“I don’t have to worry?” I repeated, incredulous. “Some creep followed me home and… and stared at my windows all night, like a complete psycho, and then his buddy shows up. And now you two are insisting I drop everything and just flee with nothing but my toothbrush… excuse me if I find it pretty fucking hard not to worry! For the last time—would you please tell me what’s goingon?”
I saw them exchanging looks, but neither saidanything.
Feeling both irritated and powerless, I fell back against the backrest with a frustrated sigh. “Fine! I guess it’s not like you’re in the habit of being honest with meanyway.”
* * *
The twins’flat was in one of the old converted industrial buildings along the river not far off where I’d met Liam that morning my heelbroke.
I hadn’t seen either of them flash their money at any point in the time I’d known them, but when I stepped into their shared flat, it was pretty obvious their net worth was way above mine. Way,wayabove.
The flat was spacious and effortlessly trendy, with bare brick walls, glowing parquet floors and a view across the Thames that would have taken my breath away if I’d been even a little less out of it. The decor, however, spoke clearly of the amazing space being occupied by two bachelors. A large, black leather sofa dominated the living room we stepped into, and most of the wall facing it had been taken up by a flatscreenTV.
“I’ll call Blaine, give him an update,” one of the twins said to the other. I didn’t know who—seeing them next to each other like this, without being able to check their hands for scars, I couldn’t tell thedifference.
“And Perkinson?” the other asked, quirking an eyebrow. “I don’t much feel like swinging by and asking him what the fuck he’s playing at. Can’t trust he won’t cut his losses and have us executed if we show up withoutbackup.”
“And with backup, Dad’s bound to find out,” the first twin mused. “Fuck.”
Perkinson? I blinked—twice.MyPerkinson? “E-executed?” Icroaked.
One twin reached out, stroking a hand comfortingly up along my back. His touch felt so natural, it took me a moment to remember we weren’t like that anymore. I pulled away from his comforting hand with a glare, and a flicker of pain crossed his handsome features before he pulled his focus back to the problem athand.
“You’re going to hear a lot of things that won’t make a lot of sense to you. We get it’s scary, love, we do, but the less you know, thebetter.”
“Don’t you think it’s a bit too late to hide it from her at this point?” the other twin broke in. “They showed up at her fuckingflat.”
The first twin glared at his brother. “She didn’t ask for this shit,Louis.”
“No, but she got it anyway, didn’t she?” Louis snapped. “This is what fucking happens when you’re a part of our Family, and the sooner she knows the full truth, the sooner she’ll know what’s at stakehere.”
“Sheis not a child,” I said, my tone about as frustrated as I felt at being kept in the dark. “And if you know why those creeps have anything to do with my client, I think I have a right toknow.”
The redheads exchanged a long look, and I got the distinct impression they were coming to some sort ofagreement.
In the end, Liam exhaled deeply and sank down on the backrest of the sofa. He rubbed his hand across his face before he looked at me. “Fine. Just… know that I never meant for you to get involved in any ofthis.”
“Brian Perkinson, Gregory’s father, is the patriarch of a mafia Family. We’ve been working with them, but after they saw you at the vodka launch last Friday, they must’ve realized they could use you to get an upper hand over us. At least, that’s we think,” Louissaid.
“That’s the good option,” Liammuttered.
Fear so intense it reduced my irritation and general worry about my own safety to ashes swept through me as I stared at them. As angry and hurt as I was from what they’d put me through, the part of me that’d fallen in love with their light and vitality was shocked to the core that they’d gotten mixed up with mafia types, of allthings.
“Jesus fuck,” I whispered, pressing my hand to my mouth as my mind raced for any knowledge I had about the kind of criminals they’d gotten themselves tangled up with so I could try and look for a way out for them. Unfortunately, my spotty knowledge of the criminal underworld came from TV shows. “How did you get messed up with the mafia?Why?There’s gotta be a way to get you out. Do you owe them mone—” The dark look that passed between the twins made my frantic thoughts still. “What?”
“Audrey…”
“We’re not messed up with themafia.”
They both looked at me then, the expression on their faces identical masks of complete and utter seriousness. It looked so alien, so wrong onthem.
“Wearethemafia.”
“What?” I whispered, sure I must have heardwrong.
“The Steels are one of the strongest Families in London’sunderworld.”
“Our Family used to rule the city, but… There’s a war coming. The Perkinsons were ourallies.”