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“I wouldn’t,” he broke in. “I came to make peace.”
I fell silent, blinking at him. Neither Rafael nor Niko seemed to have any idea what to say next either.
Quentin stuffed his hands in the pockets of his jeans, looking uncertain again and even a little deflated. He dropped his gaze to the asphalt before meeting my eyes.
“You’re right. I’ve been a prick to you all through the competition. You’re lucky to have her, and I—I’m not such an asshole that I’d want to see her get shit on just to spite you. Okay?”
I scowled at him. “Okay. Sure. And I should care why?”
Quentin appeared to weigh his words. “I don’t know exactly what Lou is mixed up in. But I really might be able to help if it’s anything like it sounds. I know the shady side of, well, life better than you or Okabe here possibly could. I grew up on the wrong side of the tracks.”
Rafael snorted. “There’s nothing you could tell us that I wouldn’t already know.”
Quentin gave him an evaluating look. “Are you completely sure of that? You’d really throw away the possibility that I might contribute something useful?” His gaze slid back to me. “What’s more important—saving Lou or holding on to our stupid rivalry?”
It was alwaysyourrivalry, I wanted to snap at him.I never asked for it in the first place.
But maybe that was all the more reason to let that animosity go. As much as it burned me up imagining having this jerk around while we tried to extricate Lou from her mother, I had to admit I was totally out of my depth.
It couldn’t have been easy for him to make this overture. To approach us at all. He could have run off and taken what he’d seen to his grave.
But for whatever reason, Lou mattered enough to him that he’d stuck around to tell us. That he was debating with me now, practically begging me to let him pitch in.
Iwould be the real ass if I refused him over my grievances, which I could admit were a hell of a lot pettier than what Lou would be facing at her mother’s hands.
I glanced at Rafael. His mouth had set in a flat line, but he inclined his head to me slightly as if saying it was my call. Wonderful.
He wasn’t arguing any more either. Apparently he was willing to accept Quentin’s intrusion.
And Niko’s mouth had formed a tentative smile, as if he was almosthappyabout the chance to make an alliance.
Oh, for fuck’s sake. It wasn’t really a choice, was it? If there was any chance Quentin could get us closer to Lou and to freeing her from her awful family, how could I not take it?
We might need all the help we could get.
“Fine,” I said. “You can come along, whatever we end up doing. But I don’t want to hear any more insults about any of us, or you can get packing.”
Quentin’s lips twitched with a smile of his own. “I think I can control myself for a little while,” he said, with a gleam in his eyes that had me praying I hadn’t just made the worst mistake of my life.
FIVE
Luciana
I staredat Austin's downtown skyscrapers across the water, wishing I was anywhere but here. I had to admit, the scenery was at least nice. My present company, not so much.
In the late morning, the lakeside boardwalk only held a few locals strolling around—enough for us to easily blend in as if we were only out for a casual jaunt too, but not so many we couldn’t steer clear of them for privacy’s sake. This was business, after all.
The lean man ambling along at Mom’s other side, flicking his hooded eyes toward her as he smiled at her latest comment, was the leader of the largest gang in the state. His long-time alliance with the Deadly Rose had benefitted both of them. She sent opportunities his way and ensured no larger forces infringed on his territory, and he filled her in on any news his contacts picked up while keeping the smaller gangs from making any trouble for her.
It was obvious from the deference in his tone and his posture that he recognized how much more power she held than he did, but you didn’t become a gang boss without plenty of ruthless violence. If this man had been an enemy, he could have made a lot of trouble himself.
Which is precisely why Mom had him on a leash.
I’d zoned out of the conversation after it’d turned to exchanges of compliments over how well the two of them had handled past business deals. Now, Mom rested her hand on my shoulder.
“I’m particularly pleased to see my daughter coming into her own as I’ve always known she would. Luciana will be stepping up in all kinds of ways now that she’s old enough to start taking the reins.”
The boss eyed me with a mix of wariness and uncertainty. He saw me as just as dangerous as my mother—and just as important to impress. Too bad for him, nothing about his criminal inclinations was going to appeal to me.
