83. The Real Deal

[LIZZY]

It’s strange how life has a way of taking you by surprise, even though your whole life has been nothing but a buffet of hundreds of them—thousands, even.

In less than twenty-four hours, my first surprise was receiving a call from Vladimir Perazzo and his order to take the chopper he was sending and come straight to him. Vector was against it—against letting me leave alone, but after a long and heated conversation with the boss after he locked me out of his bedroom, he reluctantly agreed to let me go. I don’t know what Vladimir said to him, but it had to be a solid assurance of my safety, because nothing else could have worked on my wounded warrior.

My second surprise was seeing that the man who came to fetch me was my long-lost brother, Tony. I had so many questions when I saw him, starting with what the hell he was doing there and when, but the entire ride to god knows where was spent in painful silence. None of us said anything; we just exchanged sad and anxious glances.

And