Page 25 of Betraying Family Vows

I start walking toward the car we took, and her words play back in my head.

Cosmo Kouris.

It seems only one of us actually knows the truth.

Cosmo, that piece of shit, ordered the hit on my father. He signed the death warrant, but he wasn't acting alone. I didn't kill him. Theo's the one that put a bullet in him, but fuck it, I'll take the credit because I would have done it too.

However, I'm looking for the one who made Cosmo do it. The "S" locked in that damn secure phone.

Someone Cosmo was afraid of. Someone powerful enough to put a leash on a man like that.

And now I have to deal with Athena.

She's beautiful, but she's lost and broken. Clearly someone manipulated her into this fucked up tangled web.

But now that she's here, she's the center of everything for me, as much as I hate to admit it.

She doesn't know it. Not yet. But whoever gave her whatever intel she had, whoever sent her after me, they're connected to the same "S" phantom I've been chasing since the night we killed Cosmo. They have to be.

And I'll use her to the bitter end to find out who the fuck they are.

I just need to be careful. Not overwhelm her. If she shuts down or doesn't give me what I'm after, my usual tactics for gaining information I can't use. I'll kill a man without thought to get what I'm after, but a woman... I see a bit of Calli in every lady, so I can't. But if I don't let her know that, the thought of what I'm capable of should push her over the edge to give me what I need.

I reach the car and open the driver's side door. The dome light floods the interior. I look for the trunk button and press it.

It pops open, and I duck back out to take a look.

Empty.

I go around to the passenger seat next. Check the glove compartment, floor mats, under the dash, seats, behind the visors.

Nothing.

Then, I notice a button in the center console. I press it, and a compartment pops open. It's bigger than I thought.

Inside I find a cheap, plastic burner phone. Black tape holding the battery secure. Basic. Disposable.

I press the screen, and the phone comes to life. A blue screen with one contact listed: John G.

My finger hovers over the call button. I want to call it. Find out who the fuck this is.

Every instinct says to do it. I'm one press away from a direct line to whoever orchestrated this little dance. But calling now would be amateur. I need more before I make that move.

I power it off and slide it into my back pocket. First thing tomorrow—or later today, given the time—after I've pressed Athena properly, then I'll decide what to do with it.

I look back down in the console. What else is she hiding here?

I pull out a manila envelope and tear it open. Photos fall out into my lap.

Dozens of them.

My jaw tightens. "What the fuck," I say out loud.

They're of my brothers and me entering restaurants, leaving clubs, attending meetings. Some clearly taken from across streets or parking lots. In one, I'm stepping out of Theo's officebuilding in downtown Chicago. In another, Ares is getting into his car after dinner in Greektown. In others, Calli takes sips of coffee sitting at a table outside some place I don't recognize, and Theo is getting out of his car.

Shit.

Someone's been watching us for weeks. Possibly months.