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“Did you know I have tea with your mother every Sunday afternoon?”
I blew out the smoke caught in my lungs, watching Abilene through the gray tendrils. “I didn’t.”
“She meets me after I’m done with church, and we sit and chat. She’s quite the lady.” She rose and padded over to pluck up a black, stone ashtray and bring it back. “It started by accident. We were at the same coffee shop. It was Sunday and I’d just left prayer with you on my mind.” Her ashes were flicked into the dish. “And there she was looking the way all mothers do when their sons get in trouble. We sat and chatted, and I think she needed that. I think we all do in moments like that. Just another woman in the business who knows what it’s like, but she told me what you did. She told me about your brother.”
I hissed through my teeth without thinking and Abilene laughed.
“Don’t go getting angry with her. This was the first time her baby had gone away for something he didn’t do. It’s enough to get anyone. Plus, your mama isn’t a stupid woman. She recognizes people for what they are just like I do. It did make my heart lighter knowing I wasn’t wrong about you, though.” She pulled in a hard drag and held it. It blew between us when she released it. “And that’s what I told the judge when I invited him over for dinner the night before your sentencing. Volkov waspushing hard for life. He wanted you to rot behind those walls, but I wasn’t about to give that vulture the satisfaction.”
I didn’t interrupt even while my brain screeched at her words. I had always wondered how my sentence could be so short. Calling it an accident hadn’t seemed like a good enough alibi for tossing someone over a balcony, yet the judge had practically slapped me on the wrist and sent me on my way. Even Milo had commented on it on my first night there, calling me damn lucky.
“You got my sentence reduced?”
She’d said as much with a casualness that seemed unreal, yet I couldn’t bring myself to believe it, even when she watched me now with impatience as if she were wondering if I was hard of hearing.
“There are certain people who belong in that place, Darius, and there are people who don’t.”
“Why would you do that?” I heard myself ask.
Her exhale reminded me of my mother’s when she’d had all she could of me. “Because I believe that people who cover for their little brothers don’t deserve to rot in prison, do you? I couldn’t get you clean off, but I was going to make damn sure you didn’t do more than you had to.”
I stared at the woman seated comfortably across from me, drenched in smoke and confidence and it dawned on me for the first time just how far the hands of Beaumont actually reached. Sure, everyone knew their wealth and power, but this was something else. This was power on a level beyond anything a single person should possess.
“I don’t know what to say,” I murmured, apprehension tight around my chest. “Thank you.”
Flakes of ember showered across the tabletop with the dismissive flick of her wrist. “I don’t need thanks. I’m not telling you all this to get your gratitude.” Her cigarette was stuffed intothe ashtray. I added mine, realizing it had burned nearly to my fingertips. “I know why you’re here, Darius. Just like I know why you need my help and why I know I will accept.”
It took some effort to swallow past the dry well of my throat and rasp, “Why?”
“Because I like your mother, but also, and mainly because I don’t like bullies. I won’t stand for them. Uriah Volkov is a bully. His sons are bullies. His wife … well, if you can’t say something nice, am I right? The fact of the matter is, Darius, we need more people like you running this city once the tides change hands. Otherwise, we’ll have people like Ivan and his foul brothers destroying everything good we’ve built, and I have grandbabies I need to protect. The world is not a lesser place without trash like Ivan, but it would be without people like you. Your first instinct is always to put others before yourself. I saw that in you since you were a little boy. I’m relieved to see that hasn’t changed. But I do expect something in return.”
It was a struggle not to react. I knew it was coming. Nothing was ever done freely, not when strings needed to be pulled and she pulled a few by the sounds of it.
“I can offer our ports and—”
Abilene scoffed. “Do I look like someone who needs more ports? I own half of the Pacific.” She shook her head. “I want you to look into someone for me.”
I waited for her to realize the odd request, but she merely continued studying me. “Have you considered asking Morpheus or—?”
The thin arches of her brows furrowed. “If I wanted Morpheus to find this person, I would have already asked, but since you owe me, I think this is a good way to pay me back, don’t you?”
I considered it and realized she had a point.
“What do you want to know about them?”
“Everything.”
I dug into my pocket for my phone. “Who?”
The drive back through the city was a blur of lights and uncharted emotions. My father’s texts sat unread and unopened in my pocket, my ability to answer his basic questions nonexistent.
I knew Abilene Beaumont. I’d known her like one would know the neighbor at the end of the block, faintly and at a distance. There was always polite conversation at events or the occasional nod of greeting in passing, but our interactions were never memorable. At least not to me, yet she had played such an enormous role in my life without me even knowing. She’d basically been the fairy godmother I didn’t even know I had. I didn’t know what to do about that, except do my best to live up to the expectations she’d mentioned.
I pulled my phone out and flipped on the screen. There was no need to scroll when her number was the first one pinnedto the top. My thumb hovered over her icon, trembling with hesitation.
But what would I say?Oh, guess what, we can be together at long last. I found a fairy godmother who will protect us.It sounded ridiculous even in my own head, but I needed to tell her something. I needed to assure her that I would be okay and so would she. It just didn’t feel like news one shared over text or a random phone call. This was an in-person kind of news.
I checked my watch.
