Most days, Kit wasn’t sure what he was.
But it hadn’t mattered, because Kit loved him dearly, and despite not agreeing with nearly every decision Uilleam made, he often found himself cleaning up his messes when the time called for it.
Watch after your brother, their mother had always instructed him with narrowed eyes, as though she thought he was too daft to understand what she was saying. But if there was nothing else he shared with the woman that gave birth to him, he shared her love for his younger brother.
For a while, Kit had blindly allowed his brother to do as he pleased, not caring as long as it didn’t affect his work back when he was with the Lotus Society.
But after one particular incident that left twelve people dead and buried in unmarked graves, Kit had finally decided that enough was enough and it was time for him to walk away. And to ensure he could do this with as little fallout as possible, he burned the only connection that connected their two businesses—literally.
It had also grown rather tiresome having the legion of enemies Uilleam possessed constantly trying to see not only the man dead, but anyone that did business with him.
Which usually included Kit.
“It’s complicated,” Kit finally answered as he blew out a breath.
And it was, because like so many times in the past, when Uilleam came to him for a favor, he had a hard time saying no.
Now weeks later, he was partly glad he had agreed to Uilleam’s request.
Luna was, in her own way, fascinating to him.
“Is it?” Zachariah asked rubbing his bushy mustache. “Would that complication have anything to do with that girl that left out of here?”
“Not necessarily.”
Though she did made up a significant part.
Zachariah sighed. “Whatever Uilleam has planned, I don’t think you should be getting in the middle of it. It’s one thing going up against enemies we know, it’s an entirely different matter when it’s ones you don’t. Your brother’s going to be the death of me.”
Uilleam would be the death of them all if they weren’t careful.
“I’ll keep an eye on what’s he doing and try to find out anything on what he has planned. If it’s something worth knowing, I’ll inform you.”
“And the girl?” Zachariah asked.
“I’ll train her as I said. She may be weak in body, but her mind is another matter.” She wasn’t folding just yet, and that showed promise. “Once I think she’s ready for you, I’ll send her to the compound for your final approval.”
His uncle grunted his affirmation before getting to his feet. “I’ll see you in a month’s time.”
“She won’t be ready by then,” Kit said. “How you manage to cram years worth of study into such a short period of time, I’ll never know.”
Some of the mercenaries that came out of the Den were highly skilled, though green when it came to the savage parts of their jobs. Often, Kit didn’t think they were ready to see field time—it had taken him more than a year before he was even given his first assignment.
“When do you expect to be ready then?” Zachariah asked. “You can save me unnecessary trips.”
“Six months at the earliest.” There was a lot of ground to cover.
Laughing, Zachariah shook his head. “Uilleam is not going to like that.”
Kit shrugged. “You’ve often told me I shouldn’t concern myself with Uilleam’s feelings—why start now?”
Chapter Eight
Luna didn’t see Kit again after Zachariah came, though the man didn’t stay very long. He had disappeared as quickly as the other man had, making Luna wonder where he had gone.
When had she begun to miss him?
Luna didn’t fully understand that this was the emotion she was feeling, not at first. She attributed it to melancholy, her desire to start training.
But, she soon realized that wasn’t the case because Aidra soon requested that she start exercising with The Wild Bunch. At first, that had been enough to deter her interest for a bit, but not long enough that she was no longer thinking about Kit.
It wasn’t until she found herself glancing out the windows every few hours, thinking that Kit would shop up at any moment.
She missed him.
Missed seeing him every morning for breakfast.
Missed finding him down in the gym or the pool as he worked out.
And worse, he hadn’t been gone very long, not even a week.
Pathetic.
There were more important things to be worrying about—mainly the training that still hadn’t really started rather than where he was.
Already, her mind had seized on different ideas about what the training would consist of, but thoughts wouldn’t live up to the real thing, she knew.
But until Kit was ready …
As had become her custom, she was tucked away in the library when Kit finally returned, finding her in her usual spot.