Synarchy Book 2: The Ascension (21 page)

Lucien grunted, breathing heavily. “I
know everybody on Lil’s side of the family is angry, but I would
have thought Kyle’s genes would soften you up a bit.”

Christopher smirked. “That’s a common
misconception people had about my dad. He loved a good fight just
as much as mom did. He was just a lot more subtle about it. Trust
me, you didn’t want to piss off my father, or my mother.
Period.”

“
And now you make sense.”
Lucien chuckled.

Christopher ducked under the ropes and
had one of the uniforms help him with his gloves. “I want you to
report to the army’s training facility tomorrow
morning.”

Lucien followed him and quirked a brow.
“Why?”

“
Because you’re the point
man on an important assignment, Lucien, and you’re lazy and out of
shape,” Christopher said, reaching up to pull off his own
helmet.

Lucien frowned. “I am not.”

Christopher eyeballed him. “You just
got beat by a seventy year old man.”

“
That doesn’t
count.”

“
Hey.” Christopher walked
into him and grabbed him by the front of his sweat-soaked shirt,
giving him a hard shake. “Get serious. I know you thought, once
upon a time, that you were going to skate by with a cushy corporate
job, liquor, and women, but the plans have changed.” He lowered his
voice. “Out of everyone’s jobs, yours is the most important. And
you will not fuck it up.”

Lucien’s jaw tensed. “I’m getting real
tired of holding the title of Family Fuck Up I don’t deserve
it.”

“
You don’t deserve much
else, either, and you know that. Time to earn a few things.”
Christopher released him, slapping his cheek.

Lucien pursed his lips together. “You
ever remember your past lives?”

Christopher shook his head.
“No.”

Lucien took a hand towel from one of
the ring assistants, then sat down on the edge of the ring. “I used
to be able to balance things out pretty well when I was Julian.
Wake up with a different woman every morning, go out and make my
family a shit load of money, handle it, party half the night away,
and do it again the next day. Then Stefano died and everything
changed.”

Christopher sat down next to him. “As
I’ve heard the story, a lot of things changed when Stefano
died.”

“
I don’t know if it was
things so much as it was us.” Lucien twisted the towel in his
hands. “Lil was so different after that. So was Carissa. And it
wasn’t just the shock that he was dead. I think we thought that
bastard would never die. But learning what he was doing, how big it
was, what he was willing to sacrifice even if it was partly for
ego…” Lucien just shook his head. “It was crazy.”

Christopher canted his head. “How do
you feel about it now?”

Lucien’s brows pinched. “I think I joke
around so much because when I stop and think about it all, I don’t
know if I’m doing it for the right reasons. What’s the difference
between us and the Brotherhood most days? Aren’t we just playing
King of the Hill, trying to kick the other guy off? Wouldn’t the
world look just like this if we were sitting on top of
it?”

“
Lucien…” Christopher put
his hand on Lucien’s shoulder. “Right or wrong, you know it has to
be done, and that’s saying something. We didn’t have to go this
route. We could be siding with Olivia and the rest of them, working
it from the inside to land our spot at the table of Thirteen. We
chose
choice
over
everything else, and that’s what makes us different. If we were
sitting on top of the world, I think humanity would still have that
option.” Amusement passed over Christopher face. “Even if it’s
because we’d be bored if they didn’t have a choice. But so
what?”

Lucien chuckled. “Yeah, yeah you make a
point.” He was quietly thoughtful for a moment. “Granddad said we
needed to love the world we were saving. I don’t know if I
do.”

“
Do you love your
family?”

Lucien nodded. “Without question. Even
those two fucking morons that jumped ship. ”That Amadeo and Olivia
were working with the Brotherhood still made Lucien so angry that
he could barely see straight.

“
Then, just maybe, that will
be enough.” Christopher slapped him on the back. “That and my
General foot in your ass.”

Lucien smirked. “What time tomorrow
morning?”

“
You will be rudely roused
from your home at 4:30 am.” Christopher hopped to his
feet

Lucien resisted the urge to groan.
“People function at 4:30?”

“
It will continue until I am
satisfied you are adequately prepared to accomplish your mission.”
Christopher set the towel around his neck, loosely gripping both
sides.

That was going to be rough. Lucien knew
better than to argue, though, and Uncle Christopher had a solid
point. If he failed, everything failed, and while they seemed to
have the upper hand right now, that could all change. Drawing up
straight, he gave Uncle Christopher a sharp salute. “Sir, yes,
sir.”

Christopher playfully narrowed his
eyes, and both of their cell phones vibrated. Lucien saw the
message first and whistled. “Important meeting in the conference
room. Think that means good or bad news?”

“
The way this family works,
probably both.”

Chapter 11

"The Light cannot exist alone: it is IN
Darkness, within the Darkness from whence it came and into which it
returns."

-Tani Jantsang

July 10, 2012 - 1:01 PM

Alcyone Island

Dion Corporation
Headquarters

Hi Dad.” Agata stood, walking around
her desk to kiss her father’s cheek.

Unlike Nicholas, Agata was not a
disappointment. She was not as strong as Dominic would have liked
her to be, but Dominic blamed most of that on her mother’s genes.
Smiling warmly, he gave her a quick hug. “Do you have time for
lunch?”

“
Absolutely. I have to run a
file Lucien wanted on SVT Securities up to his office and jump on a
quick conference call with HR in five minutes, but it shouldn’t
take long. Can you wait?”

“
Of course I can.” Dominic
dropped his gaze to the file folder in her hand. “Why don’t I take
that up to Lucien’s office for you?”

“
Would you? Thanks.” She
kissed his cheek again and handed him in the manila
folder.

“
I’ll be right back.”
Smiling, Dominic stepped out into the hallway. Opportunities to
learn more about one’s enemy should never be wasted. Walking over
to the elevators, he pulled out his cell phone and called the main
office number. “Yes, is Lucien in his office? No, don’t pull him
out of his meeting, I’ll call back. Thank you.” Dominic hung up his
phone, stepped into the elevator and pressed the appropriate floor
number.

As he expected, when he got
off the elevator, he saw that the blinds were closed on the
conference room windows. Mindful of the cameras in the hallway, he
walked nonchalantly to Lucien’s office door and knocked once. Then,
he tried the knob. He restrained a smile when he found it
unlocked.
Typical Lucien, careless to a
fault
, Dominic thought.

He stepped inside, leaving the door
cracked so he could hear approaching footsteps. Dropping the file
folder onto Lucien’s desk, Dominic moved behind it and stood in
front of Lucien’s laptop. He pushed the mouse, removing the screen
saver and prompting the login to appear, asking him for a password.
From the inside of his suit jacket, Dominic pulled out what
appeared to be a simple USB drive and stuck it into the side of
Lucien’s machine. While he was waiting for the program to crack the
code, he riffled through Lucien’s desk. Dominic was not surprised
to find nothing of importance. It took the hacking program a minute
and thirty seconds to crack Lucien’s password. The wait was well
worth the information that appeared on the LCD screen. It was a
scanned PDF, and the bold header at the top drew Dominic’s eyes
immediately.

Project
Mannequin.

He quickly skimmed the document, though
he didn’t have to go far. The first paragraph discussed patient
#666, Kayla Terenzio.

“
They know,” Dominic
whispered. How much else did they know? More importantly, how did
they know? Frowning heavily, Dominic grabbed the mouse and brought
up the screen behind the PDF. The SVT Database search result screen
appeared, and Dominic caught his breath. It showed a brief summary
of where the file Lucien had been reading came from.

The following documents were
secured from Joseph Mengele’s home office June 26, 1974.

“
How in the world….” Dominic
whispered again. He jerked his head up, when the low tones of a
voice approaching from the hall caught his attention. He arranged
the computer screen the way it was before, and yanked out the USB
drive. Tucking it into his pocket, he walked around the desk,
moving straight for the door just as it opened and his son,
Nicholas, appeared.

Nicholas held his cell phone against
his ear and paused mid-sentence when he came face to face with his
father. “Hang on a second,” Nicholas said to the caller and frowned
at Dominic. “What the hell are you doing in here?”

Dominic’s frown deepened at
his son’s tone.
The disrespectful little
prick
, he thought. “Not that it’s any of
your business, but I was dropping off a file for Agata before I
take her to lunch. Move.”

“
You’re doing someone a
favor? Take your happy pill today?” Nicholas smirked coldly, but
stepped aside so his father could pass.

Ignoring his son, Dominic strode back
to the elevators. He would have to cancel lunch with his daughter;
there were more important things to do.

§

July 10, 2012 - 2:22 PM

Alcyone Island

Home of Caesar and Kayla

“
Yes, sir, three HI-MENs
have been deployed, one for each triplet.” Caesar looked down at
the small black case in front of him. Inside was what appeared to
be a mosquito. It was actually a mechanical spying device that
could record audio and video in high definition from 200 feet away.
“No, Operation Matrimony is a bust. Victor fucked up and got caught
cheating. Yes, sir, I’ve given the order. He’ll be taken out soon…
Yes, sir.” Caesar pressed the button to end his phone call. He was
standing out on the deck of his and Kayla’s beach house. Kayla was
inside, making him a late lunch like a good slave.

He was happy to have learned that, at
this point, it didn’t matter what the triplets did; they wouldn’t
be able to access what was underneath the ruins at Piedras Negras.
The most they could do was cause trouble, but their family had been
doing that for a century. It was nothing The Brotherhood couldn’t
handle.

Caesar closed the case with the last
HI-MEN inside and turned to go into the house, when his cell phone
buzzed again. The caller ID said Dominic. Dominic usually called
Kayla directly. Quirking a brow, Caesar answered.
“Yeah?”

“
They know about Kayla,”
Dominic said without preamble.

Caesar went very still. “How do they
know about Kayla?”

“
Somehow they got Joseph
Mengele’s private files. I found a document on Lucien’s computer
that discusses Project Mannequin and Kayla’s involvement in it. The
date it was acquired was June 26, 1974.”

Caesar frowned slowly. “Do they know
about you?”

“
I don’t know.”

“
Fuck. Shit.” Caesar growled
and shoved a hand back through his hair. “All right, stay in play.
But keep your nose clean and your ears open until you hear back
from me.” He ended the call, and walked into the house. He found
Kayla in the kitchen. “The triplets know about you.”

Kayla was cutting his sandwich in half
when she heard him. Her father—no, not her father, Marcello—must
have told them. She finished her task, and then set the knife down
on the counter. “How did you find out?”

“
Dominic found a file on
Lucien’s laptop.” Caesar came closer. “Do you know how they could
have gotten it?”

She was obligated to tell him;
programmed not to lie to him. She wanted to, except, there really
was no point. Releasing a resigned sigh, she looked up at him.
“Marcello.”

Caesar’s eyes narrowed dangerously.
“And how did Marcello get it?”

Kayla shook her head. “I don’t
know.”

Caesar came at her roughly, grabbing
her by the arms in a bruising grip. “How do you know that Marcello
knew?”

Kayla didn’t flinch, though how tightly
he held her was painful. “He wrote me a letter, and Vasco gave it
to me after Marcello died. In the letter, Marcello said that he
knew where I had come from, and that it didn’t matter, I was his
daughter, and he implored me that when the moment came, I would act
like it.”

“
Oh, you stupid, fucking
cunt.” Caesar struck her, hard enough to draw blood. He hit her
twice, then shook her so hard her teeth rattled. “Where is the
letter?”

Kayla’s face throbbed. She licked the
blood from the corner of her mouth. “Gone. I got rid of
it.”