Page 28

We finally have some time alone, just me and Kane, and I don’t even feel the need to be in Purgatory. This case ends with Elsa and Ghost, in different ways, and if I find Elsa, I find Ghost again.

After having our favorite pizza joint deliver, we retreat to our bedroom and sit at a small corner table we often use to eat, enjoying the quiet, the calm before the storm. We aren’t completely alone; we never are. Kit’s here, but that’s the norm, and he has his own room on the lower level. He also knows how to play invisible to us and our enemies.

Jay and Raz are on their way to pick up Tic Tac and Jack from the airport. After which, Raz and Enrique will stay the night at Lucas’ place and allow Enrique a break. Okay, they’re protecting Lucas too, I suppose, but he seems to be the one inviting the trouble, so fuck him right now.

I take a bite of a slice of pineapple, bacon, and jalapeno pizza while Kane fills our wine glasses with a red blend that’s a favorite of ours. “What the hell was Lucas thinking?” Kane asks, setting the bottle down.

“He’s gone off the deep end over the idea of Murphy being in that airport photo right before the crash. He’s not in his right mind, Kane. He needs some grace.”

“You saw the photo, too, and you haven’t gone off the deep end.”

“I did that way back on a beach with a blade in my hand.”

“He’s not you, Lilah, and his drinking problem is proof of that, if you need more than the general way he handles life. And you. I won’t apologize for being possessive of my wife around a man who makes it obvious he wants to fuck her. And him pretending to be family to get close to you is the sign of a low individual.”

“I don’t think it’s like that at all. I believe he attaches himself to me because he has no one else. He lost his parents.”

“You lost your mother, and your father isn’t a father at all.”

“But I always had you, Kane, at least for as long as I can remember.”

“You had me, even before you were willing to admit you needed me. But you’re making excuses for him, and you do him no good by doing so. He has a track record of irrational decisions.”

He’s not wrong. The high target hacking, excessive drinking, kidnapping people.

“I’m not even sure it’s safe to allow him all the knowledge you do, bella. At some point, when he’s drunk, will he sell off the information?”

“He has money.”

“So did a lot of people until drugs and drinking made them do stupid shit and lose it, often a lot of it.”

“I already told him he has to go back to rehab. And enough on Lucas. Please .”

His expression tightens, and he reaches for his glass. “For now. I’m out of patience with him, Lilah.”

I push onward. “How long is Raz staying around?”

“Until your father and Pocher have met him and know he’s submissive to me. That way, when he becomes the head of the cartel, they still see that as me. Ultimately, until my father is dead.”

“When will that be?”

“That’s on the mob. It could be a day, or a week, or maybe longer, but I urged expediency, considering how much damage my father can do in a short time.”

“You really think your father will act against you in that time?”

“He wants my attention. That’s why he cornered you. If I don’t give it to him, he’ll escalate his efforts.”

“What does he expect from you after visiting me?”

“He wants me angry and in his face, demanding he honor the hands-off of our women rule when he follows no rules. But that’s a weak response he’ll obliterate me for.”

“What’s the strong response?”

“Killing him, which is what I’ve arranged. Outside of that, I need to do nothing. It sends a message that his interruption meant so little to us, we barely remember it. He is not a threat. He is not king.”

“Won’t that poke the bear?”

“Yes.”

“Yes? Just yes? Won’t he escalate if we don’t react?”

“I’ve been thinking about that. I think we should play up how he wanted to get to know you, rather than the threat in his actions. I, we, could invite him to your father’s party,” he suggests.

I blink. “What? Are you serious?”

“He claims he and Pocher are tight, implying he’s talked to him, which I do not believe, but he showed himself in public. That means he intends to stay, and he’s feeling cocky as he’s aligned with someone powerful.”

“Like Pocher.”

“Exactly. We have to find out if that’s a real relationship. We look stupid and disposable, a gnat to be swatted, if we don’t know what is happening.”

“I can’t believe my father or Pocher would want a kingpin back from the dead at my father’s party.”

“They won’t, which sends a subtle message to my father. It will put him in his place in the shadows. We don’t even have to actually invite him. I can tell him we’ll see if we can clear his invitation with Pocher and your father. He’ll object. No matter what, he’ll know he’s not welcome, but we’ll make it clear we know, too.”

“Do we tell Pocher and my father you’re inviting him?”

“No. I can read my father. I’ll know if he’s talked to Pocher. When he declines, we’ll invite him to dinner.”

“Will he come?”

“He’ll come, if he’s alive to come.”

I down the contents of my wine glass, meant to be sipped, the rush of wine and the voice of my father in my head rushing over me. Let them believe they’re in control . The fact that they don’t know the truth is a weakness. Kane’s effectively using my father’s strategy against our enemies, but will my father see through it for that very reason?

Or is he perhaps using that very strategy against us, and we’re the ones being played? It’s a horrible thought, and I grab a new slice and stuff my face with it, looking for comfort when I’m more likely to find a bellyache.

And another murder.

The room might smell of pizza, but murder is in the air.