“Perhaps, but if you let Castro take him out, he’ll feel like he’s got something over you. That’s something we don’t need.”
He had a point. Reluctantly, I agreed to warn Maximus. After hanging up, I started the car and made my way back to Maximus’s lands. The front gate was already open, being repaired from my previous visit. As I parked my car and stepped out, Maximus appeared at the front door, clearly unhappy to see me.
“Come to your senses, have you?” He shoved his hands into his pockets, trying a little too hard to prove my presence didn’t unnerve him. “Ready to discuss backing my casino idea?”
I took a step toward him, and he instinctively retreated a step back. His security guards emerged from the house, surrounding him protectively.
I held up my hands. “I’m not here for trouble.” I tried to keep my voice level. I had a message to deliver and then I wanted to get the fuck out of there. I didn’t have the mental energy to be peaceful around Maximus for more than a few minutes. “I’m here to warn you.”
“Oh, really?” Maximus smirked, gesturing toward the broken gate. “Are you here to warn me before you destroy more property that doesn’t belong to you?”
“Listen,” I said, gritting my teeth. “Castro is targeting you. You’re in danger, whether you believe it or not.”
Maximus scoffed. “You expect me to believe that? You’re just trying to scare me. It’s not going to work.”
“Fine,” I said, my patience wearing thin. “But if you don’t heed my warning, you’ll regret it. You don’t wanna fuck with Castro. He killed his own parents, and he won’t think twice about snapping your neck to make a point.”
“Get off my land, Keller,” Maximus spat. “And don’t bother coming back.”
I shook my head at his stubbornness, but there was nothing more I could do. The moment I stepped into my car, my phone buzzed with a text from my dad.
Brought Liza home with me to the estate.
Relief surged through me, knowing that she was safe and sound. The tension in my body eased slightly, and I started the engine and drove through the broken gate.
As I pulled up to the house, a sense urgency propelled me out of the car. I needed to see Liza to know that she was truly okay. I burst through the front door and scanned the room. No sign of her downstairs. Without missing a beat, I dashed up the stairs, taking them two at a time.
“Where are you?” I muttered under my breath, my nostrils flaring as I tried to catch her scent.
I found her in my office, standing at my desk, holding the envelope we’d been avoiding for days.
Her eyes met mine, obviously determined to find more answers. “It’s time,” she said softly, her voice steady and unwavering. “We’ve put this off long enough.”
88
LIZA
The mysterious envelope felt heavier than it should have. It had become a symbol of all the unanswered questions that hovered between us.
Ty took one look at it and sighed heavily. “It’ll have to wait a bit longer, Liza.”
He plopped down into the large leather chair behind his desk, his shoulders weighed down by some invisible burden. Tension radiated off him. Something was eating him alive.
“What’s going on? You seem stressed.” What was I saying? Of course, he was fucking stressed. One look around and anyone could see that the world was burning around us. “Well, more stressed than usual.”
“Castro called me,” he revealed, pinching the bridge of his nose as if trying to ward off an impending headache.
I walked over to his side and gently took a seat in his lap, rubbing his back with one hand, silently showing my support. At least he was telling me. I could only hope he wouldn’t keep anything from me. Again. “What did he have to say?”
“Apparently, he’s pissed because I allowed Maximus to advertise you to fucking shifter traffickers.” Ty growled low, hisarms wrapping around my waist in a protective gesture. “As if I had any clue Maximus would stoop so low. If it weren’t for Hiram, I’d still be in the dark. I’ll never understand how Castro has his finger on the pulse of every damn thing happening not only in our lives, but in the whole of fucking Texas.”
I nodded. “You’re right. And for the record, I know you would’ve stopped Maximus had you known what his plans were.”
“Of course I would have.” Ty stared at me with eyes that pleaded for me to believe him, to know beyond all certainty that he’d never let anything happen to me. “Castro said he’s going to take matters into his own hands. He said he’d take care of Maximus.”
I bit back my anger. It wasn’t directed at Ty, just the whole situation we’d found ourselves in. “So, what are you going to do about it?”
“Nothing more than I have to,” Ty said, resting his head on my chest. “Maximus and I aren’t allies, so I have no obligation to help him. I warned him, but he chose to ignore it. If anything happens to him, it’s because he didn’t want to listen.”
