"You're really going to leave your woman with that other man, Boss?" Marco glanced over at him and
Varys snorted.
"I don't have a choice right now. If I sent him on this mission he wouldn't be able to tell what's normal
behavior and what's not. They'll be fine in that room until I get back, only you and I have the keys to it."
"Not exactly," Marco replied as he turned completely away.
"Excuse me?" Varys demanded as he whirled on the other man. "You're going to have to explain
yourself to me right now, Marco. I don't care how long I've known you, if you put Hope in danger, I'm
gutting you like a pig."
Marco didn't even wince at the threat. "One of your other men has a key. I forgot his name, but he's the
one that interrupted you the other night. The one you let live."
"The one with the hole in his hand?" Varys demanded. Would something like that really cause his men
to turn on him? He'd done worse, far worse.
"Yeah."
"And how did he get the key to that room, Marco? It only had two copies, mine and yours."
Marco expelled a long breath. "Boss, I need to hear you promise you won't kill the person who's
responsible for this mess."
"I'm not promising anything, Marco. Out with it. You're not in a place to strike a deal with me for your
safety or the safety of your friend."
"No, it's not for a friend of mine, just, someone I worry about. Just please, Boss."
"Fine, but if I feel all of this was pointless or a way to save your skin, I'm skinning you to use for my new
punching bag, and then stuffing you with the other person that betrayed me."
"She didn't do it on purpose. I think she was trying to help you."
She? Fuck, please don't let it be her.
"Who?" he pressed.
"Your soon to be-wife boss. She felt sorry for him and he had your keys in his hand. They kept falling
out of his, so she offered to help him duplicate it. She never even asked what it was for."
Hope had done it? Varys stifled a laugh. "Marco, are you trying to tell me that you're worried I'm going
to punish Hope?"
"You've done worse for less offenses, Boss."
True, but he'd never hurt Hope, not again. He'd never even trusted himself to touch her while he was
angry. "Thanks, Marco, but I'm not about to hurt her. But that bastard that took advantage of her like
that? He's going to lose more than a hand. I'm going to cut him into little pieces and go feed him to a
crocodile at the zoo."
"Can I help?" Marco questioned.
Varys grinned. "Every step of the way. First, where is that bastard? When's the last time you saw him?"
"That day. It's one of the reasons I moved Hope into that room in the first place, there were only the two
sets of keys. I'd forgotten at the time about him."
Varys' smile faded. "Yeah, be careful, Marco. If your memory ever causes a dangerous situation for
Hope, I'm going to have to let you go."
Marco snorted. "Varys, I've been with you since your Uncle ran the family. I'm not going anywhere. If
you ever need to get rid of me just change my position, I'll think of it as retirement."
Varys held up a hand. "We're close to the quarters. Let's check his bed first."
"If the bastard is still here." Marco replied. But despite his grumbling, he still did as Varys ordered and
searched the bed of not just that guy, but all of his bunkmates as well. "Nothing, boss."
"What are you guys doing in here?" The chef raised an eyebrow at them. "Because it looks like you're
rifling through your men's possessions."
"Just one man," Varys nodded. "Have you seen him lately?" He knocked on the post of the bed. "He
has something I need."
"Who? Garrett? No, he's been gone since yesterday. Something about picking some woman up. He
sounded pissed about it, but looks like he went and did it anyway."
Garret. It was nice to have a name with the bastard's face. Shit, the more he heard about him, the more
it sounded like he was the actual mole Ethan bragged about. "Thanks, that's enough information for us
to start our investigation. You didn't happen to see a rotund man around here either, did you?" Varys
mimed the body shape of Vincent.
"You know, I think I have, Boss," he answered with a nod. "He was just here less than ten minutes ago.
A couple of your men were escorting him to the cars."
A couple more? Just how many of his men had betrayed him? Varys took a moment, just a moment, to
dream about dumping them into acid vats. When this was over, he was going to have a reshuffling of
his business. Apparently too much of it had gone lax if he had so many open traitors.
"Boss?" Marco nodded towards the vehicles. "I can go after them alone. You stay here, enjoy the time
with your fiancé."
"No," Varys replied. "I'm going to get my piece of flesh from anyone who dares to double cross me.
We'll go after them. All of the cars are bugged," he pitched his words low so the chef couldn't make
them out. Last thing he needed was more traitors following behind and either saving the first set, or
trying to double cross him.
"And your girl?" Marco glanced over his shoulder back to where they'd left Hope and Max. "Is she really
going to be okay if we leave the property like this? What if there's more of those bastards?"
If Varys discovered anymore traitors, he'd just get rid of the entire lot and start from scratch. Enough
was enough. "I've got faith in Hope. She's not about to betray me." Funny, just the day before and he'd
never be able to utter those words. But Hope hadn't been responsible for what had happened to his
family. Instead she'd just been another victim that Ethan was able to sweep off her feet. And now he
was trusting her, with a man that had feelings for her.
"If you say so, Boss."
"I say so," Varys repeated. "Believe me, when you understand Hope more, you'll understand why I trust
her."
"Well, even if you trust her, what about that asshole with her?"
"We've discussed what will happen to him if he lays hands on her. It's taken care of. At this point, I trust
them both." Varys swallowed. How long had it been since he'd uttered words like that before? Trusting
a woman at all would have normally been impossible.
But Hope was his eternal hope. He just loved her too much to ever doubt her again. "Let's get going,
Marco. The faster we track those bastards down, the better."
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