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“I’ll just wear a bun and a hat,” she protests. “A wig is ridiculous.”
I give her a stern stare, saying, “Don’t fuck with me.”
“Okay, fine.”
“Besides that, you have to tell me everything about Ferraro, and how deep his influence goes in the force,” I say.
“Not telling you shit if you think you’re going to wipe him off the face of the earth. That’s not how we do things.” He points a scolding finger my way.
“After he sold your daughter into vengeful slavery?” I arc my eyebrow.
“Hey!”The bear angers. “He’ll be rotting in a cell for the rest of his days for what he’s done. And I’ll be the first to make sure he loses all his teeth.” He balls a fist. “But we’re not executing anyone.”
“Let me make this very clear, Captain Dall. I’m already a dead man by going out on a limb for Quinn, so I have nothing to lose.”
Quinn’s face scrunches in confusion. Did she actually think we’d wind up some big happy family or something? I ignore her and focus only on Patrick.
“This is my operation. Don’t care how many rookies you’ve bossed around in your life, I ain’t one of them. In fact, you’remyrookie for the foreseeable future.”
He doesn’t like that, and I don’t care one bit. He loses nothing here and gains everything—his life back. I’m on the other side of this equation. If a dense pig really can’t see that, so be it. I’ve made a huge thankless mistake. Add it to the list.
“I don’t justexecutepeople,” I say. “If there is a necessity, I’m going to take action. If something can be avoided, I’ll keep your sentiment in mind. But rest assured, you’re in my world now, and there are no orders to give.” I push off of the wall and stalk closer to Patrick to make sure he understands.
He’s boiling.
Out of respect for Quinn, I suppose I should soften the blow a bit.
“Listen to me. The bratva isn’t going to stop until they get their payment, and they have your Ferraro as their pawn. They’re going to investigate what happened to the second van in their plan to take Quinn—which they’ll never find. But that doesn’t mean they’ll stop. Do you understand this fact? Your daughter’s life is in unspeakable danger. The only way she lives, iswith me.”
Patrick takes a long breath, loosening one of his fists. “You say they won’t stop?”
“They won’t stop.” I shake my head.
“Then give them their original prize.” He tenses his jaw.
“It’s too late for all that.” I laugh sarcastically. “There’s already a ghost that pulled you out.”
“And one that can push me back in,” he suggests.
“Dad!”Quinn yells, but he ignores her.
“Would they really ask more questions if I just showed up back at that warehouse?” he asks.
“After the other night? They have two dead men now. They’ll want more payment,” I reply. “Instead, I’m thinking of taking out the one who wants the revenge in the first place.”
“Patrovski’s brother.” Patrick folds his big arms.
“Yuri. Yes. Except I can’t do any of that while the police have an arm in this. And if you magically walk back in like nothing’s happened, Ferraro will have you killed.Rest a-fucking-ssured.”
“Maybe we can bait Ferraro with my reappearance. Then arrest him.”
“Yeah, the ‘cartel’ just happened tolet you go. Yeah fucking right.”
Quinn gets to her feet with an angry mug. She doesn’t look much like her dad, but some expressions, my God, what am I falling for here?
“Excuse me.” She pushes her father. “No freakin’bait, nosacrificingyourself. I just got you back by some miracle. I don’t care if you have to stay in this weird house for the rest of your life—”
“Little Bear—”