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I couldn’t stop staring at Kieran as he spoke. He’d changed so much, but still remained the same. It’d been a decade since I saw him. His blonde locks stopped just above his ears, his hair cut close underneath. The way his hair fell over his blue eyes and furrowed brows reminded me so much of our mother, when she worried about anything, but he inherited his chiseled, masculine jaw from our father. He looked like he lived in the gym, and hadn’t shaved in a few days, a dark shadow present on his jaw, circling his mouth.
Ian glanced down at his watch and then brought his gaze to me. “You’re going to have to dance every night until we catch him. I know eventually he’s going to show up here, and when he does, we’re going to have to be ready because I’m not going to have another situation like we had in the past.” He darted his eyes around at us all. “I need everyone in here to be vigilant. Thankfully, tonight turned out not to be a threat, but it also means that motherfucker’s still on the loose. I want every Mascioli and Mussolini gone as soon as possible.”
“Wait, wait, wait.” Kieran stood again, dropping the ice and cloth on the cushion. “Mascioli?”
Ian slid his hands in his pockets, nodding. All of our eyes were trained on Kieran as he stared blankly at Ian. Nerves overcame me and Luke stepped over, snaking his arm around my waist, pulling me close against him.
“Someone with that last name opened up a bank account with us two weeks ago.”
Jenna, who usually hung back, letting Ian conduct all business matters, placed her hands on her hips. “Not that I’m doubting you or anything, but how do you know? Are you sure that was the last name?”
“I’m positive it was,” Kieran replied, “because anyone who opens an account at our bank with a substantial amount of money must go through management. Anything over a capped amount bypasses them and goes through me only.” He exhaled a deep breath. “But his name wasn’t Dante. It was close but?—”
“Durante!” I gasped. “His legal name is Durante, and he goes by Dante.”
“That’s him, then!” He matched my enthusiasm before looking at Ian. “I’d be happy to pull his info and get whatever you need.”
“Hang on.” Tyler waved a hand. “So, let me get this straight. It just so happens, your sister’s ex opens an account at your bank of all the banks in Boston, and then you get your ass whipped yesterday by people associated with him.” He shifted his gaze to Ian. “There’s no way in hell this wasn’t carefully calculated, which means while he was in prison, he’s had people watching. This is going to be really bad, Ian.”
I refuse to panic. I won’t let some stupid man scare me. I tried hard to convince myself it all wasn’t some sick game for years and it was all my fault. But I knew it was. “May I be excused?”
Ian scowled. “I think you need to stay here?—”
“I’ll go with her,” Jenna replied.
“I need to be alone.”
“Being alone isn’t an option any longer!” Ian spat. “It’s clear that’s when bad shit happens.”
“Fine,” I sighed, “I just need to get some air.”
“You can’t go outside right now,” Luke added.
I rolled my eyes just as Jenna sashayed over, hooking her arm in mine. “I know a place we can go where no one will find us and we’ll be safe.”
She was the last person I needed to be around. Her kidnapping, Tyler’s permanent scars, Amber almost getting ruined by Alejandro; it was all on me. I was supposed to be the strong one, Ian’s assistant, his go-to person to fix it all. And now I was fucking it all up.
14
SNAKE AMONG US
JADE
“This isn’t exactly what I had in mind when I said I wanted fresh air.” I scanned Ian’s dark and twisted playroom at the end of the executive office hallway. I’d only ever seen the room once, a while back… by accident. It was the one room in the club no one, not even me, was allowed. Even in the event of an emergency. OFF LIMITS. Unless the club was burning to the ground and he and Jenna were inside.
The room’s walls were black with a mirrored ceiling and matching floor. The black four-poster bed with intricate gold detailing on the cushioned headboard was eye-catching for anyone who wandered into the forbidden dungeon. Chains and red ropes hung down from the middle, the blankets unkempt as if Ian and Jenna used it not that long ago.
She fell sideways over it, propping on an elbow. “Well, it’s the one place we can be where neither of us will be bombarded by security or people who apparently want us both dead.”
Ouch. I roamed the room, trying not to look at anything so as not to invade Ian’s privacy. I ran my fingertips over the back of the black leather sofa that faced the bed but quickly drew them back, wrinkling my nose.
She giggled. “You’re safe to sit on the sofa. At least tonight. We didn’t use it earlier, and it’s been cleaned since the last time.”
Relieved, but still cautious, I tucked my dress underneath my rear and perched on the end cushion. “Jenna, I need to talk to you about something.”
“I have a feeling I know where this is going but go ahead.”
She was smart. I was sure she’d already played this conversation out in her head. And I didn’t want to talk to her because she was my boss’s wife. I wanted to talk to her because she’d become one of my best friends.
