“But this time, I have you.” Dominick stared at Sean, his face hard. The killer beneath the suave businessman showed himself, and if Sean were alone in this plan, he would have been terrified. As it was, it took all his control to bury the fear and hope Dominick couldn’t see his nerves. “If Kane interferes with my business again—any of my businesses, including the business of my allies—not only will the bounty on his head increase, but I will put a bounty on the head of every Rogan. Including you. Including your fiancée.”
Sean saw red. The fear turned to rage. He wanted to strangle Dominick where he sat.
“It’s not a bluff,” Dominick continued. “I know everything about you. I know everything about Lucy Kincaid.”
Through clenched teeth Sean said, “Then you know who her brother is.”
“Of course. And you know he no longer travels south of the border. The Kincaids are off-limits, as long as Jack minds his own business. But Miss Lucy is going to be a Rogan, so she is fair game, whichever side of the border she is on.”
Sean leaned forward and whispered, “If anyone touches her, the wrath of a thousand gods will rain down on you and yours.”
“Now you know how I feel if your brother continues to interfere with me.” He didn’t break eye contact, but leaned forward, almost as if he were going to kiss Sean. “I could kill you both and be done with you, but like you said, there are others who may seek retribution. This is the agreement. Take it, or die.”
CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
Kane picked the handcuffs with the pin Gabriella had slipped him earlier. Flores wasn’t stupid—he hadn’t left Kane alone in the room. A guard inside and a guard outside.
But still, only one to deal with at a time. Small consolation.
Sean had given Kane the signal—by requiring proof of life. When Kane saw Sean with Dom, he knew the plan was on. That his little brother got this far was a testament to his talents, but they were far from out of the woods. Even if this was an even exchange, they were still at risk. That Kane intended to destroy the Flores crime family tonight just added another element of danger. Because in no scenario that he and Jack could conceive would they be allowed to walk away with Jesse Spade without a distraction. Not with the fortress the Flores family had built and the people they’d bought. If they could have grabbed him at the stadium, it would have been much easier.
Little in Kane’s life was easy.
The outside guard came in. He said, “Jasmine is here.”
“No shit?” the inside guard said. “Fuck, I wish I could go home.”
“You and me both. Dom is furious. He didn’t know.”
“He didn’t?”
The guards found that interesting, and it weakened their boss in their eyes. Dominick Flores was supposed to be all-knowing, all-seeing … that his own sister was here without his knowledge would taint his authority.
Kane didn’t know much about Jasmine, the illegitimate daughter of Don Flores. She lived in the States; her mother had been a nurse in Corpus Christi when the elder Flores met her forty-plus years ago. Flores had kept the nurse in style for years, and had apparently loved her so much that her death from cancer when Jasmine was in college had devastated him greatly. He’d left a substantial settlement to Jasmine and her younger sister in his will. As far as he knew, the younger Flores had no connection to the family, moving far away to the Northeast. But while Kane had heard that Jasmine had a relationship with her half brothers, he’d never heard that she was involved in their business affairs.
But if she was here, chances were she was as involved as any of them, just better at staying beneath the radar. And she lived in the States. Not his battlefield.
The two guards chatted a bit longer, but Kane only paid attention with one ear. He’d already unlocked the cuffs, but he didn’t dare take them off with both of the men in the room. He wished they’d wrap up the gossip session because, while it was interesting, Kane didn’t have much time.
The outside guard heard something in his earpiece a few minutes later, and walked out.
The inside guard smirked at Kane. “Your brother came through,” he said in broken English. Did he actually think that Kane wasn’t fluent in Spanish? Fool. “Dom isn’t going to let you live, you know that, right?”
Kane didn’t believe anything this idiot said because he was a gossip, and Dominick Flores was too smart to trust his expendable men with key information.
Of course, if Dominick found out that Kane had set this whole plan into motion, he would certainly attempt to have him killed.
Kane hoped he wasn’t around at that point.
The inside guard was small and wiry. He also had an earpiece, but for listening only—if the wearer wanted to speak, they had to press the SPEAK button on their lapel, otherwise there’d be too much interference. Good equipment, but definitely not state-of-the-art.
“Bathroom,” Kane said.
“Hold it,” the guard said.
“Asshole,” Kane muttered.
The guard scowled and crossed the room to show Kane who was in charge … he raised his hand to smack him.
Kane jumped up, grabbed his arm with his left hand, twisted it around his back, used his right arm to reach around and grab him by the neck and snap.