His jaw clenched and his grip on my waist intensified. “If you’re not, I will hunt you down, kaikohuru iti. That’s a promise.”
He kissed me again, harsh and demanding, pouring his frustration into each stroke of his tongue and nip of his teeth. He stole the air out of my lungs, tearing straight through my tissue paper walls and branding his touch right on my heart.
It was a kiss that left me breathless and trembling long after he was gone and the taillights of my rental car—sans windshield—faded into the night.
“What the fuck have you got yourself into, Danny?” I muttered into the empty room. I could smell him all around me, and it wasn’t doing me any favors in clearing my head.
Irritated, I flicked the TV on for some background noise, then looked around for my phone. It’d fallen out of my pocket while Kai carried me inside earlier, and I found it in the hallway. My first instinct was to call Jude. Or to send a message in our group chat. But Leon’s warning echoed through my head, and it made me hesitate. Again.
Could I trust them implicitly? Above everything else, all three of us had been raised loyal to the Guild. Sabine and I had come from Guild-owned orphanages, and Jude’s parents were Guild legacy. Our whole lives had taught us to never bite the hand that fed us, and if they were forced into a corner, would they choose me over their loyalty?
I wanted to think they would. I wanted to think that I would do the same for them, prior to all these new revelations about my employer. But I wasn’t certain, and that was ultimately what stayed my hand.
“Dammit,” I whispered, sliding my phone into my pocket and heading through to the kitchen. I’d brought the essentials with me when I arrived, knowing I might need to hide out here for a while, so there was a full bottle of Copper Wolf vodka in the freezer.
After I poured a glass, I headed back to the bedroom and tossed my phone on the bed, then hunted out my battery-operated friend. I needed to sort out my hormones before Kai got back, and reestablish the distance between us. Urgently.
I barely got my pants off when my phone vibrated against the bed, and I picked it up with a small sigh, anticipating Kai.
Instead, my lips curved into a grin, and I eagerly hit the answer call button.
“Marx,” I purred, “I wondered if maybe you’d forgotten about me.”
His husky laugh sent shivers through me, and I reclined into my pillows. This was a much better distraction. It sounded like he was driving, and I could picture his strong, tattooed hands caressing the steering wheel like how he handled my flesh.
“I doubt that would ever be possible, mon cœur,” he replied. “I was just meeting with someone, and I knew I wanted to talk to you alone.”
I bit my lip, embarrassed at how fluttery that made me. “Oh yeah? Who were you meeting?”
“No one special,” he muttered. “Are you alone?”
My smile was all kinds of stupid, and I sent a quick thanks to fate that we weren’t on video call. “Are you fishing for information on where I am, Marx? Because last I checked, you’re still Guild.”
He gave a low chuckle. “Good girl.”
Oof, maybe I don’t need my vibrator at all.
“Did you want me to call for a reason or just because you missed me?” he asked, making me remember why I’d texted him in the first place.
Crossing my legs, I gave myself a mental slap. “Actually, yes. I want a name.”
“I’m sure that’s something I can facilitate. What name?”
“Someone to get me closer to Blanchet. Maybe one of his outer circle? I know Blanchet is probably covering his tracks pretty well at the moment, but surely if I can lean hard enough on one of his guys…” I trailed off because he knew what I meant.
Leon didn’t respond for a moment, then he gave a sigh. “No.”
I frowned. “Excuse me?”
“You heard me. Ask me for any other name, but I won’t send you after Blanchet’s outer circle on your own. Yes, I do know who they are, and yes, I will tell you. But not until I can help.” His tone was hard and clipped, totally unwavering. Stubborn fuck.
“So help,” I snapped back. “I’m already sick to fucking death of waiting around for his next move. I need to go on the offensive, and this is the best idea I’ve got.”
“And it’s a good idea, but it will need to wait at least a couple of days. I have a few things to wrap up before I can come back to you.”
That answer had me enraged for a whole host of reasons, and my brain tripped over itself trying to get the best snappy comeback out of my mouth.
“Someone else has a hit out on me,” I said eventually. Was I trying to make him feel guilty? Yes, a little. Did I want to be more important than whatever he was doing? Absolutely. But I also despised the idea of being the kind of woman who turned into a wet pillowcase when their man was busy. We both had our own lives and our own work. We didn’t need to be joined at the hip just because feelings had gotten mixed up in the great sex.
Leon hummed a warm laugh. “Oh yeah? Snap, me too. Was yours any good?”
I grinned. He was really hard to stay mad at. “No, it was actually insulting how shit he was. And it’s only a three mill contract, too.”
Leon gave a dramatic gasp. “Those bastards. How dare they? Your contract should be ten times that at least.”
He made it seem like a joke, but I knew he was serious. I loved it. Leon had never underestimated my capabilities, so I had to trust that he wasn’t playing protective caveman over this Blanchet business. Clearly he had another plan, and it was something we could do together.
“What about yours?” I asked, loving our fucked up conversation because, to us, this was just normal. This was our lives.
He huffed an irritated sound. “No idea what the price is, but they used a car bomb. Zed called to give me a heads-up, and I used my remote key to check. Sure enough, boom.”
I tucked my arm behind my head, staring up at the ceiling while we talked. “Was it a nice car?”
“Nothing that couldn’t be replaced,” he replied, his turn signal ticking rhythmically for a few moments. “I have to catch a flight in a couple of hours, and now I’ll have to get there early enough to check for more bombs. Feels like maybe the Turks have taken my hit.”
“Explosives do tend to be their thing,” I agreed. Then a thought occurred to me. “Hey, maybe you can help me out on something else?”
“So long as it’s nothing to do with the Circle,” Leon reminded me, “then I’m sure I can. What do you need?”
I frowned, scratching the bridge of my nose. “It’s Carlos. I haven’t been able to get in touch with him for… fuck, I don’t even know how long. Since you rescued me in Venice, I guess.”
Leon scoffed. “You rescued yourself, mon cœur. We just picked you up.”
I smiled at the ceiling. “Well, whatever. I’ve been trying to call, but he’s not picking up. I even tried his office line, but his petty bitch of an assistant Tito refused to put me through to him. I’m worried something bad has happened.”
Leon didn’t respond, and a trickle of dread ran down my spine. I sat up on the bed and ran through it all in my mind again. The last time I saw Carlos was on the plane… then when I woke up, he was gone and Leon told me he’d gotten off in Toronto. But had he?
“Leon,” I murmured, cold sweat beading on the back of my neck. “Have you done something to Carlos?”
Again, silence met my question. Then when I was questioning if our call had disconnected, Leon sighed. “Would you be upset if I’d killed him?”
22
The blood rushing to my head made it hard to hear, but I retained just enough sanity to repeat Leon’s words back to myself. He was asking a question, not admitting he’d done it.
“Yes,” I choked out. “Yes, Leon Marx, I would be very upset if you killed one of my only friends on this whole godforsaken planet. I would be fucking furious if you did something like that. And you could actually lose my number because this time I really would be done with you.”
He hummed a thoughtful sound, not even remotely panicked. “I figured as much,” he admitted, “which is why I haven’t killed him.”
The breath rushed out of me in a tsunami, and I sagged back against the pillows. “What the fuck?” I barked. “You fucking worried me!”
“I can hear that,” he observed. “And I find it intriguing. How did you meet Carlos, mon cœur? Were you romantically involved?”
I gave a shaking laugh. “Me and Carlos? Fuck no. No way. Our relationship is purely platonic.”