Page 17

SEVENTEEN

HARKIN

The World We Made - Ruelle

T he week passed slowly, like we were swimming through a world of molasses. The finger came back positive for my father’s prints. I wouldn’t be surprised if by the time we get around to finally seeing him again—if we see him again—he’s down a whole handful. The phone was a dead end, just as I’d expected, but I was hoping maybe they were too cocky and missed something I could have used.

A punch comes out of nowhere, the pain radiating through my jaw. Okay, maybe not nowhere. My focus isn’t on the match and James is taking full advantage of it. But his assault draws me out of my head. I lose my footing, but I’m back at him with a drive straight for his ribs.

“It’s about damn time you stop dancing around,” he chides.

“Fuck off, there’s too much shit going on.”

“Yeah, which is exactly why you needed this.”

He jolts out with a kick, trying to catch me off guard, but I call it the moment his weight shifts to his standing leg. Instead of landing another blow, I catch it, using his momentum to take us to the ground and me into a position to win this match. He taps out with my forearm against his throat in a chokehold. I relax and let go, splaying out on the mat as his agile body rebounds from the ground. Moments later, a towel hits my face, and James’s shadow looms over me.

“You can’t take the meeting if you’re going to be in your head the entire time.”

“It won’t be like that when I’m there.”

“Better not. There’s too much riding on this.”

“You don’t think I know that?” I bite back, finally getting up from the floor to talk face-to-face.

“You’re about to be thrust into a world you’ve only glimpsed. It’s not pretty, and it’s not fair. These guys play dirty and are only out to benefit their own interest, even where their blood is concerned.”

“Trust me, I’m not giving him the benefit of the doubt. Domenico has something up his sleeve, and there’s no way in hell it doesn’t involve Keira in some major way. Thankfully, she wants fuck all to do with him. But it’s better to know than to leave it hanging like a noose over our heads.”

“Harkin!” Keira yells from somewhere upstairs.

James and I take off, our conversation forgotten. Our feet pound up the stairs like charging bulls after a red flag. I halt suddenly at the end of the hall when the living room comes into view. James barrels around me, never being taken off guard for a moment.

“Who are you? How did you get in?”

“I let her in.” Keira looks over her shoulder at the both of us.

Her voice snaps me out of my moment of shock. “James, this is Nikita. Nikita, James,” I say, passing his stalled frame to join Keira on the small leather couch. “You know, when I gave you my card, I expected you to reach out digitally, not drop by unexpectedly.”

“What’s all the yelling about?” Stacey asks, stepping off the last stair next to James.

Nikita lets out a loud whistle, staring down Keira’s best friend in her best replica of a 1930s window maker outfit, marabou robe included. “And who is this beautiful angel?”

Stacey steps closer to James’s side, still unsure of the situation. I don’t blame him for the possessive arm he tucks around her back, displaying his hand across her hip. But it must surprise Stacey, because her eyes fling up to his, shock evident in their wide gaze. Keira and I try to hide our amusement, but we share a look that speaks volumes. I pity the two of them, trying so desperately to hide whatever is happening between them.

Breaking Nikita’s line of thought, I ask, “How’d you find us?”

“What, you think you made it hard?”

“Nik, come on. Tell us why you’re here,” Keira placates, nudging an elbow into my rib at the same time.

“I found something.” She pulls out a drive from her jacket pocket, chucking it across the table at me. “Your family’s fucked up on both sides of the tree.”

“Great,” Keira mutters under her breath. “How bad is it?”

“Depends. What would you consider worse, flooding the streets with shit drugs or running guns through the port and spreading them throughout the country, even up into Canada? Maybe it’s not so bad you ended up away from your family all these years. If I were you, I’d keep it that way.”

“If only it were that simple,” Keira adds.

“Do your contacts know anything about this?”

“Trust me, they don’t know what I don’t tell them. And this didn’t seem like a need-to-know situation, unless?”

“No, we’re not going there. It’s enough of a mess without including a bunch of blowhards with enough red tape to keep this from being squashed quickly.”

“My thoughts exactly. Everything’s on that drive. Including where you can find your mom’s side of your family if you’re looking to go down that road,” Nikita says while standing from the couch. “See you around, K. You know where to find me.” And then she’s gone, heading out the front door like a summer storm that blows in unexpected and unwanted.

“And the punches just keep on coming,” Keira blows out as she sags against my side.

“This is what we were looking for, sweetness. We assumed they were both into some bad shit, but it gives us something to play off. Let me dig through the drive and see what I can piece together. There might be something to give us the upper hand for tomorrow’s meeting.”

“Us.”

My eyebrows draw up in confusion. “Us, what?”

“We’re both going to look through that drive, Harkin. I want to see what she found about my mom’s side of the family.”

“Is no one going to tell me who that girl was?” Stacey breaks into the conversation.

“That was Keira’s ex,” I tell her pointedly, never dropping my eyes from Keira’s annoyed ones. But it’s the eye roll I was expecting that pulls a tight grin to my face.

She shoves me away playfully, peeling her warm body from my side and off the couch. “Let’s get into it. We’ve got less than twenty-four hours to find anything that might tell us what Domenico is planning tomorrow night.”

The elevator dings upon its arrival on the ground floor. Keira steps forward, the sky-high heels on her feet making her toned legs a distraction under the silk dress draped on her body. When she came out of the bedroom earlier, we almost didn’t make it out of the house. I wanted to wrap her long, curly hair up in my hand and bend her over the living room sofa. The only thing that saved us from being late for this meeting was the other two people waiting for us to leave.

Following in after her, I select the fourth-floor button. James and Stacey will be joining us, but the plan is to arrive separately so they can keep an eye on the surroundings. James called in some backup to give us better numbers should something go down.

I fall in beside Keira as the elevator fills with other hotel guests. It doesn’t go unnoticed how many looks my girl gets. It only serves as a reminder that the small jewelry box is burning a hole in my jacket pocket. With everything going on, not to mention sharing a house with two other people, I haven’t had the right opportunity to make the special moment happen.

My fingers trace up and down her spine, gliding against the thin fabric. Leaning in, my lips meet the soft spot below her ear. Her intoxicating scent fills my inhale as her body melds perfectly into mine, two halves of a whole once again reunited.

“Have I told you how much I want to rip this dress from your body,” I growl in her ear. Just the thought of having her writhing under me is enough to have my cock hardening. It’s not exactly the best time to be dealing with a chub.

“Then I probably shouldn’t tell you the only thing I have on under this dress is long, steel, and pointed,” she teases as the elevator dings our arrival on the fourth floor.

I groan inwardly, resituating myself and thinking about every unhappy, disgusting thing my mind can conjure as I follow the wicked temptress out into the hall.

“Just the two of you?” the woman at the doors to the bar asks before letting us in.

“Yes, we’re meeting a Mr. Morelli. Has he arrived yet?”

Her demeanor quickly changes from one of disinterest to one of uncomfortable fear. Domenico must have his hands in the pie here if she’s aware enough of who he is to be concerned.

“Of course. Let me show you back to his table. He should be arriving shortly.”

The small space is shockingly intimate, with candles and a fireplace providing a warm glow in the otherwise dimly lit room. Small tables fit like sardines through the middle, while the gold leaf-decorated walls are lined with single-sided booths. The host leads us to the back, where the bar looks out over the crowd, already enjoying the overpriced drinks and food small enough to feed an infant.

She doesn’t stop when the room ends. Instead, her hand runs across the rich art deco-inspired wallpaper, pushing slightly before it pops out enough for her to grab the edge of a hidden door. I quickly step in front of Keira, placing her behind me and out of the way of whatever we’re about to walk into. Her harrumph of irritation hits my ears in passing.

“Just follow me. The room is up here to your left.”

If I thought the bar was dark, this hallway rivals the entrance tunnel to a movie theater. The only lighting is thin strips along the floor. I drop my hand back, linking my fingers with Keira’s just in time to step through the open door.

“He’ll be with you shortly.” And then she’s gone, disappearing into the dark hallway, the door we just came through closing behind her.

“That was weird, right?” Keira asks, looking around the room.

“Yeah, she knows something.”

“I don’t like that we’re separated from the main room.”

“I expected it. We’re good,” I assure her, letting my fingers gingerly slip against the tracker inside her arm.

The door opens again before she can say anything else. Two bulky men in fitted black suits walk through, followed moments later by Domenico and Alina. His muscle makes their way in our direction, motioning for us to raise our hands and widen our feet like they’re planning to pat us down for weapons. Before they can get within five feet of Keira, my hand moves to my holster, freeing my gun.

The click of the safety stalls their movements as they make to reach for their own. “Put your filthy hands on what’s mine, and this meeting’s over.”

Alina’s presence here is already grating on my nerves as her indignant scoff reaches my ears. On the other hand, Keira looks like the cat that caught the canary as she stares down the man twice her size, daring him to try me. I see her fingers at her side out of the corner of my eye. She wouldn’t have let him touch her anyway. That knife at her fingertips is just as dangerous as the gun pointed at his head.

“Now, now. I said this was a friendly meeting. There’s no need for all the theatrics. We’re all family here. You two can watch the door,” Domenico orders.

The two meatheads look irritated that their master pulled their stings back on duty. One slips through the door, closing it behind him, while the other posts up right in front of it.

A clash of hands clapping draws my attention back to the man putting me on edge. He motions for the two empty leather barrel chairs across from where he and Alina sit. Instead of holstering my gun, I sit with it perched on my knee in Domenico’s direction. Keira joins me, resting against the arm, looking more bored than worried about what’s to come.

“You got us here. Now, don’t waste my time,” Keira spits, ever the force of nature.