Page 81 of Lost Kingdom

“I knew for like, five minutes! And I told him to tell you. If you didn’t know by close of business today, I probably would have dropped the news.”

“You could have called me the very second you heard! That’s what loyal people do.”

“She acts mad, but the way she tells it, she knew ever since Felix’s wedding.” I set my hand on her ribs and pin her to my side. “She’s not as angry as she’d have you believe.”

“I have different levels of angry for different people, depending on their station in my life.”

“Stations?” Cato snickers. “What are you? The queen?”

Yes. She is. That’s the fuckin’ point.

She glances up and holds my eyes, searching like she can somehow read the words passing through my mind. But then she settles on a smile and rests her cheek over my heart. “I’m experiencing mixed feelings about everything that’s happening in my life right now. So I’m dealing with each layer as they come up. I’m neither enraged nor thrilled to be married. But I’m pissedmyfriendskept such a massive a secret from me.”

“For a night.” Fletch rubs his chest. “Give a man a minute to process the news himself. I was gonna pass it on.”

“I have a running race at school today,” Mia announces. “And I’m the fastest person in my grade.”

“Bet you are,” Cato agrees seriously. “And the smartest. The prettiest. The silliest. And the best reader too, I reckon.”

“I can read! I moved up to level three books andeveryfing.”

“Because you’re a genius.” He plops a noisy, juicy kiss on her cheek and earns a giggle from the little girl. “Anyone giving you trouble at school yet, McStinkerson? Because I don’t know if you know, but I’m a very powerful man. Which makes you a very powerful little girl. The most powerful in that entire school. You make the order, and I’ll take care of business.”

“Can we not indoctrinate a cop’s daughter into the mob just yet?” Fletch stomps across the kitchen and snatches her into his arms. “She’s only in kindergarten, dude. Give her time to decide if she’ll use her powers for good or evil.”

“I’m good, Daddy!” She squeezes him and the bear into a hug. “I’m definitely gonna be good.”

26

AUBREE

THE LIST

“What are you doing today?” I know I have to be at the office in less than an hour, but I’m also painfully aware of the situation my brother has landed himself in. Allowing him to feel the consequences of his actions doesn’t mean I’m free of the ache he’ll experience if Booth catches up with him. “Heading to the bar?”

“I was probably gonna hang around,” Tim lies. “Help Daisy.”

I stop outside Minka’s building, huddling into my jacket and looking up at the man who still, to this day, lies to my face.

But he’s learning, at least.

His lips curl into a delicious smile when my eyes hold his and narrow. “I’m gonna make a few calls and try to get information on Booth and Duane. Chances are we’ll find them in the same place, so if I can help or whatever…”

“Oryou could just come with me.” I grab his hand and walk before the cold air freezes me to the sidewalk. “I know where Duane is, which means you can stay far away from Booth. When this is all said and done, your hands remain clean and you won’t have beef with a mid-level nobody.”

“I already do.” But he walks with me, wrapping his arm over my shoulder and keeping his head on a swivel, his eyes scouring the street in ways I’ve never had to do.

Different worlds. Wildly different experiences.

He leads me right when a shiny black SUV pulls up at the curb, openingthe door with fast movements and herding me in without asking my opinion on the matter.

“This city is part of the Malone empire.” He shuffles in beside me and reaches across to fix my seatbelt. “I can walk away from my family, and I can refuse a throne I was born to control. But that doesn’t take away from the fact that this is Malone kingdom.”

“But you don’t want it.”

“True. But that doesn’t mean someone else gets to slide in and take it. If my family doesn’t defend what’s theirs, they forfeit it. And forfeiture is not something we’re apt to do. Booth has been left to roam because he’s a drug dealer at worst. He’s no high-flying gangster who could take a city. And for as long as Copeland was safe for me and my family,” he glances up as the car pulls away from the curb, “as long asyouwere safe, I didn’t give a shit what the idiot was doing on our streets. But whoever he’s working for isn’t low-level. They’re large, they’re organized, and they’re making a move that just so happens to piss me off. Booth needs to be grounded, and his boss needs to be humbled.” He presses a gentle kiss to my lips, hovering like he thinks it hides his feral smile. “I intend to deal with anyone who thinks stalking and threatening my wife is a solid business plan.”

“But they didn’t know I was your wife. They came for me because of my connection to Duane.”

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