Page 141 of Caught in the Crossfire

Did Max know about this, too?

“That will be up to us to decide.”

“She’s not fucking coming with you,” Ryuji snarled. “Now get out of my club before I make you.”

The only sound in the room was the muffled bass coming from the main room.

“Are you threatening a federal agent?” Greer asked with deadly calm. His mouth pulled up into a little smirk, almost like he was daring Ryu to try something.

Ryu’s fingers twitched. He never backed down from a fight, but if he killed this asshole, everything would blow up. We’d have the full force of the law bearing down on us.

I stepped in front of Ryu, making a choice for both of us. “Of course not. We’re expected elsewhere, so we’ll have to cut this short. I’ll have my lawyer be in touch. Thank you both, Special Agents, for bringing this to my attention.”

I gestured to the door, where Alec waited to escort them out.

The four of us locked into a tense standoff, but there was no way we were budging.

Badawi’s lips thinned. “Well, then. Please do meet with us within the next week. If we don’t hear from you, we’ll have to follow up.”

Greer’s eyes flicked to the ceiling. “Nobody likes home visits.”

I could practically hear Ryu’s teeth grinding together. These agents all but admitted to knowing that we lived in the penthouse.

If they knew me, Ryu, my father, and where we lived…they knew aboutus.

“Thank you for your visit,” I said, trying to keep my voice cool. “Alec will show you out.”

Neither Alec nor Ryuji protested at my order, and the agents left with no other veiled barbs or threats of their own.

Shit.

We needed a lawyer. A goddamngoodone.

We had to talk to Obi.

47

OBI

When Ryuji and Leona returned from their trip downstairs—we watched them on the cameras head to Ryu’s club—I instantly knew something was wrong. They were both tense, but the emotions were no longer aimed at each other. I had expected there to be another problem with which we needed to deal, but I was not expecting them to explain that the FBI was downstairs.

After filling us in on the details of their conversation, along with the card that demanded Leona’s visit for questioning, I made a phone call. My contact would advise how to handle this, and he was currently on the way to our penthouse.

The giant combined bed still took up most of the living room space, but I sat on the couch with Leona in my lap and my arms wrapped around her, waiting for him to arrive. She and I had been talking, voices low, while the rest of my brothers busied themselves. It was almost 1 o’clock in the morning, and none of us were calm enough to sleep. We needed a plan.

Absentmindedly, I twisted the ends of her curls around my fingers. I expected to clash with law enforcement at some point.This wasn’t even our first run in with them. This was exactly why I had cultivated plenty of favors and contacts within high-level government positions. They helped us bury cases, lose evidence, and operate under the radar. They fixed our problems when they arose.

But this was a complete surprise. No prior heads up from our contacts. No warning or notification that we needed to be careful. It was unusual.

Plus, those agents were sobrazen.According to Ryuji, the male agent was even downright threatening. Leona had chided him for potentially making the situation worse, but I saw no issue with what Ryuji did.

None of us would allow Leona’s safety to be at risk. If that required aggression, so be it. The time for playing it safe was quickly ending. We needed to make it clear that we were not to be fucked with.

A knock at the door drew Ryuji away. I lifted Leona off my lap and stood, but kept my palm resting against her back. Moments later, Ryuji ushered in one of my very good friends, laughing and joking with the man.

“Samuel,” I said, reaching my free hand out to greet him. “Kedu?”

Samuel was dressed in more relaxed attire than his typical designer suit, but he had come from his home instead of the office.