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And then I found it. The insurance clause. Riddick had been adamant that we had to carry a full coverage policy. It was more expensive, but the landlord, as in Ryzen Goodacre, would cover a portion of the policy for the first year. It was more insurance than was necessary. Way more. Meaning if the DA was trying to implicate us in some type of insurance fraud, this policy was a big fat red flag. I showed it to Cian, and his face said it all.
“That son of a bitch is going to pay for this, Nova. Mark my words.” He stood behind me and rubbed my shoulders, my eyes drifting closed. His thumbs pressed into the middle of my shoulder blades, and I let myself get lost in his touch for a moment. The realization was slowly sinking in. There was no way out. Jail or becoming an informant. A life on the run or taking down the monsters.
“Can you go get Juliet? I need to talk to her.” I couldn’t keep this from her any longer. She had to know. Not because I was hoping she would talk me out of it, but so that she could prepare for what was to come. If I had known how all of this was going to end up, I would have left with Cian. I would have run and never looked back.
Juliet and I sat on the bed in my temporary bedroom, and I explained everything that the FBI agents had told me, from Ryzen being in deep with the Mafia, to the incriminating video of us, and that if I didn’t cooperate and try to get information out of Ryzen, they would put us both in jail. By the time I finished her eyes were bugging out of her head.
“Can they do that?” Her voice trembled, and I could sense the floodgate of tears was about to rip open.
I squeezed her hands in mine, both of our palms sweating. “Cian thinks they can. But Jules, I’m not going to let that happen, OK? I’m going to do what they say. It’s the only way.”
She shook her head. “No way, Nova. It’s too dangerous. We’ll take our chances. We’ll get a lawyer. They can’t just do this to you. To us.” Her voice was panicked, as I’d known she would be.
“Jules, I don’t think we have a choice. Neither of us would fare well in jail.” I chuckled, but she wasn’t laughing, and I sighed. “I can do this, Jules.”
She jumped off the bed, nibbling on her fingernails. “Maybe I can find something at Riddick’s.” Her face scrunched up. “I mean, we ended things on peaceful terms. It wouldn’t be odd if I showed up at his apartment. He’s the lawyer after all—there must be something somewhere in his office.” She looked at me, waiting for me to say yes, her eyes big.
I shook my head and scrunched up my nose. “No, Jules. Delove and Dobbs didn’t say anything about Riddick or you. Maybe they haven’t found out about the two of you, and we should keep it that way.”
“But…”
“No, this is my fault. You understand that, right? I got us into this mess, and I’m not going to let you get mixed up in this anymore than you already have. I could not live with myself if something happened to you because of the stupid choices I made, got it?” I squeezed her tight.
“You’re squishing me,” she mumbled into my shirt. I let her go and we both chuckled. “I’m not going to let you do this alone, Nova.” She held up her hand when I opened my mouth and pressed her finger to my lips. “No, gremlin. I know you want to be able to control the outcome of this, but I won’t let you do this alone. OK?”
I nodded, knowing full well I would do everything in my power to keep her from getting involved. But she didn’t need to know that.
We spent the rest of the night sitting on the bed, talking about anything and everything but the impending doom we were getting ready to face. Thora came up a while later with a tray of snacks and we ate in mostly silence. I didn’t want to be the one to say what everyone was thinking. That this was a stupid idea. That I could get myself killed. But the more I sat and thought, the more things became clearer to me.
Ryzen Goodacre needed to be stopped. He had lied, manipulated, and deceived me for his own personal gain. He had burned down my warehouse and made it look like I had done it. I had lost everything because of this one man, this one stupid man I had thought I could trust. And he was going to pay for what he had done to me. To us.
I understood now this need for revenge that burned inside Cian, the frustration he must have felt all these years knowing Ryzen was out hurting innocent people and he couldn’t do much about it. It could eat you up though, this feeling of vengeance. And I hoped that by the end of this I wasn’t going to be left a shell of the woman I used to be.
Thora and Juliet headed downstairs a little after midnight, and I lay on my back staring up at the ceiling for what seemed like an eternity. The door creaked open sometime later and Cian stepped inside, shutting the door behind him. His eyes looked tired, and I hated that I was the reason for it. I never wanted to be a burden on anyone, and that was exactly what I was feeling with each passing minute.
“Do you want me to stay?” he murmured, his back pressed against the door.
Damn, he looked sexy. I nodded and patted a spot on the bed next to me. I wanted to get lost in him, the need to forget the last few days overriding common sense that this was a bad idea. That I should stay away from him and focus on how to take down Ryzen. The connection between my mind and heart, right and wrong, was completely lost when I looked at him.
He sat down in the chair across from the bed and leaned back, crossing his ankle over his knee. I propped myself up on my elbow and raised my eyebrows. “What are you doing?”
He let out a deep breath, rubbing his bottom lip as his eyes devoured me. “Sleep, little mouse. I’ll watch over you.”
My whole body warmed, and I nodded, lying back down. It was the right choice. Of course it was. One of us had to be reasonable, and right now, my body was anything but.
*****
At breakfast the next morning, the entire table was silent. The tension in the room was unbearable. Even Eros, who was always smiling and joking around, sat sullen, his mouth set in a firm line.
After moving my food around the plate for over twenty minutes, not eating a bite, I put my fork down and sighed. Cian glanced at me and threw his napkin on the table.
“It’s time. Call them.” I nodded at Cian, and he pulled out his phone.
Juliet reached across the table and squeezed my hand. I sat up straight and smiled at her. I could do this.Hadto do this.
It was time to give Ryzen Goodacre a taste of his own medicine.
Chapter Four
