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“Hell no,” I countered immediately, a sentiment echoed by Henry and Soren, who was seated opposite them. “Again, absolute last resort. We don’t activatethosemotherfuckers for anything unless every other option is exhausted.”
The Black family had been around since… hell, since before anybody remembered.
In a way that made the fine hairs on your arms stand up if you talked about it too long.
My family got along with theirs just fine, to the point where if I needed something discreetly handled, that was a call I could make, and it was good as done.
There was just… thisenergythat came with it. One I wasn’t trying to get wrapped up in, as far as I could help it.
We had other means for now.
Favors we could call in, backs we could scratch… we could honestly end all the chatter and just make EJ disappear without it ever coming back on us.
Way too easy, though.
I wanted hands on him.
Myhands.
“Soren, what’s being done about security at the store?” I asked, and he sat forward in his chair a bit.
“We’re contracted withFive Star Security, top notch. We’re having them bring on ten additional people, some plain clothes, some uniformed. We’ll have parking lot coverage, as well as more eyes on each floor, and on the cameras. In terms of tech, I got EJ and known associates flagged in our facial recognition system. If any of our cameras pick them up, a two-person team is on them immediately.”
“Good.” I nodded. “In addition to that, I need notification for my personal security on Nalani’s comings and goings from the store. I’m comfortable that she’s safe enough there, but outside of that—lunch with her friends, going to see your aunt, shopping, so forth… I don’t have the same assurance.”
“That’s where I have to draw the line,” Soren told me, meeting my gaze. “I know we have a common interest in keeping her safe, but I think she’d see that as a violation. I understand you doing what you’ve gotta do, I just can’t help you with that one.”
“Fair enough,” I agreed. “I’ll work it out with my team, with hopes that you don’t feel a need to notify her…?”
“Notify her about what?” Soren asked, and I chuckled.
Good kid.
There wasn’t much else to discuss after that.
Everybody had their tasks to see through and it had been a long day. I was ready to go to bed. We all shared our parting words, and while Titan and Soren were having a quick conversation, I took the opportunity toreallyobserve him.
His laidback nature, his mannerisms, even his looks… he reminded me ofsomebodyI couldn’t quite place. There wasn’t a single doubt inmymind; that was not William Stark’s son.
So whose was he?
Not my damn business.
Whatwasmy business was making my way back through the house, stopping by the room we’d designated for Calli when I noticed that her light was still on.
It was late as hell, well past midnight, so I gave a light rap on the door before stepping in.
“It iswaypast your bedtime, young lady,” I teased, my gaze landing on where Calli and Ms. Wallace were over in the seating area, each with a cup of—likely spiked—tea in hand.
“What I done told you about trying to boss me around?” Calli fussed.
As soon as I sat down next to her on the settee, I could smell the bourbon in her tea, but damn if I was going to scold her about it. Not with… everything.
The need to start planning for hospice care had been brought up, which was some shit I was not remotely ready to think about, so I was ignoring it for now. Especially since her doctor said we had time.
Maybe not a lot, but time, nonetheless.
“Somebody has to be responsible around here,” I said. “You need your rest.”
