Especially when he’d made a promise to a friend.
Besides, this truly was their best shot. If there was evidence to be found against Rudy D’Amico, it started with Vincent Estas. Dorian knew it in his gut.
Dorian leaned forward, knocking Aiden’s feet off the desk and turning back to Cole. “You realize you’re putting yourself at great personal risk, Cole.”
Cole waved away the suggestion as if it were the most ludicrous thing in the world.
“I mean it,” Dorian said. “Estas, Rogozin, D’Amico, Duchanes, the grays… Things could get ugly.”
“Can’t be much uglier ’nyou.” he said.
“He’s got a point, mate.” Aiden gestured at Dorian’s face and winced. “I’ve been staring at that hideous mug for two hundred fifty-odd years, and I’m still alive. Nauseated, but alive.”
“Be serious,” Dorian said. “If anything were to—”
“I’m totally serious,” Aiden said. “Have youseenyour face?”
Dorian grabbed the FierceConnect standard-issue stress ball from his desk, crushing it until his fingers went numb.Fucking Aiden. Fucking Cole.Dorian wanted to talk them both out of it. To thank them for entertaining his crazy scheme and implore them to walk away before they got in any deeper.
But one more glance at his friends—at the steel in their eyes, the strong set of their shoulders—and he knew his efforts would be futile.
“Thank you,” he managed, emotion tightening his throat. He trusted these men more than he trusted his own brothers.
He trusted them with his life.
WithCharlotte’slife.
The men nodded, and after a beat, Aiden frowned and said, “I’m sorry, mate. I knew Charlotte was a bit unpredictable, but a thief? I truly didn’t see it coming.”
“You couldn’t have,” Dorian said. After all, Dorian himself had been right next to it—inbedwith it—and he’d been blindsided too. “But… thanks.”
Aiden shrugged. “You’re clearly still in love with her, and I still think you’re a crazy obsessive bloody damn fool, and after this, if you so much assmileat a woman, I’m fingerprinting her, microchipping her, and putting her through every psychological screening test known to man. But I’ve always got your back, mate. You know that.”
Dorian nodded. Hedidknow that. And it meant more to him than Aiden could imagine.
“So what’s our next move, Columbo?” Cole asked.
To Aiden, Dorian said, “Call Estas and tell him it’s a go. Set up the meeting for Saturday night. Cole will meet him for the exchange, and you and I will follow—from a safe distance, of course—to make sure everything goes smoothly.”
“Sounds like a plan,” Cole said.
“Excellent.” Aiden rose from the chair and stretched, cracking his neck as if he were limbering up for a fight. “I’ll have someone from H.R. send up the paperwork for my raise.”
Dorian chucked the stress ball at Aiden’s head. “Sod off, you bloody racketeer.”
“Forty percent ought to do it. A nice, round number.”
“How about dinner and a few pints?”
“Eh…” Aiden considered the offer. “Throw in dessert and a movie, a little cuddling afterwards, and you’ve got a deal.”
Chapter Twenty-Three
echoes of city’s dark past seen in chilling east village discoveries; authorities fear crimson city devil copycat
neighborhoods on edge as body count grows
midnight curfew in effect for manhattan; police urge extreme caution in wake of grisly murders
