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“I wish.” I exhaled in a ragged sigh.
“Is there anyone else in town you could join up with against her?” Quentin ventured. “Safety in numbers and all that. We could even put out feelers and—”
I shook my head with a jerk. “No. The four of you have to stay out of sight and not draw any attention—especially from the criminal underground. Anyone who’s strong enough to even irritate my mom, she’s got either under her thumb or too scared to even look at her funny. You have no idea how much power she can wield or how quick she is to use it.”
Niko spread his hands. “We’ll play it safe while we need to. But as soon as there’s anything we can do to help, you’ve got to let us know.”
“And fast,” Rafael said with a hint of a growl.
I nodded, torn between reluctance to drag them any further into my problems and relief that I wasn’t facing those problems alone after all. “I’ll need more time to figure out a strategy that’ll actually work. So far… I haven’t seen any obvious way to get myself out of this. But I’m not giving up.”
Rafael’s subtle smile returned. “That’s my girl.” He cocked his head. “Do you have any idea why she was so determined to get you back right now? I’ve heard murmurs about big plans, but no one seems to know what they are.”
I let out a rough chuckle. “Me neither. She isn’t telling me any more than she has to—she knows I’m not committed to staying if I have any choice in the matter. But I am getting the impression that she’s building up to something major.”
I squeezed Jasper’s arm one last time, leaned in to offer Niko a quick kiss, and then gave Rafael a final hug. An ache ran through my heart as I forced myself to pull away.
“Thank you for coming. Just don’t make me wish you hadn’t. I shouldn’t stay any longer or she might get suspicious. We can pass messages back and forth through the forum to keep in touch.”
“We’ll be waiting for your call,” Jasper said. “Whatever it takes.”
I said my good-byes and hurried out before my eyes could overflow. My pulse thudded heavily through my veins as I walked back to my car, which I’d parked a couple of blocks away for caution.
But for all my fear and the sense of loss at leaving them again, my spirits felt lighter than they had in days. As I drove back to the Cordova mansion, my mind replayed those moments standing with my men, knowing they’d braved the wrath of the most dangerous woman in the country to come to my rescue. Even if they couldn’t do any actual rescuing yet.
I strode through the deepening evening from the sprawling garage up to the broad front door. A few of Mom’s lackeys were hanging around near the entrance, but all their smartass remarks had dried up since I’d gotten back.
Maybe seeing the furor Mom had gotten into when I was gone had given them a little more appreciation for my presence.
I headed past them up the sweeping staircase and along the hall to my bedroom. I wanted nothing more than to flop onto the bed and dream of running off with my men and leaving all this crap behind me.
But just as I reached for the door handle, a faint squeak of hinges sounded behind me.
“Luciana? I’d like a word.”
Mom stood in her office doorway. Her expression was cool and impenetrable enough to set my nerves jangling.
Had she somehow figured out about my meeting with the guys? I hadn’t seen her when I’d left the house, but I’d planted the idea that I was planning on going out for pierogies for dinner when I’d seen her earlier in the day.
If she’d seen through that lie, we were already screwed.
Avoiding her was hardly an option when she was staring right at me. I plastered an obedient smile on my face and ambled over at her beckoning. “Sure. What’s up?”
Mom’s nose wrinkled slightly at my casual tone, but she motioned me into the room without comment. “How was your Polish dinner?”
“Oh, you know,” I said glibly, hoping she couldn’t hear my heart about to thunder right out of my chest. “Not as fresh as when Zuzanna was here to make them, but it hit the spot well enough.”
Mom hummed to herself and strolled over to her desk. She wasn’t giving off an angry vibe, at least, so maybe I was safe after all.
I didn’t think she’d asked me in here just to inquire about my meal, though.
She took her time getting to the point, a common tactic of hers designed to give her time to evaluate the other person’s mood. As she straightened an already neat pile of papers on her desk, I held myself still and calm, waiting.
Brushing her hands together, she turned to face me again. “It’s time to discuss our next steps. Across the meetings you’ve been a part of and my own outreach, it’s becoming clearer who will side with the Deadly Rose, who’s brushing us off, and who is inclined to stay neutral.” She shook her head with a disproving click of her tongue. “I was hoping that boy who sees himself as the Storm would be a little more intrigued, but I haven’t heard a murmur from him since your brunch.”
She figured Beckett was brushing her off? “I don’t think he knew what you were looking for,” I pointed out. I sure as hell hadn’t to be able to tell him. “Apparently he’s already got a girlfriend, so framing it as a date wasn’t a draw.”
Mom flicked her hand dismissively. “An obvious overture of any sort warrants a particular response if there’s any thought to a deeper alliance. That’s fine. He can snub us all he likes… for now.”
