“June… we want you to act as our figurehead for this parley.”

I blinked, before finally registering what he had said, as we were all together in the church.

“Me? Seriously?” I look between Lenny and Sigmund. “So you’re telling me you’re afraid for your own life, and you want ME to go in your stead instead of the well-dressed and extremely skilled man to my left?”

“Well, she does have a point.” Lenny looked to Sigmund, and then back to me, resting a hand on his chin. “She doesn’t exactly look the part right now, but with nothing more than a wardrobe upgrade, we can fix that real quick.”

“That was definitely not the point, Lenny.”

“Regardless of what your point is, Lenny is… too well known, so I think they’d suspect that they weren’t dealing with the real head of the Haracrein if he started claiming he was the true head of the Haracrein. That’s even counting in the fact that I’ve kept my role as head of the Haracrein a secret from the outside world.” Oh. So that’s what all this is about.

“You mean you’ve been busy keeping your own neck safe and now you want me to play pawn for you.”

Sigmund frowns, crossing his arms. “If I really wanted to use somebody disposable, I have lesser cadets I’d much sooner throw under the bus than yourself. You’ve proven yourself as awfully resilient already.”

“So, I narrowly dodge death and you think to stick me into the jaws of the void a second time?” I did feel somewhat indignant, but there was a part of me that admitted his logic was more or less sound, if highly unchivalrous.

Lenny chuckled. “Yeah, I admit, there’s some fucking irony in that. But, the old man has a point. If we sent a rookie to be figurehead and he didn’t immediately get killed, there’d be quite a bit of doubt of his competence due to his… inexperience.”

“That, and if he did die, it would make us look weak and invite an assault.” Heinrich tilted his head. “So, it only makes sense to promote the best viable candidate for the job.”

“Even though I’m, well, a woman?” I let myself raise a brow, remembering just how many times I was underestimated for this fact.

“Hmmmh, I do see your point, but I still think you, by far, are the best option here.”

I sigh. “So, when does this meeting happen?”

“It’s currently scheduled for tomorrow.” Lenny slips a hand into his pocket. “That gives us a day to get you into a better outfit, something a little more… commanding.”

While I liked my jacket (and it was a very nice jacket as far as I was concerned), it didn’t exactly scream ‘mafia boss’, so I’ll play along and look at getting a better outfit for myself. I’m not putting myself in a silly dress, though.

“And by that you mean…?”

“We’ll have to find out together. I don’t want to just slap you into any old suit, especially if it really doesn’t suit you.” He turns to walk out the door. “Let’s go.”