Page 3 of Keeping Kasey (Love and Blood #3)

CHAPTER THREE

Logan

Nothing about today is particularly bad.

The sun is shining, and the Chicago sky is cloudless. I’m ahead on my work and have plans to go out tonight with my cousin for the first time in months.

But I can’t shake the irritation that’s been pricking at me all day.

A brief knock sounds at the door before James walks into my office. “What did you do to Ford? He’s in a worse mood than normal.”

I point to a folder on my desk. “I’m not using any of the candidates he found for Mason’s case.”

“He’s been working on that proposal for weeks,” James says, sitting in one of the chairs across from my desk. “Who are you going with?”

“His name is Cam, and he’s the best person for the job,” I tell him, not looking up from my laptop.

“If he’s so good, why isn’t he in the folder?”

“Because Ford thinks he’ll be difficult to work with. Cam is in high demand and selective about his clients.”

“And you’re ignoring his advice because…?”

“Because I have four firsthand accounts from associates who have worked with him before, and they all said the same thing: that he’s the best.”

His brow furrows, even as he nods. He doesn’t like that I’m ignoring Ford, but he won’t interfere. James knows me well enough to know I won’t change my mind for Ford’s sake.

“He’s reaching out today?”

I nod. “Should be right now. Is that all you came in here for?”

He rolls his eyes—a gesture he wouldn’t pull if we were in front of anyone else. In the three months since I stepped into the role of family boss, James has settled into the underboss position with ease. No one knows me better than my twin, which makes him the perfect right-hand man.

“I came to remind you that we’re leaving early tonight. Elise is cooking, and she’s very excited.”

I let my head fall back against my chair. “What are the odds Moreno stays at a hotel?”

“Zero, but I did have an extra bed put in Elise’s room,” he says with a grin. “Figure that should be message enough.”

I breathe a laugh, but it’s half-hearted. As much as I love seeing my sister, I despise her fiancé.

Joshua Moreno has been an enemy of this family since he came into power. He made himself all the more detestable when he kidnapped Elise earlier this year with demands to claim parts of our territory.

Our own brother, Mason, orchestrated the entire scheme to take down our family and the Morenos—an endeavor that cost him and our father their lives and left us with two jobs to do.

Find the source of Mason’s funding.

Find the traitors who aligned with him.

The Morenos focused on Mason’s funding since there was compelling evidence that the leak came from their bases. Our family committed to finding the traitors by locating the communications program Mason used to relay information to them.

As if there wasn’t enough to deal with, when we finally got Elise back, she’d fallen for the bastard who took her. What she calls love, I call Stockholm Syndrome, but it’s led to an alliance between our families nevertheless.

They’re coming to visit and bring Damon home.

Damon was approximately seventeen years overdue for rehab. Our father had claimed for years that it was too dangerous to risk exposing a weakness within our family, but it was my first act as family boss.

I realized what Dad never did—that the real weakness was not getting Damon the help he needed.

After two weeks at the most discreet rehab center in California, he moved in with Elise and Moreno to ease back into everyday life—under strict conditions. Damon couldn’t participate in any Moreno family business, had to check in with James or me every day, and could only stay for two months.

After six weeks, he’s decided to return and reclaim his place as a capo—a captain in our ranks.

Two weeks ago, the Morenos successfully located and rectified the leak in their supply chain that funded Mason’s efforts, but in the three months since the night that took Mason and Dad’s lives, we’ve made no progress locating the communications program.

Which is why I can’t go with Ford’s good hackers.

I need the best.

Cam might not be an easy person to get ahold of or work with, but I can’t afford to waste another day searching for these traitors.

“I’m not sticking around after dinner,” I tell James. “Matteo and I are going to Neons. You are welcome to join us.”

James studies me. “Matteo mentioned that. I didn’t believe him.”

I arch an eyebrow, and he narrows his eyes.

“When was the last time you went out?”

I don’t say anything—mostly because I don’t know the answer.

I can’t remember the last time I went out with the sole intention of getting drunk and laid. I had my fair share of party days, but when I turned twenty-one, my father moved Uncle Antonio to lead our Detroit base and made me his underboss.

From there, my days of recklessness were behind me.

I’ve never resented the loss. I’m proud of my work and care about doing it well, but I deserve a night out.

“Does that mean you’re coming?”

He shakes his head with a smile, but he doesn’t get the chance to answer before the room plunges into darkness.

I wait for the blaring alarms to sound or for the backup generator to kick in, but the base stays eerily silent and pitch black.

James and I draw our weapons and move to the door, listening for any signs of distress before opening it.

Dead silence.

My phone buzzes, and I answer Ford’s call.

“What’s going on?” I demand.

“You need to come to my office right now.”

Pac-Man.

I’m staring at a full-sized screen of Pac-Man .

After Ford’s call, I went straight to his office. James is currently doing a perimeter check. With our security systems down, we need to increase protective measures in case this turns out to be more than just a cyberattack.

“Just close it and get the power back on.”

Ford visibly tenses. “It’s not that simple.”

“Why not?”

He types vigorously on the keyboard, but nothing on the screen changes. “It’s some kind of virus, but I have no idea where it came from.”

A deep sigh comes through Ford’s phone. “It’s gotta be from Cam. He must have caught us snooping, and this is some sort of revenge.”

I point to the phone with a scrutinizing gaze.

“That’s Kade Manning,” Ford explains. “There were too many files to go through, so I called him for backup. Their base was hit with the same outage.”

My jaw ticks.

Kade is Moreno’s cybersecurity capo, and while I agreed to allow him to stay in the loop, I don’t like using him.

“What can you do?” I ask in as controlled a tone as I can manage.

“I’m not sure I have any choice but to play.”

“Play?” I rub my forehead. “Our power grid is held hostage by some maniac, and you’re going to play Pac-Man ?”

Ford haphazardly hits the keyboard. “I don’t have much of a choice.”

“I’ve tried everything,” Kade agrees. “Playing is the only option.”

I huff a sigh, take a seat beside Ford, and watch him play.

Within fifteen seconds, he loses and has to restart. This time, he only makes it ten seconds. I watch with pure irritation as he dies over and over again.

“I don’t remember this game being so difficult,” I say.

Ford shakes his head. “It’s not. It’s like this version is on steroids.”

Great. Not only do I have a Pac-Man virus taking over my entire base, but it’s a juiced-up version that not even my best nerd can beat.

Any plans I had of going out tonight are long gone, and I cynically wonder if the day could get any worse.

When my phone rings, I get the answer to that question.

It can get worse. Much worse.

I answer my sister’s call, but before I even hear the voice, I know it won’t be hers.

“I’m on a plane for five hours, and we have a base-wide outage?” my future brother-in-law practically snarls.

“It’s being handled,” I say, in a bored tone I know will grate on his nerves.

“It doesn’t sound like anything is being handled . I’m coming to the base.”

“No, you’re not. You’re going to the house like we agreed.”

“That was when our bases were fully functioning. We’ll be there within the hour.”

“Moreno, you’re in my territory now, which means you follow my rules. You will not come to this base.”

There’s mumbling on the other side of the call, and I’m about to ask what’s going on when a soft voice comes through the line.

“Logan, we only want to help,” Elise says.

My shoulders relax on instinct.

My brothers and I had a strict upbringing. From the moment we entered this world, our future was written for us. Our lives were to be dedicated to the family.

Elise, on the other hand, was kept as far away from our work as possible.

An attack on the manor gave us the opportunity to fake her death when she was seventeen, so she could live far from the dangers of our world.

It worked for seven years until Mason told Moreno about her.

Saying I hate Joshua Moreno is a gross understatement. I want nothing more than to put a bullet in the bastard and bring my sister home, but I spent weeks thinking she was dead, and I won’t risk losing her when she’s finally found something that makes her happy.

“I have things under control,” I tell her.

“I don’t doubt that, but this affected our base, too—we can’t just go to the manor and pretend we aren’t in the middle of a crisis. You wouldn’t either if the roles were reversed.”

Heat covers my chest, and I work to keep it controlled.

One breath.

Two.

Three.

How can I use this?

“Put him on,” I tell Elise.

I can sense her hesitation, but after a moment, Moreno says, “Consoli.”

“You come to my base—you take my lead. If you agree to that, I’ll send your driver the address.”

Moreno stepping out of line in my territory isn’t a concern of mine, but if nothing else, I will delight in hearing his reluctant agreement to follow my lead.

His pause is deeply satisfying in itself and made even better when he grits out, “Fine. Your territory, your rules. Send the address over now .”

“Gladly.”

An hour later, my least favorite human walks into Ford’s office like he owns the place.

“Update?”