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“There is no doubt Liam is responsible,” I answered.
“For what you did to Ronin?” She planted one hand on her hip, shaking her head as she always did when admonishing me.
“No, I think it’s for another reason entirely.” I glanced at Constantine. It was past time to come clean. I took more than a swig of my drink. It was even painful to swallow.
“Then what, brother?”
“I wasn’t going to say anything but you both need to know that Liam proposed a marriage arrangement between Danika and Ronin.”
“What? Over my dead fucking body,” she snapped.
Constantine exhaled. “What did you tell him?”
“Pretty much what our baby sis just said.”
“Then it’s solid grounds for the assassination attempt, not just because of how you humiliated Liam’s son.”
I nodded. “Yeah, tell me something I don’t know.”
“What now? I’m not marrying that pig.” Her insistence was exactly as I would have expected.
“No, you’re not but we might use it as a ploy if necessary,” I said, which was more of thinking out loud.
“Not bad but I think checking with our informants first to double check we’re not missing anything is vital. And I need one of those drinks.” Constantine walked past me, cursing under his breath.
But I heard him.
Neither one of us liked to be challenged.
“I still wonder why Liam would dare allow his son to attack you. Even after the humiliation you provided Ronin, the patriarch is well aware a war could be started that they have no chance of winning.”
I resisted laughing at my brother’s summation. “Arrogance breeds absolute confidence. That’s something you should know well.” I was only half teasing.
He shook his head as he stopped in mid action, his glare turning into a smile. “Touché, brother.”
“Why don’t we grab the men and head into my office? I don’t want to inflict any further damage on Maria than necessary.”
Constantine chuckled. “And so it begins in earnest.”
“Don’t start with me.” I refilled my drink then headed out of the living room, glancing at the stairs in some ridiculous hope of seeing her at the top of them.
The landing on the second floor was empty.
I wasn’t certain what the fuck it mattered anyway. As Maria had so eloquently put it, we weren’t going to be friends and I doubted we’d share anything but hot sex.
And she would give that to me.
Yeah, I was an asshole and at this moment, didn’t give a shit.
“Kane, Mark, Steve. Come with us. We’re going to develop a plan. Have some of the others head to the stomping grounds to check with our associates in the streets. Make certain none of the windows or doors on the exterior haven’t been fucked with and check for any listening devices. Also arrange to have security cameras installed. That’s way past overdue.”
Kane seemed surprised I was already barking orders. “You’re pissed off.”
“You bet I am. No one fucks with my life or those of my men. Or my wife.” I could tell Constantine was watching me with amusement. Maybe I had taken things too lightly. Or perhaps we’d all been living in a vacuum, refusing to understand or accept that at every moment of the day, tragedy could happen. We weren’t infallible. We weren’t immortal. Being dangerous men didn’t come with a ‘get out of hell free’ card either. It was time I took my job more seriously.
“You got it, my man. I’ll have the cameras up by nightfall. What about the trip?” Kane asked.
“Oh, yeah. Call the pilot. Tell him it’s off for now. I’ll reschedule in a couple days.” Whether or not Maria would be disappointed couldn’t matter. Not now. Not when there was so much at stake.
