The Thief and the Globetrotter

Chapter Twenty-Seven: The Hostage

Cheng ground his teeth, mulling over the consequences of letting Sébastien go. It wasn't his idea in the first place. Rei knew her brother well enough to know he was not a criminal mastermind. That didn't mean she forgave him for his poor judgment.

"Cheng, you can't—" Jasper tried again, a sharp glare from Cheng once again interrupting the thought.

"What's worse? Letting Sébastien off the hook or letting me control majority share?" Rei's heart quickened with the false threat. There was no chance of Rei controlling majority, not after she set her stock broker to the task of selling her right out of the company.

"Or," Gwen said, "you could shoot him."

Reactions varied wildly, from Sébastien's alarm to Cheng's disgust. Jasper appeared a touch too keen.

The conversation was beginning to feel much more like a dream. It couldn't be real day Rei was experiencing. How could she go from waking up next to Sébastien to giving up a sizable portion of her wealth, saying a final goodbye to her closest mentor, and somehow end up in the back of a car where Gwen casually suggested shooting someone?

"No one is getting shot," Cheng said firmly.

"Thank you," Sébastien piped in, the first thing he'd said the whole ride.

Rei chewed her lip, waiting for Cheng's final verdict. Of all the people in the car, Rei was surprisingly glad for Cheng's control. At least his values were predictable. Vengeance was too unstable, too desperate. Her brother mediated Gwen's hatred and Jasper's spite.

"Fine," Cheng said, finally.

"But—"

Cheng's hand went up to silence Jasper's protest. "Do it."

Rei dared to catch Sébastien's eye, his face full of a tentative kind of hope. It was too early to be certain, but one could dare wish for resolution.

It was the least Rei could do. It was the best she could do to show him she was sorry.

Jasper fumbled over a tablet, Cheng observing over his shoulder. His stormy eyes flicked up to Sébastien, holding an assessing stare.

"He doesn't look like he's worth millions in assets," Cheng said.

The way Sébastien's eyes widened, brown and disarmingly innocent, implied his agreement and Rei shrugged helplessly in response. He was a symbol of something better that she wanted for herself and all she had was money. If she had something else to give him, she would give it.

Angelo called her the voice of fairness and justice in his letter, the one that accompanied the will, his safety deposit box key, and the heirloom necklace. Surely, this wasn't precisely what Angelo had in mind, but was it along the right lines?

Wait. Outside the window, the world moved around them, but they were having more than just a moving business meeting. They were going somewhere and Rei realized where and paled. The financial district flashed by. Rei easily recognized the arcades held up by marble pillars, the lavish exteriors housing upgraded versions of the banks they had always held. She couldn't mistake the landmarks because she had already visited their destination, somewhere in the time between receiving Angelo's letter and the fundraiser party.

Rei glanced at Gwen, her face obscured by the usual mask of her performance. Seeing Gwen's fury quietly simmering under her skin only made it more obvious that Gwen was almost always performing. Rei knew that better than anyone else, having seen both sides of that coin. Rei also knew better than anyone that Gwen without that buffer of distant charm, that apathetic dazzle, she was more dangerous. Like a cat, she graced others with affection on her terms and everyone around her ate up that attention. Like a cat, when hurt, she was temperamental and unpredictable and undoubtedly ready to bite.