Page 29 of Blood in the Water

“What?” I asked.

“We’re not getting on a plane.” She crossed her arms over her chest. “We’re not leaving.”

“Leona.” I took a deep breath. Stubborn Leona was a nightmare to deal with. But she had no idea what it would take to keep her out of Max’s reach. We couldn’t risk it. “We can’t stay on the East Coast. It would be too easy for Max to find us here.”

“I’m not running, Cas.” Her mouth pressed into a thin line. The last time she looked like that, she fought with the Don about going to college. Guess who won that argument. “He took my father’s empire, and I won’t let him get away with it. I’ll kill him myself if I have to.”

My eyes widened. If I wasn’t so scared of her getting hurt, I’d be entirely turned on. “What?”

“Cas, listen to me,” she said, finally pulling her hand out of mine. “When I saw you dying in that car, I made the decision. He doesn’t get to take everything my father worked so hard for without consequences. I don’t want to run for the rest of my life. I wantrevenge. And I’m going to get it.”

In the three days I had been asleep in that hospital bed, she had changed. Her eyes glinted with determination. Her shoulders were set with deeply buried rage. She hadn’t broken because she had hardened instead. My little mafia princess was growing stronger than I ever thought possible. Pride surged within me.

But that didn’t mean I thought this was the right decision.

“Leona,” I said softly. “Revenge against Max will not be easy. He has unlimited money and resources. We’re running on borrowed time and favors. I can’t just walk up to him and shoot him. But I can keep you safe if we run.”

She stood, this time looking down at me. “I’m not asking you to shoot him. I’m just asking for your help.”

“So, then what?” Colin mused from across the room. “You'regoing to storm into Vero headquarters and shoot the bastard?”

Leona bit her lip in thought. “Obviously not. At least not yet. I don’t have specifics yet, but I need money and firepower. He’ll use my own resources against me, so I have to find something that can oppose him.”

“I have some more money saved throughout the city,” I said, trying to devise a plan to keep her safe if we weren’t going to run to the West Coast. “Colin, can you get me in and out of New York? It’s not much, but it’ll help keep us going and can pay some of our debts with the Irish.”

“Of course,” he replied. “Shouldn’t be too hard. I might be on their radar now, but I can have another one of the boys drive ya at night.”

Leona sat on the edge of my bed and crossed her arms over her chest.

“So we have money, now we need firepower,” she said. “And we need a safe place to stay out of sight.”

“For firepower, I might have a suggestion,” Colin pursed his lips. “Ever heard of the Shadows?”

“Fuck no,” I said immediately. Those assassins were bad news. Dangerous. Plus, we didn’t have the kind of money required to hire them. That was the kind of firepower that blew up in our faces.

Leona stared at him, a calculating look in her eyes. “Tell me about them.”

“Leona, we can’t—” she held out her hand, and the gesture immediately silenced me. It was the move of a mafia queen. I bit back a smile, not even bothered that she cut me off. Seeing her take charge sent dirty thoughts flashing through my brain.

“Tell me, Colin. I want to know everything,” she insisted, head held high.

The doctor stood up and wrapped her stethoscope around her neck. A strange look passed between her and Colin before she spoke. “That’s my cue. Got to do the rounds. I’ll be back in later to check on you, Cas.”

“Thanks again,” I said as she left.

“Well,” Colin continued when the door clicked shut. “They’re a brotherhood of the greatest four assassins in the world. They only take jobs from high-paying clients, and theyalwayscomplete their contracts. From what I’ve heard, each has a unique skill set that makes them the deadliest people on the planet. Ya get a Shadow on your side, and ya can count the job complete.”

I could see the gears turning inside Leona’s head as she listened. She wanted to hire them. It made me fucking nervous.

“How do I contact them?”

“One of them has connections to the Irish,” Colin said, pulling his phone from his pocket.

“You can get me in touch?”

“Fallon can.”

“Who is—” Leona started.