Page 103 of Dance of Thorns

“Dove! Did you really help kidnap and murder Lark Peltier?!”

Up has become down. Black is white.

And suddenly, I’m lost in a nightmare.

24

BANE

“Thanks for comingon such short notice.”

Taylor nods, brushing a lock of red behind her ear. “Of course, Bane. We’ve worked with your father for years,” she says, dipping her chin at Dad, standing next to me, “and I’m more than happy to help with this…delicatesituation.”

Taylor Crown is the “Crown” in Crown and Black, the most prestigious and “fuck-you” legal firm in New York. Dad’s used them forever, and they also doplentyof legal work for other prominent mafia and bratva families in the city, including the Reznikov Bratva, the Kildare Irish Mafia, and the Greek Drakos family.

Taylor’s own husband is Drazen Krylov, one of the most feared, respected, and powerful bratvapakhansin the world.

But the firm’s clout doesn’t just come from the underworld families they do business with. Taylor herself is abeastof a lawyer, with an insane win record in court. The other founding partner, Alistair Black, is just as cutthroat. Andhisbrother, Gabriel, the third founding partner, is only on sabbatical fromthe firm so he can pursue his current career asgovernorof the goddamn state.

When you need the very best,thisis who you call. And right now, yeah… We need the best.

The Cielo family, whose dead, piece-of-shit son wasLorenzo, aka The Barber, decided that today would be a good day to hold an impromptu press conference announcing that the private investigator they’d hired had found credible evidence linking my fiancée totheir fucking son.

That’s bad enough. But they didn’t stop there.

Their second claim is that not only was she in cahoots with Lorenzo, it wasshewho killed her friend. Not him.

It’s obviously bullshit and a beyond pathetic attempt at yanking back some limelight. Years ago, when all of this was unfolding, that’s exactly how Lorenzo’s family operated. On the one hand, his mother was up there sobbing on fucking TV about her son’s innocence, and how he was “failed by the system”. But on the other, right after her sob-fest she’d be trying to land a publisher for her “tell-all” book about “my son, the killer”. Lorenzo’s fucking brother tried leveraging the publicity of the horrendous crimes to sell cryptocurrency, for fuck's sake.

These people are shameless, and I know this is just another disgusting attempt to make a buck. But it has the potential to be very bad for us.

“Just how worried should we be?” I growl, glancing at Taylor.

She tips her head. “Well, it’s potentially…complicated. The Cielo family has a sympathetic ear in the DA’s office. My sources theresay there’s a newer prosecutor—an asshole called Wilkes—who’s willing to open an investigation.”

I swear under my breath. Dad's firm hand lands heavily on my shoulder.

“It’s obvious she had nothing to do withher own fucking kidnapping,” I snap. “Are these people too stupid to remember thatshewas locked in the next room over with her own head fucking shaved?!”

Taylor’s frowns, thinking. “If I were them, I’d probably go after the connection between Lorenzo and the Marchetti family,” she says quietly. “I’m almost positive that’s their angle, actually.”

“Cesare buried that pretty well,” I growl.

Taylor nods. “That he did. But even the most bulletproof NDA’s have their weaknesses, and they don't hold up in criminal cases. If Wilkes takes this the distance and it becomes a criminal investigation, itwillcome out that Lorenzo worked for the family as a driver. From there, it’s wouldn’t be hard for someone to try to link Dove to Ms. Peltier’s killer.” She frowns. “I…have a delicate question.”

“Shoot.”

She frowns and nods past me.

“Is Dove on any medications?”

I scowl, turning to follow her gaze to where my fiancée is sitting on a couch by the window with Chiara.

Apparently, Cesare had more important shit to do than be here.

My dad clears his throat, “I’ll, uh, be over here,” he murmurs, patting my shoulder again and then walking away to talk with Sergey in the corner.

I turn back to Taylor. “Yeah, she is.”