Total pages in book: 54
Estimated words: 51900 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 260(@200wpm)___ 208(@250wpm)___ 173(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 51900 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 260(@200wpm)___ 208(@250wpm)___ 173(@300wpm)
Halting, they both step in front of me, and I lift a finger at Enrique, a question in the action. “I sent you an email with all we have on Mark Walker,” he replies, clear on what I want. He knew what I wanted earlier, too, and didn’t give two fucks.
“And?”
“He’s filthy rich, but it all seems legit. If it wasn’t, he was good at hiding the dirt, and he wasn’t important enough to us to dig.”
“Who are we talking about?” Jay asks.
“If I tell you, I have to kill you,” I say.
“Then why does Enrique know?”
“He’s already dead as far as I’m concerned,” I say, and without a blink, Enrique’s direction, I step around him and head for the door. I don’t bother to ask about the pie. If he forgets it, I have an excuse to make him dead to everyone, not just me.
By the time I’m in the back of the SUV with the air cranking, Jay driving, and Enrique staring at me while I ignore him, my cellphone pings with a message from Ghost that reads only: ?
I reply back with: ?
You get what you give. He has to use words to get words.
I’m counting on that pie.
I’m not fucking DoorDash, I reply. I’ll bring the pie, but I want something in exchange.
I don’t negotiate.
Then you can watch me eat the pie. As you know from following me the fuck around, I like it way more than you.
A full minute later, he hasn’t replied, and I glance over at Enrique. “The pie?”
“Is waiting on you at Walker’s house. Why are you taking him pie?”
“I’m hungry. Why did you need to call Kane? Because, apparently, Kane has you by the balls and there’s no blood making it to your brain.”
“I have to be loyal to him, Lilah.”
“Getting him killed isn’t loyalty.” Jay pulls the SUV to a halt on the outskirts of the Walker property, just outside a private gate and next to another SUV that will be our men. “We’re not done on this topic, but we are done.” I exit the vehicle, and one of Kane’s men I’ve met before pushes off of the other SUV with a box in his hand. He’s a big dude with a bald head and bulky muscles, but not an inch of fat on him, and he wouldn’t be working anywhere near me if Kane didn’t trust him.
“Lilah,” he greets, a twinkle in his eyes as he indicates the pie. “I take it you’re hungry?”
“Thanks, Taz,” I say, “and I’m always hungry.” I claim the box and add, “And I do love this pie, but this time it serves a purpose.”
“Raz,” he corrects. “Pronounced like Rawz.”
My brows furrow. “Rawz? What the fuck kind of name is that? Were your parents drunk when they named you?”
He laughs—a deep, down to his belly kind of laugh. “Maybe my great-great grandparents were when they chose it generations back and started the family name. I’m one of four Raz’s. It’s a play on La Razza, meaning ‘the people.’ I’m supposed to be a man of the people.”
“But why? People suck. I’d offer you pie in condolence, but I like to fatten people up before I kill them, and so far, I don’t want to kill you.”
His brow shoots up. “Thank you?”
“You’re welcome. See? I have manners. Tell everyone. Call them liars if they say differently.”
His lips quirk. I entertain him. He might be Enrique’s replacement.
Enrique joins us. “The gate is oddly open, which feels off to me.”
“The house has been quiet for the past hour,” Raz assures him and me.
“The gate is open for me,” I say. “I’m expected.”
Jay steps to our side now, and I motion to the lot of them. “Stay.”
I pull away from them and head for the gate, and freaking Enrique is by my side. I whip around to face him. “I don’t know what is up your ass, but I have a job to do. If you get in the way, I’ll arrest you or kill you.”
“Ghost is up my ass, Lilah. Kane is freaking out over his interest in you.”
“You need to check yourself, Enrique, or I’ll do it for you. And you clearly cannot be on duty with me. Consider yourself relieved.”
“This is not just about Ghost,” he says, planting his hands on his hips. “I’ve seen what Roberto’s capable of, Lilah.”
“You’re acting like a little bitch.” Which is not like him, I think. “Why?”
“Roberto is a monster.”
He has a history with this man, one that’s making him nervous, one that might pit him against Kane, and he doesn’t know how to fix it. “Just stay. You can confess to me later, and we’ll deal with it.”
He breathes out. “I’m not sure we can.”
“Stay, Enrique.” I rotate away from him and walk toward the gate. First Ghost. Then whatever is making Enrique act a fool.