Page 72 of Lost Kingdom

I stop on a dime, only to stumble when he keeps going and his hand remains on my neck. “Tim? You acted like you’d never met him before when I introduced you at the wedding!”

He turns me to the doorway and leads me up the stairs. “I was omitting information so you wouldn’t worry.”

“You were lying!”

“Semantics,” he counters callously. “The point is, Duane is a shitty card player, and he owed some vicious assholes some money. It came to my attention he couldn’t afford to pay that debt, so I did it for him.” He slings his apartment door open and moves me through the way he’s done a million times in the past. “I paid, I told Duane to get his head on straight, and then I went on with my life.”

“So if you paid, why are they asking for more?”

“Because he’s areallyshitty card player, and he doesn’t learn a lesson when it’s slapping him in the face. He went back again. Lost again. Now Booth is under attack down at the bay, so his troops are sweeping the city and scrounging their pennies together. It just so happens your brother owes him a few of those pennies.”

“So they thought they could threaten me in the street and, what? Coins would fall out of my pockets?”

“It’s about pressure points,” he grits out, dragging me back and crushing me against his chest. His heart pounds almost as fast as mine. But where I default to tears, he moves to anger. “They want their money, and if Duane is less than cooperative, their next step is to press down on the people he cares about. Them threatening his sister is the fucking spot I knew would eventually come.”

“So you just… you knew these things were happening and never once mentioned it? You didn’t think to share with me that I should watch over my shoulder? I havesevensiblings, Tim! That leaves six morepressure pointsout there, living their lives with no clue they might be slammed against a wall. Three of my siblings are female. They have kids too. They’re vulnerable, and you said nothing?”

“I don’t believe you’re Duane’s pressure point.” He yanks me in and rests a kiss on the top of my head. Breathing so warm air bathes my scalp. “You’re mine.”

“Yours?”

“Duane is a baby fish in a massive pond. They want the marlin, Aubree.Not the goldfish. They know Malone means money, but putting pressure on your sisters isn’t gonna be nearly as effective as putting it on you. I predicted this a while ago, so I’ve been watching the situation and keeping you safe. But Nathan is desperate today, so they skipped a few fuckin’ steps and jumped ahead.” He pulls back and rests his forehead on mine. “Stay here and I’ll take care of it.”

“Wait!” Panic lances in my blood when pictures of war form in my mind. Carnage. Bleeding men and smoking barrels. “You’re not leaving.”

“I am.” He backs up to the door and opens it to accept the bag his man offers in silence. “Nathan Booth has outstayed his welcome. I let shit slide when it didn’t affect me or the people I love, but he destroyed that leniency when he approached you tonight. Get the car,” he murmurs to the guard. Then he closes the door and sets my bag down. “I’m gonna get your brother and put him somewhere else for a while. Then I’m gonna do what I was supposed to do from the start. I’ll eliminate Booth and take back my city.”

“No.” I charge forward in an instant, wrapping myself around his strong body and linking my fingers at his back. “I’m saying no.”

“Aubree—”

“I’m saying this is non-negotiable. If you walk out that door tonight, I won’t be here when you get back.”

“Aubree!”

“I’ll leave and freeze you out for the rest of my life.” I pull back and search his eyes. “I’ll move out of my apartment and scare the little pigeon who visits my window away, and I’ll leave this city if that’s what I have to do to cut you off. If you walk out this door and go in search of those men, then I’m walking too.”

“I’m trying to keep you safe! Dammit, Aubree. I’m trying to shield you and your stupid fuckin’ brother from men whose go-to is violence and depravity.”

“So send one of your guys to pick Duane up if you have to. Put him somewhere if you absolutely must. But if you leave, we’re through.”

“I’ll risk it.” He grabs the door handle and forces me back with his other hand. “I’ll come back and beg for you if I have to. Eventually, you’ll forgive me, because you love me. That’s what we do. We piss each other off, and then we make up. I’ll save your brother’s life and eliminate a threat, you’ll throw a tantrum and trash my apartment, and then tomorrow, we move on with our lives.”

“I’ll move on,” I agree, my heart in my throat and a headache pounding atthe base of my skull. “Without you. If you become the monster you’ve spent three decades avoiding, then I don’t want you anyway.”

“Aubree! You cannot expect me to stay here and tolerate them touching you! They scared you. So I’ll kill them.”

“Kill them, and I’ll file for a divorce.” I stand taller and challenge the mafioso who chose a different path in life. And then I smile when his eyes flare wide with guilt. “Truth or dare, Malone. Wanna play?”

23

TIM

COLLARS AND COLLECTIBLES

“What did you just say?” I release the door handle and press my back to the wood to keep busybodies out. Because I’m going to war with someone tonight. I’m just not sure who. “Divorce?”

“We can’t have an annulment, since we already consummated it. Quite pleasurably, I might add. But I kind of figure a weeklong marriage doesn’t really count, right? There should be a cooling off period first.”

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