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I sheathed my sabre, then stripped off my gloves before I reached up to remove the mask. “Lombardi,” I said. “Would you give us a moment?”
The old man sighed. “I didn’t know he—”
“It’s fine,” I told him. “Just let us talk—privately.”
“You have my word.” Then he was gone, the door leaving our training room closing with a distinct thud. It echoed through the room much like our blades had.
Alone, I stared at Adam and lifted my chin. “You wanted to speak to me.”
Leaving the gloves, helmet, and mask behind, he crossed to where I stood. My hands were full, but I didn’t retreat. This wasn’t a spar.
I really didn’t know what I expected him to say. The fact he said nothing at all, though, left me on my back foot.
“You are a magnificent fighter,” Adam said abruptly, then he clasped my face in his hands and his lips were on mine.
The ferociousness of the kiss robbed me of breath and left me staggered. He swept his tongue against my mouth and I opened to him. How long had I once dreamed of being kissed like this? Kissed by Adam? And suddenly, he was there, fulfilling every young teenage fantasy I’d ever had. And I froze.
No sooner did the kiss begin than it ended. He stared at me, his breath coming in the same rapid pants as mine.
“Hardigan may be in your bed. Ezra might have charmed his way there.” The warning at the end of the last sentence had my heart hammering again. “Make no mistake, though, you’remine. You have been for longer than you know, and I will make my own place with you.”
I couldn’t quite wrap my mind around that.
“Consider yourself warned and get used to the idea,” he whispered, stroking his thumb over my lower lip. “And if you ever need to spar, I’m at your disposal.” Another kiss, and then he released me to withdraw and gather his things. He strode out without another word.
No, that wasn’t what I expected at all.
ChapterTwenty-Seven
MILO
Mayhem wasn’t herself. The confrontation with Ezra and Adam had bothered her far more than she wanted to admit. The fact it had upset her enough that she needed to walk out left me with my own guilt to chew on. Those two absolutely needed a firm beating. You didn’t treat a woman the way they were treating her. Adam, with his possessive declarations, and Ezra?
That spoiled overbearing piece of shit needed his ass handed to him. I’d actually been fine with Adam beating his face in until Mayhem looked like she planned to get involved. The fact she chose to leave, though, told me more than anything else how much she’d been wounded.
While she wasn’t lying about it, she did seem to try to downplay it. Then she admitted she wasn’t okay and needed to work that out. The worst battles were the ones I wasn’t even allowed to fight. As much as I wanted to wage this fight for her, Mayhem would not allow it. I almost wished she would ask me to get her out of here for a while.
Then I’d remember Jeff Hardigan, aka Julius King, still needed dealing with. Which meant I couldn’t leave. Not without risking his reaching out to Ivy. So far, he’d kept his word and his distance. The guys would let me know if that changed. He’d also let Liam go, likelyforIvy. The question was, what did he want from her in exchange?
The only answer we’d all landed on was her money. She’d become the sole heir to all of the Sharpe financial fortunes. Liam’s lawyers had buttoned up her wealth and secured it, but greed was a powerful motivator. You couldn’t tell me that what Jeff—Julius, whatever the hell he wanted to call himself, had been up to didn’t involve lining his pockets or amassing power.
Honestly, his recruitment of younger teens into his business and using them to dole out punishments and assassinations when they weren’t obtaining business secrets and more left a bad taste in my mouth. It was how he’d used Mickey back in the day. While he didn’t seem to be in the drug trade any longer, I refused to dismiss it as a possibility. It wasn’t what we saw him doing, it was what he was able to do through intermediaries.
There was alothe could do. Ezra still worked for him. That element alone made me want him away from Mayhem. What had Liam said, that Mayhem might have been the leverage King used to keep them obedient. Much as he attempted to leverage Liam’s twin brother.
Was she still being used as leverage? Amid the disagreement the night of the gala, I’d overlooked one key detail we still didn’t have an answer for. Specifically, why had Ezra sent the bodyguard? Had my father threatened her again?
After she left, Ezra wasn’t really talking more than enough to try and bait one of us into removing his head. I shouldn’t have let him get to me. As it was, I didn’t have many other options than either approaching him directly or switching gears and going straight to the source.
That had too manyotherrisks. Like tipping our hand if he had threatened her. So far, Karagiani had proven he could blend in and vanish when she had events, but didn’t slow down to protect her. He’d been right after her when Adam hauled her out of the party. When she left the apartment, with or without me, he went with her. The only place she steadfastly refused to allow him access was her apartment.
I couldn’t disagree with her on that. This was where she lived and so far, the only other person I’d ever seen inside was Marlene. I presumed there was cleaning staff, but I doubted they were allowed in without Marlene’s supervision.
All of these were why I’d reached out to Freddie and got Bodhi's number. The man was an enigma. Yet, he’d come through for Ivy and Freddie while they were in Pinetree. He’d reappeared later with information to help find Ivy’s adopted mother. Then again, he’d helped when we’d gone after Bradley Sharpe. He’d gotten injured during that hunt, but it hadn’t slowed him down.
I hadn’t actually expected him to return my call so quickly, but he had and we arranged to meet at a deli a few blocks away from Mayhem’s apartment. I walked, preferring to stretch my legs and get a feel for the area. For all that I’d been in the city for nearly three months, I didn’t know it like I did Braxton Harbor. This city was a stranger. That was bad for war.
No bones about it; we were here to wage a war. I needed to be able to navigate my way around. The only way to learn was to do it. With that in mind, I paid attention to my surroundings as I walked. I tracked the people that lived on these blocks. There were apartment buildings like Mayhem’s, but there were also everything from clothing to coffee shops and corner groceries.
