Total pages in book: 116
Estimated words: 110550 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 553(@200wpm)___ 442(@250wpm)___ 369(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 110550 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 553(@200wpm)___ 442(@250wpm)___ 369(@300wpm)
I cupped his cheek, wishing I could smooth out his brow. The agony he felt at hiring the man who betrayed us was etched on his face. “I was actually thinking no more bodyguards. I’m sorry, Sunny, but I’ll never feel fully comfortable with a stranger at my back. Not after this.”
“I understand. We can think of something else. But we have to think of something.” Laurel reached for him, so he picked her up as naturally as me and Sienna. “We didn’t get into it all last night, and we won’t get into it now.” He glanced at my baby. “But the threat against us is more serious than we thought. They know more about us than we know about them. Like the fact that if they kidnapped you and Laurel, we’d run headfirst into their trap. It’s not a stretch to believe they may try what nearly worked the first time.”
My stomach flipped, shotgunning bile in my throat.
I cried along with him. Panting, twitching, and sore body throbbing, but... not shaking. My hands were steady leveling the gun between his eyes.
“Tell me where Laurel is,” I rasped, “or so help me, I will kill you.”
“You’re right,” I said louder than I meant to. I shoved the vision down far. “We’ll think of an alternative after we have that conversation.”
“Yes, ma’am.” Sunny bounced Laurel. “Let’s go find the snacks, Mini Blaine.”
“Wait.” I tried to get up and the seat belt dropped me on my butt. My chest tightened watching him carry her off. “Sunny, hold on—”
A figure stepped in my line of sight. Liam curled his fingers around my outstretched hand, stilling me.
“Sienna, would you mind giving me a moment with Mackenzie?”
“Sure. I’ll grab a cup of tea. Some for everyone?” she offered.
“No, thank you.”
“No,” I echoed as Liam claimed her seat.
“Liam, what’s wrong?” I twisted, watching Laurel. She babbled to Sunny at high speed while the three of them kicked back at the snack cart. Behind them, I peeked the ink spiderwebbing Bane’s foot, hanging over the chair he was sleeping in.
“You don’t have to wait for us to get home to have that conversation. Actually, I’d prefer we have it now. You need to know what we’re facing.”
That made me look at him. “What are we facing? Is this all about the guy who’s been sabotaging and setting traps for you? The bald man.”
“He’s dead.”
“What?” I cried.
Liam aimed a raised brow over my shoulder. “You really don’t know what’s gone on in the last twenty-four hours. Luca Adams was working with the bald man we now know was called Snyder. Him, Vito, Grant, and two other men I remember by face, but not by name.”
“Wait, Vito? Vito was there too? With Luca and the man who tried to kill Sunny?” Saying it out loud didn’t help it make sense. “What’s going on?”
“That is what we asked. From the little Snyder shared before his death, those three were a part of an organization called the Brotherhood. As far as I can tell, their sole purpose is the end of the Merchants and our reign over Cinco.”
“The Brotherhood?” I repeated. “I’ve never heard of that gang. Sunny told me about all of them when he prepped me to run the Sons of Saint.”
“Sunny didn’t include that one because none of us have heard of it. A call to Genny confirmed she doesn’t know that name either. And that is what concerns me most of all.”
I nodded, knowing where this was going. “How could an entire organization devoted to your demise spring up out of nowhere?”
“They can’t, Mackenzie. At least, they shouldn’t.” He tossed his head, helping himself to my drink. One sip and a grimace told him it wasn’t alcohol. Liam settled for carding his fingers through his untamable waves instead. “A big part of what I do is collect information. We easily run every gang in four boroughs because I know what they’re doing at all times.
“I know the head of the Tongs is setting a meeting with the head of the Jin family before the runner delivers the message. It’s been decades and, excluding the day that man got close enough to snatch Bane and a present for me got into Lizzie’s hands, we’ve plugged the holes in our security. Years and not a single serious threat.
“Then all of a sudden, Gen’s warehouse is blown up. A bomb’s put in my car. Sunny is almost killed. One of our men betrays us, and we’re lured into two death traps. All acts apparently committed by a group of men no one has ever heard of. Their name isn’t whispered in bar back rooms or floating through the dark web. If they were, I’d know.” Liam leaned in, clouding my head with his cedar cologne. “They’re prepared for everything, Kenzie. Even escaping my notice.”