Page 75 of The Devil's Daughter

Only Arturo and Leo remain behind, phones to their ears as they stand over Karl Thomas’ body. His accomplices have roused, but someone had the foresight to bind them in the craziness, so they’re not going anywhere.

Knowing Papá Flores, he’s calling his fixer in to help dispose of a few bodies. For once, I’m happy not to be involved in that part of his business, but if either Drake or Ben had been hurt worse—or killed—I’d have already executed them all myself.

Most of the guests begin to leave once they’re assured it’s safe and there are no gunmen on the loose. Soon it’s just our large group left in the pavilion. Callie urges Ben to hydrate while she tends his wound, then redirects her attention to Drake, who holds an ice pack to the back of his head. She shines her light in his eyes once more.

“You must have a pretty hard head. I don’t see any sign of a concussion, but you need to be vigilant for the next twenty-four hours. If you feel nauseous or dizzy, develop a headache, or experience confusion, get yourself to a hospital pronto, do you hear me?”

“He hears you, doc,” Mason says, pulling her away to allow me and Elle to sit. I look into both their eyes, relieved that my twin seems to have regained some focus and energy. He’s munching on a dinner roll while Drake nurses a can of soda.

“Now that that’s over, are we moving back to the penthouse?” Elle asks.

“It isn’t over,” I say, and both Drake and Ben share equally grim looks.

Elle frowns. “But the assassin is dead. And Miles Sitnik was here all night and didn’t make a move. You don’t still think he’s the one who was paying Karl, do you?”

“Right before he died, Karl admitted to working for Corluka,” Ben says. “We’ve probably only slowed them down, but it’ll give us time to regroup. We aren’t moving back to the penthouse anytime soon, though—the yacht is a more defensible position, especially since it’s not stationary. We should have Theo take us somewhere else when we get back.”

Drake slips his phone from his pocket. “I’ll have him begin making preparations now. We’ll set sail as soon as we’re back on board.”

38

Elle

“Hey, Bean.”

I’m exiting the restroom when I hear the old nickname my three oldest brothers use for me. Marco is leaning against the wall of the corridor. I smile, then close the distance for a hug.

“You made it,” I say, squeezing him tight.

“And in the nick of time, it seems. Jake and I had just parked when we heard the gunshot. It’s the first time being late turned out to be a bonus.”

“You saved him,” I say, tears springing to my eyes.

“Hey, now.” He bends down to eye-level, eyebrows raised. “Seems to me it was a team effort.”

“I’m just glad you showed up when you did.” I take a deep breath and hug him again.

“Me too, though I’ll admit it doesn’t feel quite right letting Flores take over. Something like this should be handled by local authorities. Doesn’t the man have a family?”

I grit my teeth, anger threatening to bubble forth. “Do you even know what they did? That man put cameras all over Drake’s penthouse. In my bedroom—mybathroom.”

His expression turns venomous, but there’s clear conflict in his eyes. “I’m not disputing what those men did was deplorable, but this isn’t how I’d handle it… just letting another criminal sweep it all under the rug. I didn’t want this for my family, Elle. If I had my way, we’d all leave LA and fucking Flores behind. That bastard is toxic.”

“Thatbastardalso happens to be my dad. You do realize heisfamily now, right? Especially now that Maddy and Sam are both with Celeste and Toni. You don’t expect them to leave the women they love behind, do you? And everything he’s done has been to protect me.”

“This doesn’t look like protecting you,” he says. “Putting you under Drake’s roof just put you in danger.”

“Putting me under Drake’s roof saved Drake’slife. Think about it. If not for me, Baz and Ben wouldn’t have been there, and neither would you. He’d be dead now…” The reality of it hits me again, and hot tears well up for the second time.

Marco utters a soft curse and wraps his arms around me again. “Shit, Bean. I’m sorry. It’s just that I got all the intel for this op I was just assigned to, and now that I have a bigger picture of Arturo’s business with Amador, I like the man even less. And if that’s not bad enough, they seem to have spawned an even more vile monster in Gustavo Delgado, who seems to keep leveling up every time we come across the bastard.”

“But you’re going to help stop them, right? I just want to go back to a normal life.”

“I’m going to do what I can. Jake volunteered to join me, despite his better judgment, so there will be at least two people on the team with a vested interest in taking those bastards down.”

“How long are you here for?”

“A week before we ship out to the training camp.”

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