzio.”

“
I’m not drunk,
yet.”

“
I meant that night.” Caleb
finally looked at her. Olivia wasn’t a dislikeable person. She had
drive, determination, and a keen intellect. She had a hell of a
temper, a foul mouth, and no liver. She was also sexy, even for a
woman of her age, witty and carried a sarcastic sense of humor, but
Caleb didn’t know what had ever made her so hard.

“
Mm. Maybe. ”Olivia took her
tall glass from the bartender, thanking him. She studied Caleb’s
profile while she stirred her straw in her glass. Her mouth slowly
curled. “Dare you to test your theory.”

Caleb slowly shook his head. He was
certain that Olivia, Amadeo, or Kayla had killed Demetrius. That
pissed him off, maybe more so than anyone else, because he had
gotten to know her. “Miss Terenzio, I will thank you, but politely
decline.”

“
Well, at least tell me who
the bitch is, so I can fight her for you.” Teasing amusement laced
Olivia’s tone.

“
There’s no one, Olivia,”
Caleb lied, motioning Frank over to refill his glass. There was
someone, but he didn’t have her. Yet.

Olivia lowered her glass and smiled.
“It’s about time you said my name.”

Caleb opened his mouth, but movement
out of the corner of his eye drew his attention away. Simone was
standing there, watching them. Watching him. She was without her
detail. She had probably lost them, or intimidated them into
getting lost. The thought made his mouth twitch in his effort not
to grin. Even if he didn’t already feel like his soul was connected
to hers, it would have been hard not to fall in love with Simone
Terenzio.

“
Well, well. Hello, Simone.
Aren’t you out past curfew?” Olivia called out.

Simone snapped her gaze toward Olivia.
It had been a long time—a very long time—since Simone felt her hair
rise. Nothing was going on, but Olivia kept looking at Caleb like
he belonged to her. And that was just pissing her right the fuck
off.

The illogic of her sudden
emotion wasn’t lost on Simone. She had no relationship with Caleb.
She could
not
have
a relationship with Caleb. She didn’t want a relationship with
Caleb, she told herself sternly. But none of those thoughts
lessened the utterly feminine, battle-ready tension in her form.
She met Caleb’s gaze across the room, steely gray locked on that
warm, amused blue. She loved his eyes. They reminded her
of…

Without another thought, she stalked to
the bar and deposited herself in the small space between Olivia and
Caleb.

Caleb drew his hand over his mouth to
hide the smile that broke free. He certainly wasn’t going to
object. His only issue was his want to slide his arm around her
waist and pull her closer. Tempering back his urges, he asked, “Can
I get you a drink, Madame President?”

“
My usual,” Simone answered
automatically, regarding Olivia.

Olivia hated Simone Terenzio. As much
as Olivia hated Simone’s brothers, though, she just might hate
Simone more. She hated everything that Simone had been spoon fed
because of whose side of the bloodline she was born; the side that
had fucked everything up. “Caleb and I were having a conversation.
Why don’t you run along and figure out how to pretend you have a
fucking clue how to run his family.”

Olivia was a traitor to her own family,
but even if that damning piece of information hadn’t been true,
Simone knew she still would not have liked her. The condescending
tone Olivia fed her, and the intimate way she said Caleb’s name,
made Simone's fingers itch to kill someone. Hell, at this point,
she would have even settled for punching that smug look right off
Olivia’s makeup-heavy face. Simone’s spine straightened, and her
eyes subtly narrowed. “Since I do run this family, I think it’s
time you started getting used to taking orders. From me. Mr.
Kincade and I have a more important matter to discuss, so you’re
dismissed. But since I know times are tough for women your age, I
can always call the Islands Brothel for you.”

It took every ounce of self-control
Olivia had to not bash her glass across the stupid bitch’s head,
and then slit her throat with the shards. They couldn’t afford
another incident, though, not with Kayla watching their movements
as closely as she was. And Simone wouldn’t be in power for long.
“You’re lucky to have Caleb watching your back, Simone. Very
lucky.” Olivia rose from her stool, meeting Caleb’s eyes over
Simone’s shoulder. “Next time, Caleb.” Taking her drink in hand,
she stalked off.

There would not be a next time, Caleb
thought, but he didn’t need to say that. He nodded politely at
Olivia, and once she was gone, looked down at Simone. “Thank you
for coming to my rescue.”

The look that Olivia had given Caleb
was tainting Simone’s victory. “You two looked cozy. I’m sorry if I
interrupted.”

Caleb opened his mouth to correct her,
but the words died before they were given a chance, because
something slowly became apparent: Simone was jealous. Jealousy
implied caring. It filled Caleb with no small sense of triumph—of
relief, really—to know that Simone was jealous. He would have liked
nothing more than for her to lay claim to him. Then, he could do
the same. He intended to, the moment Vasco lifted the gag order,
but until then, he swallowed back a flirty reply and changed the
subject. “What happened to your security detail?”

“
I sent them
home.”

“
I can’t protect you if you
won’t let me.”

“
One, it wasn’t you. Two,
I’m safe right now.”

Caleb recalled her father’s crime
scene. He reached out, touching her arm. “You might not
be.”

Simone lowered her gaze to his hand.
Slowly, she lifted her eyes back up to his. “I can handle myself,
Caleb.”

“
I know you can. But there’s
never anything wrong with an extra set of eyes, so humor me.” He
smiled faintly. “Besides, I’ve got to go away sometimes. Give you a
chance to miss me.”

Simone bit back a grin. Caleb was
flirting with her. “If by saying ‘you’ you somehow mean my
brothers, then you’re absolutely correct. Otherwise, your logic is
faulty.”

Caleb knew he had orders. Regardless,
he leaned a little closer, humor staining his eyes, hiding his
affection, “You wouldn’t miss me if I was gone?” He was leaving
himself wide open, but he couldn't resist tempting her into one of
those biting, put-you-in-your-place retorts she was good at handing
out.

She would miss him, Simone realized as
she watched him come a little closer. Her pulse sped up, just a
hair, and her eyes, of their own accord, drew down to Caleb’s
mouth. What would he do, she wondered, if she—

“
Are you fucking kidding me?
This is who I’ve gotten replaced by?” Victor demanded. He’d been
across the room, flirting with some brunette when Simone walked in.
At first, Victor had done his best to make sure Simone didn’t see
him with some other woman. Then, he had noticed the way she was
looking at Caleb, and that was fucking it. Victor rose unevenly to
his feet, knocked over his own chair, steadied himself on a beam,
and stalked towards them.

Simone’s eyes narrowed. Her fury grew
with the accusing look that Victor had the audacity to throw at
her. He had cheated on her, and now he had the fucking nerve to
cause a scene. Simone whirled around, but Caleb very subtly touched
the small of her back, stilling her as he stepped away from the bar
and put himself between her and Victor. He ran his fingers over the
lobe of his ear, activating the earpiece hidden inside. Coming back
online would indicate to the nearby SVT officers that they needed
to pay attention. “Victor, why don’t I call a car to come and get
you?”

“
Don’t I outrank you,
Rent-A-Cop?” Victor shot Caleb a dirty look, and then dragged his
eyes back to Simone. “What the hell are you doing here with him?
Didn’t you get my phone calls, my emails…” His arms flailed as his
voice rose in drunken anger. “…the fucking flowers?!”