Not having the time nor the interest to work through the honesty of my inner monologue, I get to the point of my interstate visit. “I’m here regarding your brother, Liam Gregg, or as you knew him, Liam Gottle, the second.” When Henry’s jaw ticks like he’s fighting not to signal for me to be taken down, I talk faster. “Rumors state my father was part of the operation to take him down—”
“It wasn’t an order to take him down. His family was brutalized, and his wife and daughter were scared half to death.”
I nod, agreeing with him. There’s no denying the truth. I read the reports on the Gregg home invasion during our flight. The men who entered their house were paid for a standard hit. The fact Wren, Henry’s sister-in-law, would spark an attraction out of them wasn’t considered. Her looks changed their tactics in an instant. If it weren’t for Liam, Wren would have faced more than a handful of scratches on her inner thighs and bruises to her breasts that night, and it would have occurred in front of her daughter.
The knowledge of their change-up is why my mood is so sour this morning. Roxanne has a spark men can’t help but acknowledge. Her spunk is potent enough to feed the ego of a dozen men, so what will happen when they realize there’s only one way to unleash her powers? Will she be attacked as Wren was but left defenseless since I’m not there to stop it?
The thought makes me sick. It honestly makes me the most unhinged I’ve ever been, and it’s heard in my voice when I growl out, “You have every right to go after the men responsible for hurting your family, but you won’t get anywhere if you continue chasing the wrong fucking sanction.”
“Your father—”
“Paid more than his share to fund thejointoperation to take you down!” My roar reveals more than half a dozen snipers are dying for Henry to make a hand signal, but I act ignorant over a two-decade-long injustice as much as I am my inability to find Roxanne and Fien without the help of my enemies. “But he felt your wrath, licked his wounds, then sat the fuck back down. He hasn’t moved since, yet you’re still facing the same issues you had when he wanted your throne.”
My teeth grit when the last half of my sentence comes out with a jut from a gun being forcefully pressed to my head. I don’t need to sling my eyes to know who has stepped up to the plate before Henry has finished swinging his bat. His big head causes enough of a shadow on Henry’s face to know who he is, much less the flick of Rocco’s safety switch when he returns Kwan’s gamble with one of his own.
Rocco doesn’t care if his retaliation will get him killed. He’d rather respond to an act of intimidation than take it up the ass like I have the past two years.
Following his lead, I say, “You’re chasing the wrong crew.”
Henry brushes off my statement with a wave of his hand. “Says the man too stupid to realize he’s doing all the legwork of a man undeserving of his time.”
“I don’t work for my father.” After a stern glare at Kwan, warning him we’re seconds from a brutal bloodbath if he doesn’t stop digging his gun into my head, I add, “Everything I’ve done the past two years has been for my daughter.”
Henry tries to hide the shock of my confession, but the mask slips over his face too quickly for me to ignore. I’ve heard he isn’t as hard as his fierce reputation. I would have never believed it if I hadn’t seen it for myself.
“Her name is Fien. She was born here, of all places, exactly twenty-two months ago, forcefully delivered by the very man you’ve been sheltering for years.” I hold up the first photograph taken of Fien. You could coo at how cute she is if it didn’t also show a bloody and cut-open Audrey on a stained mattress in the background.
Once I’m certain Henry understands Fien’s delivery was nothing close to ordinary, I show him an image taken only days earlier. Even though no fight whatsoever is seen on Audrey’s face as she’s led out of the back entrance of Slice of Salt, the family crest on both Rimi’s ring and his neck are undeniable. “I’ve been paying to keep her safe ever since.”
When I gesture for Smith to move forward, Henry signals for Kwan to stand down. The goon with a head the size of a watermelon hesitates for a second but eventually does as told. All good foot soldiers do. Although Kwan is like family to Henry, he’s still aware of the repercussions if he ignores his direct order.
“We have information that leads us to believe Rimi’s crew is relocating to the New York region.” After opening up the laptop Smith hands me, I log into the event Rimi has tickets for. “He purchased tickets to this event.”
“I am aware,” Henry interrupts, his voice somewhat off. It isn’t brimming with anger, but it is full of distrust. Can’t say I blame him. I don’t trust anyone, much less people with the same last name as me. “Permission was requested to attend. We have eyes on the proceedings.” His eyes stray to Kwan during the last part of his comment, falling on a tattoo that looks oddly similar to the Castro family crest.
Although suspicious as to why Kwan is wearing a crest for an entity that isn’t his, I continue with my endeavor to make Henry see sense through the madness, aware time isn’t in my favor. “Permission I doubt you’d give if you understood the real reason Rimi is here.”
I click on the only file on my desktop. Aware Henry never takes anything on faith, I had Smith install everything onto a device we don’t plan to see again. Henry would hate for his fuck-up to be broadcasted to his enemies, so I’m confident Smith’s prototype laptop will be destroyed by the end of tonight.
“Milo Bobrov ran down your brother and sister-in-law, but he wasn’t acting alone—”
My teeth grit when Henry interrupts. “David Crombie orchestrated it. You’re not telling me anything I don’t already know.”
He spins away from me, his steps slowing when I add, “Rimi Castro organized both the raids that terrorized your familyandLiam and Wren’s death. He’s playing you for a fool.” He looks like he wants to kill me, but I carry on, unfazed and unscared. I’m already living my nightmare. It can’t get any worse than this. “Why do you think Kirill returned stateside after all this time? Even he has heard how much you love sucking Rimi’s dick, and he wants in on the action.”
For an old guy, Henry has a lot of strength in his hits. He punishes my ribs with an unrelenting left-right combination before he slams my back into my private jet’s shell that feels as cold as ice.
I don’t retaliate to his brutal clutch of my throat. I’m too busy laughing at the whitening of his gills when Smith plays a recording he found buried deep in the Bureau’s database. It’s a private conversation between David Crombie, a former associate of Rimi’s, and an undercover agent, Phillipa Russell. It exposes just how long Rimi has been playing both sides of the field and exactly who he took down in the process.
After Henry releases me from his grip, too shocked to continue with his aggressive stance, I swallow down some saliva, hopeful it will ease out my next set of words. “Rimi nagged and nagged and nagged Milo to seek vengeance on Liam for the time he served in a state facility away from his family. When he finally got through to him, you thought you were safe from carnage.” I shake my head like I am disappointed I’m not the only gangbanger one step behind his enemies the past decade. I’m not, but I am happy for Henry to believe I am. “You got slack. You thought it was over, then they hit you with everything they had.”
“I took care of Crombie,” he seethes through clenched teeth.
I nod, once again agreeing with him. Crombie was found dead in his cell within an hour of him being arrested. “But you left the main hitter out at the plate, unconcerned about your curveball.”
When Henry tries to deny my claims, I hit him where it hurts. Unlike my father, it isn’t his hip pocket. It’s his niece, Melody Gottle, the only surviving member of the renamed Gregg family. “You did good. For years, your enemies thought she was dead. Then Crombie couldn’t keep his mouth shut.”
He snatches both the recent photo of Melody out of my hand along with a ransom drop the Feds are currently in the process of organizing. “Rimi doesn’t even have Melody at his mercy, yet her billionaire fiancé is willing to pay one point five million dollars to ensure it never occurs.”
