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“She was a little unsettled by our visitor this morning, so I baked her some scones she likes.”
“Of course you did.” I glance over at Kylie’s fresh-faced innocence. She got up and baked homemade treats for her grandma, after the night she had.
“Looks like she’s sharing them.” Kylie smiles, giving Booker and her grandma a wave as we pass the house.
I turn around, heading west. I don’t take the turnoff for the road to Fire. Instead, I head toward the forest behind the lake. To Accardi country.
“Where are we going? You missed the turn for Fire.” She points a pink fingernail at the window.
“We have a stop to make on the way.”
She knows before I tell her. She looks at me. “Don’t… don’t hurt him. Please.”
This girl is something else. Any of the other women I tangle with would be egging me on to kick his ass. “He put you in harm’s way, used you, and you tell me not to hurt him?”
“I just… I don’t fully believe that was his intent.” She stays silent, having said her piece.
“You’re more naïve than I thought.”
She cringes at my words. I think of Liam. Right now, he’d tell me to grow a filter. Still, the girl is too closed off about the world. If she’s going to be working for me, she’s going to have to open her eyes.
I pull through the open iron gates onto their drive. The dark green mansion’s paint is still peeling, its dark shutters in desperate need of a wash. But the bones are good. It could be a beautiful home. I can see why she wants to rescue it.
My usual mode of operation would be to blare the horn. Yell for Antonio to get his ass out here and face me. I glance over at Kylie. She’s got the end of a lock of her dark hair twisting around her finger, her teeth sunk into her bottom lip.
I’ll go inside.
“Wait here,” I command.
She doesn’t say anything.
I grab her shoulder, giving it a shake. “Wait here and do not touch that door handle. Do not get out of this car. You sit here and you wait for me. Do you understand?”
“Yes, sir.” She looks away, turning her gaze out the window.
I lock the door to the car, taking the keys with me. I take the front steps two at a time and bang my fist against the front door.
One of their men opens the door. Dimitri. A tall man with a neck tattoo of the three of clubs, but no one knows why. “Cannon. Who are you here for?”
“Antonio. I’m here for Antonio.” I shove my way past Dimitri. Sensing I’m in no mood to converse, he steps aside to go get their other men, I’m sure. “Antonio! Get your ass out here.”
I wait. Ten seconds. He’s taking too long. I fill my lungs with air, ready to bellow his name again. He comes slinking out of the dining room, a damn apple stuck in the end of his hook. He lifts it to his lips, slowly taking a bite.
“Bachman. What can I do for you?” He stands in the foyer, eyeing me. He takes the apple from his hook, offering it to me. “Hungry?”
“Fuck you.” I take the apple, throwing it against the wall. “You know why I’m here?”
“I know why you’re here. But I don’t thinkyou”—the little shit has the audacity to tap my chest with his hook—“know why you’re here.”
I grab him by the neck, shoving him right up against the wall where the apple hit. “What the hell is that supposed to mean?”
Dimitri’s gathered the men and now they surround us from all angles. I don’t care. I’ll fight them all.
Antonio holds them off with a raise of his hook. “Leave it.”
He settles his gaze on mine. I’d forgotten how bright his green eyes are, their color unnerving.
“You have it all wrong,” he says. “Did you even check to see if what was in the package was what you assumed?”
