Page 61 of The Devil's Daughter

Elle

I giveSam a call over dessert, and he insists that we also conference in Maddox and Mason to give them all the details we have so far. Halfway through the call, Maddox puts us on hold, then returns, adding another voice to the mix.

“What kind of trouble are you kids into?” says a voice I haven’t heard in months.

“Marco?” I ask, eyes wide. “Where are you?”

“In an empty airport in the middle of fucking nowhere, but I’m on my way home. I land at LAX first thing tomorrow, and then I’m home for a while.”

“What? How long?” I bounce in my seat, so excited for a reunion with the brother I see the least that I almost forget why we’re on the call. “You have to come to the gala tomorrow!” Then I look at Drake, wincing, because I should have asked first.

He laughs and nods. “We can make room. I just want all of you to be informed of what we’re up against.”

“That’s what we’re hoping you’ll tell us, Drake. What’s this call about anyway?” Maddox asks.

“We’re hoping you guys can help us figure it out,” I say, then glance at Drake, who leans closer to the phone lying flat on the table between us. He repeats some of what we already told Sam before he made us stop to call the others, which includes the summary of Drake’s blackmail threats, followed by discovering the cameras, and then the latest, which is the death threat he received via email just this morning.

“So it’s escalating,” Drake finishes.

“And you suspect whoever it is might try something at the gala,” Mason says. “Which you’re too stubborn to avoid, I take it.”

“If I’m not there, the gala doesn’t happen,” Drake says.

“It’s a good place to draw the fucker out,” Maddox says. “Obviously it should happen.”

Drake gives the rest of us a smug look, and Ben rolls his eyes.

“We’re not debating whether or not the gala should take place,” Baz interjects. “We’re looking for the identity of the asshole who’s likely behind these threats. It turns out he might be connected to Zavala somehow, or at the very least Zavala’s intel might have included dirt on Drake’s old man, Gregor Stavros.”

I lean in closer. “So we’re hoping that if you four can put your heads together, you’ll give us a name. I have the intel, but I don’t remember all of it as well as you guys probably do.”

“Gregor Stavros,” Sam says. “The name rings a bell.”

“Billionaire shipping magnate, died in a fire. His death was ruled accidental by the authorities, but there’s a big question mark next to his name,” Marco says. “I remember that page. It’s a report of his death, but the notes in the margin were added to the copy in pencil. Whoever added them didn’t believe the report.”

“That’s because it wasn’t an accident,” Drake says. “That’s not in question. But who would take issue with him dying, and with me taking over? We think whoever it is lost a revenue stream when I cut the head off my father’s sex trafficking ring—someone pissed off enough to install cameras all over my penthouse.”

“Okay, I just need to ask, who the fuckareyou?” Marco asks. “Are you Elle’s boyfriend, or her boss, or what? Because it sounds to me like you had something to do with your old man’s death.”

“Marco,” Mason warns, “stay on point. We don’t need to grill the man about his relationship with his dad. If anyone knows what it’s like to have a toxic father, we do.”

“Fair enough. But she’s our sister. How well do we know this guy?”

“I trust him,” Arturo says, and the line goes utterly silent for a few beats. I wish I could see all their faces, but we opted not to do a video call because Baz insisted a voice call would be more secure. Finally one of my brothers clears his throat, and I’m pretty sure it’s Marco again.

“Do my ears deceive me, or was that Arturo Flores?” he askssotto voce.

“Pretty sure he can hear you, Marco,” Sam says, chuckling. “And yeah. But you already know Elle is his. So he’s invested in making sure she’s safe. If he’s okay with Drake, then so am I.”

“Gotcha,” Marco says. “But if it’s all the same to you, I’m going to reserve my opinion until I meet him. No offense, Drake.”

Drake shakes his head and smiles. “None taken.”

“Just a warning, though—if you ever hurt our sister, I know how to kill a man in two seconds flat,” Marco adds.

“I hear you loud and clear,” Drake says. “And I’m sad we weren’t friends years ago.”

“So, Gregor Stavros,” Marco says, returning to the topic. “One dead guy who did shitty things to other human beings, but someone else is pissed he’s dead, and is now sending you, his son, death threats, trying to get you to give up your company.”

---