I snatched the paper from him and held it close. “How did you get this?”
“Anonymous source.”
There was a date, an invoice from Fethermans & Company. Against the ache in my throat, I followed the dotted line across the page to an account number and the billed items.
To be shipped to Buffalo, NY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
1 Bolt of Aniline dyed silk (Pink).
“No.”
“Yes,” Luka countered, sinking into the guest chair across from me. “She wasn’t waiting; she fled across the globe with your sister to escape you.”
“It wasn’t me she was escaping.”
“What is it you said to me those years ago?” He tapped his chin. “Where your name goes, mine will follow?”
“This is a coincidence.”
“No, it is your sister’s inability to live without the luxuries she was raised with, and thus use of your father’s account to comfort herself. I had a detective sent not too long ago, just to make sure it was truly them. I received confirmation a day ago.”
“You must have a death wish getting anywhere near this.”
“No, I am pulling the wool from your eyes and ending this arrangement.”
“Oh really?” I scoffed. “How so?”
“Let us make a wager.”
“I don’t gamble.”
“If you want to see her again, alive, youabsolutelywill. Because it won’t be long until Levi?—”
“Don’t,” I warned, squeezing my eyes shut, grounding myself in the pain of a clenched fist.
“I am willing to put my neck in the guillotine to show you how delusional your plan is,” he continued. “Hear my bet and place yours.”
“Fine,” I let out a slow breath before opening my eyes. “What are your terms?”
“We go to her, in Buffalo”—I opened my mouth to speak, but he held a hand up—“we will bet on the outcome, and I guarantee both options end in her living.”
I closed my mouth and leaned back, crossing my arms and nodding for him to continue.
“If we seek her out, and she accepts you with open arms, I will be killed, and you both will be on your merry way. Just as you planned in the event of her return.”
“Or?”
“Or,” Luka continued, “this elaborate revenge plan blows back in your face, and I get a stake in your company.”
“Excuse me?”
“You heard me.” Luka leaned forward. “I think she will hate you more than you know, especially keeping me alive. You’ve passed the point of no return. Whether you kill me or let her do it, she will still hate you for what you are to your core, aside from being aman.”
“Aside from that insinuation beingridiculous,” I laughed, “why would you want to tie yourself to my company? Are you afraid you’ll miss me if I cut you loose?”
“No matter how we resolve this, no one is willing to accept me as part of their Nest or hire me for the next century because of that sick stunt you pulled. I’m tired of hunting in the streets, and you don’t even have Hosts in this place.”
“This is really the thing you’re asking for?”
