Nathan's Pov (Nicholas's Brother)
"This is Nathan," I said into my earbuds my fingers flying over the keyboard as lines of encrypted data scrolled across my screens.
"Well, hello Nathan, how's life treating you?" the voice on the other end asked
"What do you have for me?" I cut in not bothering with pleasantries, I wasn't in the mood to play nice and definitely not tonight. Greg and I had landed in Istanbul a few days ago thanks to my brother's last-minute change of plans. We had been laying low or at least Greg had, I don't do "low" that word is not in my vocabulary.
They gave me everything; names, routes and contacts. The bastards thought they could go after Nicholas, they'd been poking at his empire for months, trying to make it collapse from the inside. What a bunch of Idiots. My brother's record is cleaner than a priest's Sunday sermon thanks to Ethan scrubbing it and me making sure anyone curious enough to dig deeper mysteriously lost interest.
What they didn't know was simple: you don't come for my family unless you're prepared to be six feet under before sunrise.
"Do I even want to know how you got all this?" I asked, half-grinning.
"You're not the only one with a habit of collecting secrets cupcake and like you I have friends in all the right places. So how's Istanbul treating you?" the voice teased.
"How do you know where I am?" I paused mid-keystroke.
"Because your location's compromised. You might want to wrap up playtime, sugar. You're not the only one hunting Carson. Man's got more international bounties than ex-wives. Plus he knows too much but they're not gonna find him though."
"And why's that?" I asked letting a hint of surprise creep into my voice.
"Don't play dumb, cupcake. You've got him and something tells me Nicholas wouldn't hesitate to put him down if he got the chance."
The door opened, just then Greg stepped inside carrying two steaming mugs of coffee. He set one in front of me adding a spoon of sugar and a splash of milk exactly how I like it, I gave him a nod of thanks
"Hold the line." then I tapped the pause on my earbud. Turning to Greg, I asked
"How's our guest?" He smirked faintly
"Still tied to the chair and still glaring like he thinks it's gonna kill us. The fucker tried spitting at me earlier he missed." I let out a short laugh
"he's resilient, I'll give him that"
"He's not talking though," Greg added. "Not yet, either he's trained to hold out or he's more afraid of whoever's really pulling his strings."
"Afraid or loyal?" Greg shrugged.
"Either way, he knows more than he's letting on, we'll need to push harder."
"Don't break him, Nicholas likes his toys in one piece" Greg snorted rolling his eyes before going back to cleaning shirtless. The man had an allergy to fabric and I wasn't about to complain. The view was distracting as hell his muscles cut and scarred in all the right places, his skin marked with the faint sheen of sweat.
The twin bars of silver through his nipples caught the low light and something dark and reckless in me wanted to know where else he was pierced. My gaze trailed lower without permission, following the dark trail of hair that disappeared beneath his waistband.
My pulse stuttered and I had to drag my eyes back up before I did something stupid like stare too long. Greg didn't miss much and the smirk tugging at his mouth told me he'd caught me looking.
"Enjoying the view?" he asked his voice low and I arched a brow refusing to give him the satisfaction
"I've seen better." My tone was dry, but it came out rougher than I meant a little too honest. He chuckled the sound deep and unhurried like he could taste my slip.
"Better? Now I'm insulted, want to point them out or are you too busy trying not to look again?" I let my lips twitch
"You assume I'd waste my time looking at you in the first place." Greg leaned in just slightly enough that his scent; clean sweat and aftershave hit me unsettling in how much I noticed it.
"Mhm, that cute denial looks good on you."
"Cute?" I echoed shooting him a sharp look. "Say that again and you'll regret it." His grin widened a flash of teeth
"Promises, promises." Before I could retort a beep then a in my ear cut through
"Cupcake, you need to move soon. Your locations on target"
"You don't need to tell me twice" I said as I yanked the laptop's cord free folding it into my bag with the rest of my gear.
"We need to move," I said to Greg, he nodded and zipped his pack and tucked a pistol into the back of his waistband. He slipped into his solid-color beach short sleeve shirt, and moved for the basement without another word.
"Gotta cut this short" I murmured into the earbud already slinging my bag across my shoulder as my boots hit the floor hard.
"Good luck, cupcake." Static fuzzed around the voice before it faded completely.
I took the steps two at a time the stale bite of damp concrete filling my nose. The basement was dim a single bulb casting hard shadows across the walls, Greg was already there crouched low his shirt tugging across his shoulders as he checked Carson's restraints.
His movements were quick and efficient, the picture of calm control, carson's head snapped up when he saw me. His face was a mess, a swollen eye and a split lip with dried blood under his nose.
"You piece of shit," he spat his voice hoarse. I stopped a few feet away letting the words hang in the stale air then I crouched down my forearms resting on my knees, and gave him an easy smile.
"Careful, you're in no position to start a pissing contest." Greg straightened giving the ropes one last check before hauling Carson to his feet.
"He's secure, we're good to move." Carson stumbled catching himself against the wall glaring up at me like he'd burn me alive if looks could kill. I tilted my head toward the stairs
"Time to go sunshine, hope you like road trips" Greg pushed Carson forward, the rope around his wrists doubling as a leash the man shuffled grudgingly muttering curses under his breath.
Upstairs, the safehouse was already stripped bare; anything worth taking was in our bags, I slung mine over my shoulder checking the street from the window. The night outside was alive, neon lights bounced off wet cobblestones, the faint thump of bass and the wail of strings floated on the air bleeding in from somewhere deeper in the city, the Istanbul Music Festival I'd forgotten all about it
"Perfect," I murmured. Greg followed my gaze smirking
"You're thinking the same thing I am." I nodded, the festival meant packed streets shoulder-to-shoulder crowds and enough noise to make a gunshot sound like a drumbeat, also meant more checkpoints but we'd play it right
"cover him" I said jerking my chin toward Carson, Greg yanked Carson to a stop and tugged the hood of his sweatshirt up shoving it low so his face disappeared in shadow.
"Don't need your pretty mug showing up on somebody's livestream," he muttered and Carson growled but didn't fight it probably knew it was pointless. We slipped out the back door into a narrow alley, the sound of the city swelled with every step of laughter, shouts and music rolling like a wave. Carson twisted to look at me over his shoulder
"What, taking me to see a show before you kill me?" I smiled "Depends, you like violins?" He sneered and Greg gave him a shove to keep him moving.