Burn With Me

Chapter 20

Damien

"We'll use her as bait," Nate said.

"Not fucking happening," I growled at him, angry that he would dare suggest a thing.

"Damien..." he started to say.

"No. How could you even suggest it?"

"Because he won't stop until he gets to her and those kids and you know it. We may not want to admit it, but it's the damn truth. He's never going to stop and Hallie can't hide forever. We need to be in control. We need him to come to us on our terms, not his."

"Nate, I'm not risking her safety or her kids."

"They're already at risk."

"Damn it, Nate!"

"Just listen for a minute," Nate said.

"Damien, I want to hear what he has to say," Hallie said.

"You can't be serious," I said incredulously.

"You said you trusted him."

"I do, but."

"No. No buts," Hallie insisted. "Nate is right. He's never going to stop and I would rather be prepared for every possible scenario than live in fear, wondering when he's going to come for me."

"Hallie..."

"Damien, please."

I pulled her to me and dropped a kiss to the top of her head.

"Okay," I said.

I nodded towards Nate, letting him know he can let us know what his plan is.

"First we need to let Winston know about your existence, because this plan depends on whether he acknowledges and accepts you or not," Nate began. "Once Winston knows about your existence, we're going to plan how he would introduce you. Once you are revealed to be his only daughter and heir to his empire, the media will be on top of this story. With all attention focused on you, Barnes will find it hard to get close. That's when we'll approach him. Hallie will let him in and arrange what he thinks is a negotiation regarding Ty and Michy. It will be a set-up of course. We'll have the FBI involved, Joaquin can pull some strings and we'll only have men he trusts in on this. This whole thing will be a trap for him. A way to get him out in the open. He'll have a plan of attack. We already know that he's never going to let Hallie off the hook and he'll take any chance he can get just to get to her, but we'll be ready," Nate explained. "We want him exposed, it's the only way we can get him. We have to stop this cat and mouse chase. He'll come to us and we'll be waiting to nail the son of a bitch."

"He gets nowhere near Hallie or the kids."

"Agreed."

"How sure are you of this plan?"

"We're going to prepare for every possible scenario. Things don't always go to plan, but we have one goal and that is to keep Hallie and the kids safe. There is no other outcome but just that."

I nodded. "I know you guys and I trust you, but I want to know everything there is to know."

Nate nodded before looking at Hallie to see what she thinks.

"You need to change that goal," she said.

I frowned. "What do you mean?"

"The goal is to keep my kids safe. They are the priority. I don't care about why happens to me. If it comes to and I get caught somehow, you guys will take Ty and Michy and make sure they're safe. They're the only ones that matter."