I’ve never been so angry in my life.
I hate her parents. I hate the government.
I hate my fucking self.
I never should’ve brought Carly into this. The whole immigration thing was my mess to fix, my problem to get past. Dragging Carly into it only upended her life, destroyed anything she had with her parents, fucked it all up beyond recognition.
And the investigation hasn’t even gotten started in earnest. Long still hasn’t drilled her on my family history yet, and I still have to learn all her details.
There’s a lot more pain and misery coming up. This is just the start.
But I can’t handle it. I can’t, I really can’t.
The next morning, I leave earlier than normal. Carly’s finally sleeping after a fitful night.
I call Avah on the way out. “You’re up early,” she says.
“I need you to set up a meeting with Niko,” I say.
She doesn’t speak right away. “Are you sure?” she asks.
“I’m sure.” I take a breath and let it out. “You should know what I’m planning.”
“Is it going to help Carly?” she asks.
“Yes,” I say.
“Will it help you?”
“Not exactly.”
“Then I trust you to do the right thing.”
“It could hurt Bison,” I say softly.
“Fuck Bison. How much money do we really need, Davis?”
I laugh softly. “I agree.”
“I’ll set up the meeting. Later today, lunch?”
“As early as you can get him.”
“Fine. See you soon.”
I hang up the phone and head toward the office. I walk this morning, enjoying the sun slowly peeking up above the buildings. I stop and get a coffee, taking my time.
The whole way there, I’m planning. I know what I want to say, but I have to think it through. I can’t make an emotional decision, even if I am emotional right now.
I’m fucking angry. I can’t pretend like I’m not.
But I know this is the right thing. I got Carly into this mess, and it’s time to get her out of it, before we get in too deep.
By the time I reach the office, I’m resigned. And it feels fucking good.
Niko is already sitting at the table when I walk into the little corner bar he selected. It’s a decent place with that faux-industrial vibe to it that’s popular right now.
He doesn’t smile as I approach. Niko’s shorter than me with close-cropped blond hair, light blue eyes, high cheeks, a crooked nose.
“Davis,” he says.
“Niko.”
“What do you want?”
I sigh. “Can we drop the enemies act for a second and just have a drink?”
He laughs and shrugs. “Okay then. Sit down.”
I nod and sit. A waitress comes by a minute later and we both order a lager. She brings them back while we chat about our lives. Niko’s married, two kids, and he talks about them like a proud dad.
“So, I assume you didn’t bring me here just to talk about my kids,” he says once our drinks arrive.
I sip my beer. It’s cold and tastes good.
“I need you to back off.”
He raises an eyebrow. “Back off?”
“Agent Long. Immigration. I know what you’re doing.”
He smiles broadly. “I don’t know what you mean.”
“Niko.”
“I can’t control what the immigration officials decide to investigate, Davis. You know that as well as I do.”
I sigh. “Okay, fine. You don’t have to admit it. But I’m here to make a deal.”
He frowns a little. “Are you now?”
“I’m willing to give up China.”
That gets him. He looks surprised for a moment before he composes himself.
“You can’t just give me a country,” he says.
“We won’t go forward with plans to invest in their market,” I tell him. “I’ll scuttle deals, lose some money, and it’ll be all yours. I know you’re trying to get in there, too.”
He narrows his eyes. “How?”
“You know how. Look, it’s a tough market, we both know it. Bison’s been on the fence about China for a long time. But I’ll make it official and you can have it.”
He shakes his head. “No. Besides, I can’t—”
“Right, right, you can’t tell them what to investigate.” I sigh. “Okay. The whole Asian market is yours.”
That makes his eyes go wide. “Japan? Korea?”
“You,” I tell him. “All you. If you can penetrate, of course. I won’t help with that.”
He laughs softly. “I don’t need your help, Davis.”
“I’ll give up our entire Asia operation if you’ll make this go away.”
He leans back and watches me, arms crossed. I can tell he’s thinking about it, seriously considering it.
I’m offering him potentially billions of dollars in business. Without Bison as a competitor, he’ll be able to get a foothold much easier. He’ll be able to actually expand and grow.
It’ll hurt Bison, but we have other options. We can concentrate on North America and Europe and Australia, start getting into the South American markets, hell, even invest in Africa. Losing Asia won’t kill us, but it’ll hurt.
I don’t know how I can spin this to the company, but it doesn’t matter.
So long as I can have Carly, free and clear, I don’t care.
“All of Asia, and the investigation goes away,” I say softly.
“All of Asia,” he repeats. “How can I be sure?”
“If you catch a whiff of me entering that market, just start the investigation all over again.”
“And what if you try entering years from now?”
I shrug. “It’s a risk you’ll have to take. And besides, years from now will be too late and you know it.”
He nods thoughtfully. “This is a big deal. Are you sure?”
“I’m sure.”
He nods again. “Very well. She must be worth it.”
“I didn’t realize it at first, but she really is.”
He smiles and holds up his drink. “To the deal.”
“To the deal.”
We clink glasses and I feel a weight lift off my shoulders.
Niko sips his beer and stands. “Agent Long won’t bother you again,” he says. “Good luck, Davis.”
“Thank you, Niko.”
He nods and leaves, walking swiftly toward the door.
I sit there and drink my beer. I savor it, because it’s the first beer I’ve ever had as a completely free man.
Once I finish, I pay and leave. I call Avah on the way back to the house, let her know what I just did, and that I won’t be coming back in.
“All of Asia, huh?” she asks. “Did you at least offer him China first?”
“Of course. I’m not an idiot.”
She sighs. “This is gonna hurt.”
“I know. But we’ll survive.”
“We always do.” She laughs softly. “She’s a lucky girl, you know that?”
“I hope she thinks so.”
“She will. Bye, Davis.”
“Bye, Avah.”
I hang up the phone. I slip it into my pocket. I hurry back to the house.
Carly is sitting in front of the television, watching some movie and chewing her nails when I walk into the room.
She looks up. “I thought you were working?”
I shrug. “I’m done for the day.”
“Oh.” She sits up a little bit.
“Come here,” I say softly, holding out my hand.
She hesitates, but gets up. She walks over to me and takes my hand.
I pull her along behind me, leading her out the front door. We walk a block to a nearby park.
“I love this place,” I say softly. “I come here a lot when I need to think.”
“It’s cute. I love the parks in Philly.”
“I like watching the people, the families. Sometimes I wish I had that.”
“Yeah?” she asks, cocking her head.
“I did something today,” I tell her. “I solved our problem.”
She frowns a little. “Really?”
“Really. I gave something away, and now… well, we can get divorced, if you want. I’m not going to be deported.”
She’s quiet for a second. I stare at her, trying to read her expression, but it’s difficult.
Finally, she meets my gaze. “I don’t know,” she says. “I don’t know if I want to get divorced.”
I grin ear to ear. “I don’t either.”
She looks surprised. “Really?”
“Really. I’m in love with you, Carly. I made a deal with Niko to make sure I could always keep you safe.”
“Davis,” she says softly.
“Be my wife for real. We can be together, and if you want to end things, I’ll still give you the money I owe you. Every single cent, I swear.”
“Davis,” she says again.
“Just think about it. We can have fun, I mean, we can have a lot of fun, and if you can just—”
“Davis!”
I stop talking. “Yeah?”
“I love you, you idiot.”
I lean forward, take her hair, and kiss her.
I kiss her deep, full, hard. I need her, so hungry for her. I’m starving for her.
I’ve given up a lot of money, a lot of power, to have this. I don’t need her to know that. Hell, I’d rather she never found out. I don’t want her to feel guilty.
But that’s what she means to me. I love her so much, I’m willing to let Bison suffer.
I need her. I want her as my wife.
I can’t let her go, and I’m willing to sacrifice for her. I’ll sacrifice anything for her.
We break the kiss off. “I’ve been waiting for this,” she says softly.
“Me too,” I admit. “And now we can do it for real. No more Agent Long. No more problems.”
“How?” she asks.
“Don’t worry about that. Let’s just say, I made a deal.”
She sighs. “I love you, Davis.”
“I love you, too.”
We kiss one more time, and I feel complete. Finally, after all this time, I feel complete. I never knew I’d find it in her, right here, right now.
But here I am, feeling better than I ever thought I would.