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It’s Aida who convinces him “I’ll be safe with Callum,” she says

She gives her oldest brother a quick hug and squeezes Nero’s arm

“I’ll see you both soon,” she says

As I pull the car away frolad you stayed with me”

Aida tilts her head, looking at my profile while I drive

“I want us to be partners,” she says “Not justunwilling roommates”

“I want that, too,” I tell her

Easier said than done But it doesn’t see to believe that Aida and I could actually work together We could be stronger together than apart

Aida sighs

“He certainly hit us where it hurts,” she says

“Because the tower is such a big project?” I ask her

“No It’s not the money, exactly It’s the e have to provide a constant flow of contracts to the various trades and unions to keep them loyal The materials, the jobs—if you can’t feed the rinds to a halt And of course,” she casts a sideways look at me, “there’re the other layers of the machine The shipments that carry more than lumber The businesses that wash money for the other businesses It’s a web, all interconnected, all reliant on the smooth operation of the individual parts”

I nod “We work the same”

Our businesses ies are similar

“The election is only a couple of days away,” Aida muses “I wonder if Zajac will try to blow that up, too”