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It was perfect.
“What can I do for you, miss?” I asked and stood up, giving her a gallant smile and offering a hand to shake. “I’m Caleb, and this is Bertie. We received word that you need our help.” I looked puzzled and chuckled as I waved at her to sit. “Not quite sure what I can do to help.”
“Caleb,” she said, and she sat. It was hard to tell, but I thought the girl might have gone a little pale. “Caleb Hendrix?”
“Got me,” I said and grinned. “Have we met? I feel like I’d remember you.”
“No,” she said and fidgeted in her seat, shooting a nervous look at Bertie then me and then pulling herself upright. “No, but I can help you.”
I raised an eyebrow and gave her a soft, indulgent smile. “How’s that now?”
“I know who you are,” she said flatly, “and what you want.” She shook her head as though to keep herself from saying more. “You want to take down Ty — I mean, the Michaelson family.” Her fingers tightened around her knees. “I can help.”
“Hmm,” I said and made a show of rubbing my knuckles. “You must know you’re playing with fire by even mentioning his name. I’d be more careful, Lia Goldin. He killed three of my men last week. One of them was my cousin.”
Lia started. “Three?”
“Three,” I said dully. “You should go. We’ve already tried this path and it ended badly.”
“No, you don't understand…” Lia trailed off and bit her lip, staring at the floor.
Finally, she lifted her head and, again, I was knocked senseless by her beauty. How could this be Lou Goldin's daughter? Christ, she was a smokeshow. Then she spoke and I almost had to keep from lunging over the desk.
“I’m the one who got the information off of Weiss’s laptop,” Lia said.
Anger pulsed through me. This bitch was the one who’d been hired by White and fucked up? I knew there’d been a woman involved but I had no idea it had beenher.I thought it was one of the Russian hookers I hadn’t managed to get a hold of.
So, that's what happened. That's how she and Michaelson met. He must have kidnapped her and realized she was in danger. She's more than charity pussy — he rescued her.
Damn, Michaelson must have it bad for this blonde to put his neck on the line.
At least that didn’t change my plans. If anything, it made it easier to hit at Michaelson.
“Yeah. I’m the one your men were after,” Lia said, as though guessing what I was thinking. “They seemed to think they could have their way with me, Mr. Hendrix.”
“That’s because I had no idea it was you,” I almost spat and inhaled sharply. “You’re in way over your head.” Calming myself down, I gentled my tone, “I thought it was one of the Russian hookers that Ty likes. I thought one of them had tricked Weiss.”
“No, it was me,” Lia said and sat up straighter. “You were the one who hired me through White to stop Michaelson. Now I’m here to finish the job.”
A laugh barked out of me. “You’ve got balls, kid. Didn’t you see what Michaelson did to Weiss? And that was just an appetizer. You’ve got no idea what he’s capable of.”
“That’s where you’re wrong,” Lia said quietly. “I know damn well what Ty Michaelson is capable of.”
“Fine,” I said. “I have a question, though.” Rubbing at my chin, I surveyed her. “The cop, Mickey Weiss. He protected you even though you’re also to blame for his extended hospital stay, by your account, at least. Why?”
The blonde winced and took a deep breath. “Because his partner was the one who gathered all that information — and she just so happened to be my mother. Mickey knew I was in over my head.” Her voice dropped a few octaves. “I’ve been in over my head for a while.”
“No shit,” I said and walked around the desk. Staring her down, I let my voice frost over. “Michaelson has you holed up at his house, yet here you sit. Did he send you here?”
“No,” Lia cried. “No, he trusts me. We’ve spent more than a month together, and he… He likes me.” She swallowed hard. “We’re friends, I guess. He felt bad for me — or at least, he made me think that. But now I know why.” She gave me a dewy look, tears shining in her hazel eyes. “He killed my mom for what she did — what sheknew. This is more of his fucked-up revenge on her. He must plan on killing me soon.”
“That’s a safe bet with Michaelson,” I said.
“Ineedrevenge.” She took a ragged breath. “And I need your help, whatever it takes.”
“If you weren’t such a bad liar, I’d think this was a set-up,” I said, but I made sure to keep my voice kind. “Lia, you should get out of Boston and save yourself.”
“He killed my mom.” Now I heard the steel in her voice, the fire that raged and burned in Marina’s heart, that drove her to come to the violent underbelly of Boston with her eyes wide open and fists at the ready. “There isnowalking away from that.”
