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“What would the punishment entail?”
“I have so many ideas, but you know what?”
I was almost afraid to ask. “What?”
“The thing I want to do most right now is hold you.”
“Jesus, who would have known you were such a romantic?
“Shut the fuck up and come here.”
I cuddled against him and laid my head on his warm, solid chest. I tried to slow my breathing and relax, but despite his arms around me, despite knowing he loved me as much as I loved him, my body wouldn’t settle.
“I’ve been looking into Swain like you told me to.”
I felt Devil stiffen. “Please tell me you’re being careful.”
“I am.” I probably wasn’t being as careful as he’d like, but if I didn’t take some risks, I was never going to find the evidence I needed to connect Swain to Murphy. “I’m going to nail the son of a bitch.”
Devil laughed softly. “I bet you will. You’ll make sure everything works out.”
I wanted to believe him, but my instincts were telling me things might be more complicated than they seemed.
Devil’s breathing evened out as he drifted off to sleep, and as I listened to his deep, gentle breaths, I remembered the man I’d seen several times during the day. Had he been following me? Should I tell Devil about him? Maybe, but I didn’t want to wake him.
26
Devil
I was in a meeting with Lucien and Angelo when my phone rang.
It was Marco.
“I’ll be right back.” Lucien glared at me when I stood, but I ignored him, slipped from the Lucien’s office, and answered the call.
“What’s up?”
“I think Swain and his associates are onto Daniels.”
“Fuck. I’ve got to stop this.” I paced the conference room where I’d gone to take the call.
“You know how long I’ve been trying to find something concrete to pin on these fuckers, and they’ve only gotten more powerful. You may have to call in some family favors.”
“I don’t want to involve the family. The first thing I need to do is get Joe somewhere safe, then I’ll figure out how to handle things.”
“Devil—”
I slapped my hand against the table. “Just get me all the information you can.”
“All I know right now is that Swain knows there’s a cop messing around in his business.”
“Dig deeper.”
“You’re going to owe me.”
I would do anything to save Joe. “I don’t give a fuck about favors right now. Just do whatever you can.”
“Fine, but don’t try to do this yourself. You and Daniels will both end up dead.”
“I can call in Giorgio.”
Marco whistled. “He’s a scary ass motherfucker. He’s as likely to kill guys like you as he is to help them.”
“He owes me a favor.” Giorgio was a former army sniper who worked for Vigilance, a shadowy group that eliminated organizations the cops couldn’t touch. I’d helped him get rid of some weapons dealers months ago.
“And it’s worth calling that in to save a cop?”
“Daniels helped me and my family, so fuck yes.”
“Yet Lucien and Angelo know nothing about it.”
I didn’t have time for this bullshit. I needed to get to Joe as fast as I could. “That was part of the deal. The more people who know, the more Daniels would be compromised.”
Marco sighed. “I know there’s something going on between you and Daniels, and I don’t mean the bargain you made to get him to drop the investigation against Lucien. I know I’m not going to be able to convince you to let Daniels handle his own problems, but don’t jump into danger without thinking. Talk to your cousins. If things go sideways, you’ll regret never telling them.”
I resented the fuck out of Marco for scolding me like I was a kid, but he was right. If the men who ran the trafficking ring were back and after Joe, he was in deep shit. Even with Giorgio at my back, I could get fucked up or… I pushed those dark thoughts away. “Are you going to help me with this or not?”
Marco blew out a long breath. “Yes.”
“Check back in with your contact. Find out everything he knows and get back to me.”
“Devil…”
I considered ending the call and ignoring him. “What?”
“Take care of yourself.”
“I will. You too. I want information, but don’t ask if you’re not sure of your contacts.”
“I’m always careful.”
I didn’t think that was true, but he was sure as fuck more careful than me.
I hung up and called Joe. The phone rang until I got his voicemail. I waited impatiently through the message then asked him to call me immediately. As soon as I hung up, I texted him. Danger. Call me now.
I paced the conference room thinking about how the hell I was going to handle this on my own as I waited for a response. When I hadn’t heard from Joe after a few minutes, I called back. Once again, his phone went to voicemail. I had a really bad feeling. Had Swain gotten to him already?
