"So how did you find out?" I ask anyway.
He laughs again. Soft. Almost pleased. "You already know the answer to that, too."
Yeah. He's everywhere. In the cracks. In the weak links. In the men who think they won't break.
"Careful, Gabe," he continues. "You're starting to sound frustrated."
"I'm starting to sound bored," I correct coldly. "Get to the point."
Another chuckle, as if we are old friends, bantering, which couldn't be further from the truth.
"So, I hear the woman you hope to make your mother-in-law is giving you trouble."
Something in me snaps tight. Cold. Deadly. "Watch your mouth."
He hums. Enjoying this.
"I'd hate for something unfortunate to happen," he continues lightly. "Hospitals can be such… unpredictable places."
My grip on the phone tightens. "Say what you want to say."
"It would be a shame," he goes on, almost conversational now, "if someone accidentally pushed hydralazine into her IV instead of labetalol."
My vision sharpens. Hydralazine—wrong dose, wrong timing—you tank her pressure hard enough, fast enough—it'll kill her. Or make it look like her body did it for you.
My voice drops to ice. "Are you threatening me?"
A soft exhale. "No, Gabe." A beat passes. "I'm educating you."
My teeth grind together. I don't give a shit about Stacy. Not really. But I do care more than I would like to admit about Audra.
Audra!
He knows where she is. My head turns automatically, searching for her. She's sitting on the edge of the bed. Her mother's legs won't give her much room to sit. The woman is so small that if she just moved a few inches to the side, it would make Audra more comfortable and not bother the old bat at all.
He clears his throat, and my mind returns to him. He knows she matters. And that? That's a problem. A big one.
"This could all be so much easier," he continues smoothly, "if you stopped fighting me." There it is. The offer. Again. "Work with me, not against me."
I let the silence stretch. Let him think. Let him enjoy it.
"You're still talking," I say quietly. "Which means I haven't found you yet." He lets out another deep chuckle.
"When I do," I add, my voice dropping to something darker, something that doesn't leave room for interpretation, "you're going to wish you never picked up that phone."
That stops the chuckle momentarily. "You always did have a temper."
I got him. He just gave something important away. He knows me. Which means I know him too. And probably, so do the others. "You say that like we're old friends."
Another pause follows, then the line clicks dead. I lower the phone slowly. My jaw is so tight, it hurts. My mind is already moving. Fast. Adjusting. Recalculating. Because this just changed everything. He knows about Audra. And if he knows, he's going to use her. Which will never happen. Not even over my dead body because I know my brothers will protect her should anything happen to me. I turn back toward the room. Toward her. Yeah. This just became personal.
Next, I dial Massimo. "I have something."
"I'm all ears."
"The fucker just called me. We know him."
Massimo takes a sharp inhale. "Who is he?"
