46. Alliance

Nail refills his Scotch glass, the pouring of the liquid sounding unnaturally loud in the silence of the condo. He hadn’t offered Pepper a drink, or Kai, but Luca had helped himself, before lounging in one of Nail’s armchairs. What surprises Kai is that Nail didn’t protest. He’d just stood aside while Luca filled his glass. Nail had then filled his own, downed it, and poured another. Kai doesn’t say anything, doesn’t push. He just sits on the sofa next to Pepper, waiting for Nail to speak.
“Did you really need the escorts?” Nail gestures to Pepper and Luca with his glass, his meaning clear.
Pepper glares at her brother. “I think you should listen to what Kai has to say.”
“Why?” Nail glares at her. “Because you think he can’t sweet talk me the same way he does to you?”
“Because you're both so damn stubborn I could knock your heads together.” Pepper snaps. “I don’t know what Kai’s up to, but I trust him, even if that means involving you.”
Nail raises an eyebrow at that last comment, but doesn’t respond. His gaze flicks to Luca.
“I drove them here.” Luca salutes Nail with his glass. “I’ve already made my threats. You know I’ll carry them out.”
“Why the hell would you need help from me?” Nail turns to face Kai, his expression still impassive, but his eyes searching. “I’m the highest ranking employee at OmniVentures, apart from Rome. If you're planning to expose Chalam, I could easily betray you.”
“But you won’t.” Kai counters. “Because you haven’t. You destroyed your own phone rather than mine. You called me to make sure Jet got to the hospital in time, and somehow you made sure Rome could do the same for me. You put Kahlúa in my coffee rather than something more lethal—”
“I’ve also beaten you to a pulp.” Nail cuts in. “Twice.”
Next to Kai, Pepper tenses, eyes shooting daggers at her brother. Kai puts a reassuring hand on her arm before he continues speaking. “You could have killed me in Chalam’s office. At the very least, broken a bone. But you didn’t. All you did was bruise my ribs.”
“If you’d stayed down, I wouldn’t have had to.” Nail addresses his Scotch, rather than Kai. “Or if you’d stayed out of Chalam’s archives in the first place.”
“You’ve been working against Chalam from almost the very beginning.” Kai surprises himself by keeping his voice level. “Not enough to make him suspicious, but lots of little things have been adding up.”
“Including the ones on that little list you just recited?” Nail scoffs.
“You’re not a killer, Nail.” Pepper’s voice is soft--softer than Kai’s ever heard it when addressing her brother. “I know you’ve got a conscience, and I need you to use it.”
“For what?” Nail snaps. “Risking my neck so that shark tear me apart?”
“I said I wanted to help you before, Nail.” Luca points out. “This might be the better offer to take.”
“Why is that?” Nail sneers. “Because you and my sister threatened to kill me and Kai hasn’t?”
“You know I never meant that the way it sounded!” Pepper cries.
“I might have.” Luca smirks into his Scotch. “Given the right motive.”
“That’s beyond the point!” Nail retorts. “I’m not interested in whatever little crusade you’re planning.”
Now it’s Kai’s turn to scoff. “Don’t tell me you actually trust that shark?”
Nail’s jaw clenches. “I never said—”
“And if you weren’t interested,” Kai overrides him. “Why did you let us into your condo in the first place?”
“You think you know what it’s like for me?” Nail glares, his posture defensive. “You think being the most trusted employee at OmniVentures is easy? One wrong word, one wrong look, and anyone who crosses that shark ends up horizontal and cold. I’d like to stay vertical and breathing if it’s all the same to you.”
“How do you know you’ll stay that way?” Kai retorts, surging to his feet. “And yes, I do know what that’s like. You were the one to remind me. Twice.”
Nail blinks, taking refuge in another sip of Scotch. Something flickers across his eyes that Kai can’t quite read--had he actually impressed Nail, or just amused him? Pepper glances anxiously between Kai and Nail, her body tense and ready to act. Only Luca looks openly amused at the conversation. He stays seated where he is, whiskey glass in hand, watching.
“I don’t like this anymore than you do, believe me.” Kai takes a step closer to Nail, steeling himself for what he has to say next. “But…I need your help.”
Nail crosses his arms. “And why would I give it?”
Kai hesitates. This is the part of the plan he’s really not sure about. The part he’s talked himself in and out of countless times, but is unable to see any other alternative. He’s told Luca and Pepper they need Nail, but he hasn’t told them why. Once Kai answers Nail’s question, Pepper and Luca will know the rest of his plan, and whether they object or not, there’s no going back.
“Because,” Kai glances over his shoulder at Pepper and Luca, then lowers his voice. “I need to get close to Chalam. If this all blows up in our faces, I’ll kill him myself.”
Pepper sucks in her breath. Luca leans forward, his expression darkening. Kai ignores both of them. He stays facing Nail, willing the other man to believe him. His heart is pounding so hard it’s threatening to break through his ribs. If Nail refuses, then Kai has to come up with another plan. One that might not work as well as this one.
“You’re serious.” Nail’s eyes narrow, searching Kai’s face for any sign of bluff.
Kai’s eyes lock with Nail’s. “Deadly.”
“Kai.” Luca’s voice is wary. “What the hell are you talking about?”
“Exactly what I said.” Kai turns his gaze back to Pepper and Luca, giving Nail time to process. “If the plan doesn’t work, then we need a backup—one that can’t fail.”
Pepper’s face pales. “That’s insane! You could get yourself killed!”
“I know.” Kai lifts his chin, glancing at Nail. “This isn’t just about exposing Chalam. It’s about stopping him. That’s the only way to get everyone off this tightrope we’re walking on.”
Luca shakes his head. “You’re talking about murder, Kai.”
“I’m talking about stopping Chalam.” Kai meets Luca’s eyes, then Pepper’s, and finally Nail’s. “Permanently.”
Nail chuckles, giving Kai the once over. His voice is less mocking, more interested. “Do you even know how to hold a gun?”
“You can teach me.” Kai’s eyes harden with determination. “I have two weeks to learn.”
“And what’s in it for me?” Nail presses. “If you think I’m doing this because of my so-called conscience--”
“I don’t know what ‘out’ Luca offered you.” Kai doesn’t even bother to look at Luca’s face. He keeps his eyes on Nail. “But I can offer you a better one. I know people who can get you out of the country--”
“Kai.” Luca warns.
Kai ignores him.“People who can get you out of the country with a new identity and everything. But you have to do your part first.”
Nail studies Kai’s face. Kai doesn’t even let himself blink, holding Nail’s gaze as one minute stretches into two, and then three. Nail moves back to the sideboard. After refilling his own glass, he picks up a fresh one.
“You’re playing a very dangerous game, you know that?” He pours out a generous amount of soda water before holding the glass out to Kai.
“Yes.” Kai takes the glass. “But it’s not like I have any other choice.”
◼️◼️◼️◼️
Kai doesn’t drive back in the car with Pepper and Luca. He takes BTS instead—with a seat all to himself so he can sort his way through this new maze of thoughts. Overwhelming relief that was able to get Nail on his side churns together with the nauseating guilt for keeping this part of the plan from almost everyone. Pepper hadn’t said anything when the three of them left Nail’s condo. Luca had tried to lecture and Kai told him to shut up.
The weight of involving Nail and the potential fallout makes his insides twist up. But given what Kai’s seen in the records from OmniVentures, Chalam has enough money and enough influence that he can flee the country even after his crimes are exposed. That’s a contingency Kai is not going to allow.
Bel and Kam’s house is quiet and dark by the time Kai gets back. The two of them have been really good at giving Kai space, not staying up to interrogate him about where he’d disappeared to and why. Food and dishes have been put away, which is fine because the lead knot inside Kai’s stomach has left no room for food.
He goes into the other bedroom and closes the door. Moonlight gives the room a ghostly glow, sending pinpricks of ice down Kai’s spine, in spite of the heat outside. As comfortable as that bed looks, Kai muscles would rather move than relax. He flops onto the mattress anyway, trying to untangle the snarl of thoughts in his head.
The ceiling is the same color Jet’s face had been that night. Kai flips over onto his stomach, burying his head in the pillow to block out that image. Jet’s colorless face is even clearer behind Kai’s closed lids. Bel had offered him sleeping pills yesterday, to help Kai relax so he could sleep. Maybe he should go figure out where Bel keeps them. They might blank out his mind so he didn’t have to think anymore— about OmniVentures, about Chalam, about Jet.
Four days since Jet had been rushed to the hospital, and Kai has yet to go see him. But Jet didn’t want to see him. Luca had said as much. The need to let his older brother in on this plan is almost a physical ache. But telling him would make things even more complicated than they already are.
Right?
Uncertainty gnaws at Kai’s insides. He still had all those files on his phone, but they were also just paper. OmniVentures’ legal team was good at talking their way around paper.
Luca’s testimony would add weight to the accusations against Chalam, but that wouldn’t prove any more than fraud. Kai wants more than that. He knows Jet would want more than that. CCTV footage of Chalam planning his parents’ murder wasn’t enough.
Kai rolls out of bed and flips on the bedroom light. The white walls are clean, and undecorated. A good backdrop for what he’s about to do. He pulls his phone from his pocket, then slips out into the front room long enough to grab a stack of Bel’s paperbacks before returning to the bedroom.
Very carefully, he stacks the books on top of the dresser, propping his phone against them. He flips the camera so that it’s facing him, hits record, then sits on the edge of the bed. This is his backup plan’s backup plan—his last resort. Also, maybe it’s a way to get Jet to understand. Kai takes a deep breath, and begins to speak.