Mateo has been going on jobs out of state nonstop for the past six months, so much so that we’re always surprised when he’s back in town. He isn’t a man who likes to stay in one place for too long.
He drapes an arm over the seat. “Word on the street is you’ve been back in the business. I heard about your fight with Victor, and I gotta say, I would have killed him too for pulling a knife on me.”
“Who told you I killed Victor?”
Mateo’s hair swings before his eyes. “Basically, the entire Crown. They think after the neck bite, you finally lost your shit and turned into Uncle Xavier.”
I look to Shawn, who’s already shaking his head in frustration. Rumors spread like wildfire around here. Do these people believe I’d be reckless enough to murder Victor for an attempted stabbing? And the day of the attempt? I’m not an idiot.
Mateo’s brow raises. “You didn’t kill Victor?”
“I’m not a fucking idiot,” I say dryly. “If I killed every person who ever wanted to kill me, I’d have no one to fight in Fight Club.”
“This organization gossips like teenagers,” Shawn grumbles.
My cousin grabs the wineglass from the middle of the table and pours it into the crystal glass. “If not you, then who killed Victor? I know the guy wasn’t exactly a saint, but he didn’t have any bad blood with anyone. He was a drug addict.”
The question is something I think about often. So much weird shit has been happening lately, and a lot of questions remain unanswered. Is the person who kidnapped Ryland the same one who murdered Victor? Are those two things completely unrelated to the rat leaking information?
I rub my forehead to ease the brewing headache. Fucking hell, if this is a glimpse into the life of a crime boss, I’m not sure I want it. Dealing with everything makes my head pound and my chest feel heavy, and the only time it lets up is when I’m with Rip.
And that isnota positive thing.
“Probably the same person leaking intel,” Shawn says, side-eyeing me.
My jaw tightens. How many times are we going to go over this? “Yeah, the person we haven’t found yet.”
Shawn’s green eyes glare daggers my way, as if he’s about to swing on me. With a deep breath, he shifts his gaze and turns toward Mateo. “Tell me, when two random social media managers show up and that’s the moment everything starts to go to shit, who’s likely the one to blame?”
Mateo looks between the both of us, reluctant to pick a side. “Uh, probably the social media managers?”
“Ex-fucking-actly!” he exclaims with a clap. Shawn points at me accusingly. “But Kingsley’s fucking one of them, and he’s got his heart wrapped up in it, so he can’t see two feet ahead of him.”
Tension burns in my veins. Of course, I enjoy my time with Rip—his gruff and taunting personality is what sparks me to get up in the morning. It’s like his fire ignites something in me, pulling me out of the slump I was in after my fiancées death. I would have remained a prisoner in my body, undead, without him. I’m mature enough to admit that.
But to suggest that I’m so caught up with him I’d neglect the empire my great-great-grandfather built from the ground up? Shawn might as well have slapped me.
“Go to hell, Shawn,” I curse. “You haven’t found an ounce of dirt on Rip and Thomas.”
“Yet,” he says, his lip curling in a smirk.
Mateo can’t figure out who to look at. He leans forward, propping his elbows on his thighs. “Do you have a grudge against these people, Shawn?”
“No, dumbass. I have a brain.” Shawn taps his temple. “Put two and two together.”
“Shawn is right, Lee. The timing is suspicious.”
Shawn grins like my sister does when she proves me wrong, wide and taunting.
“But…” Mateo drawls, “King is right, you have no evidence. And I think you’re underestimating him. If he doesn’t think it’s them, I’m sure he has his reasons.”
I smile. Take that, Shawn.
We can always count on Mateo to speak honestly. He has always been the most level-headed out of us all, playing the rational side while making us both feel heard.
“You see how much Sylvie fucked him up. Can you really say that?”
Mateo stiffens, and Shawn gasps as if he wasn’t aware of the words that left his mouth.
