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Then I think about Ada, all alone and terrified with my baby growing inside her, and the moment loses its humour. She kept the pregnancy so hush-hush, even Silas didn’t know about it until after Alex was born.
“Did you see her?”
“Yes, I saw her.”
“Did you fuck her?”
“Would you like me to shove my gun where the sun doesn’t shine, or ram it down your throat instead?” I move swiftly toward the driver’s side before I start acting on my threat.
“Did you really stay the whole hour?” he drawls. “You haven’t been with a woman in so long I imagine it was more of a sprint than a marathon.”
“Remind me, whose private jet you’re taking back to Monaco again?”
Now it’s his turn to laugh. “I’ve missed you, you miserable cunt. Sinning and winning is no fun without you.”
I rest my elbows on the roof of the SUV as he circles around to the passenger side, feeling emotionally bankrupt. “Go home to Issa, Raven. This isn’t your fight.”
“It became my fight when Tommaso Zaccaria screwed with my life, too. I just didn’t know my enemy’s face until recently.”
I groan inwardly.I know where this conversation is headed.I just never expected it to happen a hundred metres from Ada’s front door with the memory of her pussy wrapped around my cock still lucid in my mind.
“I don’t want your guilt,” he says, catching sight of my face. “You kept everything from me because you didn’t have a choice. I dealt with the ramifications of that when you were inside, and it’s the reason I was standingoutsidethe gates on your release day and not at your funeral. I know what you did for me when we were kids. I know the sacrifices you made.” He glances back at the looming silhouette of Ada’s house. “We’re not brothers by blood, but we’re brothers in all the other ways it counts.”
There’s a long pause.
“What was the favour?”
“What favour?”
“The one that bought me an hour with Ada.”
“Ah,that…” A wicked look crosses his face before he’s neatly deflecting the subject. “Grayson’s not messing around, Frankie. Don’t test his patience, no matter how much it stings. Keep Ada as safe as you can from a distance. His own wife was trafficked by associates of the men who are now cutting deals with the Red Compass.”
I was right. Itispersonal.“What happened to her?”
“He got her out. Blew a hole in Amsterdam the size of a small crater in doing so. Santiago has his reasons, too. These people don’t mess about, Frankie.”
“I see. So, you showing up here is just another friendly warning to me to be a good fucking boy?” I frown as he goes to open the door. “Don’t you have your own car?”
“I have several.”
“Then I suggest you get in one of them.”
“Nah, they’re all parked in the garage behind us.” His smirk widens. “I just bought this place from a rock star who hasn’t hit the charts since The Stones were relevant. Feel free to use it to stake out library girl,ifyou keep within the property’s boundaries. And in answer to your question, my flight home isn’t until tomorrow.” With this, he swings into the passenger seat, his deep voice filtering out to me. “I hear you staged a hostile takeover for a Park Lane casino? Along with the sharp rise of dead bodies in the London area and a heart in chains, what else is new with you?”
I think of Viper and Bambi as I climb in after him.
“Buckle up, Raven, and I’ll introduce you to a snake and a thief.”
* * *
I drive straight to Encore,knowing that’s where my business partner will be. When he’s not hunting down and torturing paedophiles, dealing coke, or plotting which parts of O’Sullivan and Semenov he’ll be carving off first, Viper is drinking and gambling like they’re Olympic sports and self-destruction is the only gold. It makes our new establishment perfect for the last two entries on his list of addictions.
As we park up and make our way towards the entrance, I pull out my phone and fire off a couple of messages to Silas to make sure he calls me the minute Semenov shows up again. Once done, I catch Aiden side-eyeing me with a frown.
“What?”
“Usually, you would have smoked ten cigarettes by now, and I would have bitched about all of them.”
