Page 80

"Not these cops. They may be federal. It was suggested that if we fed them information about you, they would leave our shipments alone."

"Who fed you that idea?"

Thankfully, Vidar didn't bring up Rosalind's name. My brother might be an asshole, but he was loyal. The Blackwood motto was family first.

Valentino tapped two fingers against his desk. "I've got my own leak. I know what the cops are looking for. Whoever's feeding them information hasn't gotten the memo that we're under new management."

"This is about the death matches," I said.

Valentino's gaze met mine. "Among other things."

"You stopped those."

"Apparently somebody didn't get the fucking newsletter." Valentino leaned forward. "My father liked men fighting to the death. I don't. You kill somebody in one of my rings now, you pay a fine. Whoever's feeding the cops knows enough to be dangerous but not enough to be current."

"That's familiar," Vidar said. He was looking at me. "When Gunnar questioned Corin Petrakis, the information he received wasn't entirely current. But it was still enough to do damage."

"Petrakis?" Valentino frowned. "He Ironwood?"

"He was an Ironwood enforcer."

"Was?"

"He's dead. The information he gave Gunnar led back to the Lobos."

"So it's Sorsha doing all this?"

Vidar looked at me for an answer.

"Maybe," I conceded. It would all be so easy to blame it all on Rosalind's mother, since it looked like Rosalind was trying to do just that.

"Maybe?" Valentino scoffed. "If I wanted to fuck with Blackwood freight and had access to Lobo logistics, this is how I'd do it."

"But," Vidar continued, "someone has also been interfering with Lobo distribution."

Valentino leaned back. "Who goes to this much trouble to make Sorsha look like she's starting a war while simultaneously damaging her own supply lines?"

Nobody answered.

I did. Not aloud. My mind supplied an image instead.

Rosalind; lying naked in my bed.

Rosalind; beneath me in the woods. Her pale eyes replaced by the sharp gaze of her wolf.

She listened when people assumed she couldn't see. She knew things she shouldn't. She'd spent her whole life making everyone believe she was helpless. Including me.

My wife wasn't helpless. She's used Lobo resources. Used Lupetto paranoia. Used old Vane grievances. Used Ironwood ambition. Had she used me?

My hands curled at my sides. I couldn't ignore it anymore. I would deal with her myself. At least they hadn't figured it out yet.

"Who would have all this access and want to destroy Sorsha?" asked Vidar. "And why?"

Valentino looked at me. "The only person this close to her is —"

Before he could complete the sentence, there was a loud bang from the other room. Loud noises in the gym were par for the course. But this sounded like a door being kicked in, not a body dropping in a ring.

CHAPTER FORTY-TWO