Page 37 of Forbidden Cravings

“Hey kiddo. I see you’re playing with the big guys today. Need me to rough them up for you since they weren’t being nice?”

Her laugh lit the sections of my heart I had fortified behind my defenses. They were places reserved only for my sister and now for Casey. With Casey gone, only Riley would access them again.

“I need to talk to you,” Tyson said, his tone serious. “About Donelli.”

I turned to him, not liking the way his demeanor had shifted. “Breck, you and Leo see Riley home. Tyson and I have business to discuss.”

“Yes, boss.”

I heard Riley complain, but I continued my path to the small office of the boxing club. Petey, the manager, had his feet propped on the desk and I pushed them off, kicking him out and closing the door behind him. Tyson owned the club. It had been one of our first building projects when we were coming into our reign over Treemont. He hired Petey to oversee it because theman was extremely loyal. We’d dug him out of an unpleasant situation, taking out a man who raped his girlfriend, and letting Petey put the final bullet in him before we dumped his body under the foundation of the gym.

“The families are worried, Mace. There’s tension and they’re at each other’s throats.”

“The Bad Omens?”

“You could say that. I think they’re stirring the bad blood, but Donelli is nervous. They caught a Bad Omen just north of his city.”

I sat in the chair, crossing my arms. “Bad Omen don’t get caught, Ty.”

“Exactly. They think this guy was a mark.”

I sat up. If they were using marks, it was a bad sign. Marks were people hired by a family to pretend they were part of the family. They were decoys, martyrs who took the job because the family would guarantee whatever it was the mark had traded his life for. No one used them anymore, not since the turf wars were out of control, way before my time. If the Bad Omens were using marks, we would have no way of knowing who the real killers were. “A mark? Why would they think that?”

“He had their tattoo, but he was too green. Barely knew how to use his gun.”

“Fuck,” I muttered, running my hands through my hair. “That’s sloppy.” And the Bad Omens were anything but sloppy. Either they were playing games or there was something we weren’t seeing.

“Donelli thinks he’s next because he has an alliance with you. I argued that the other families do as well, but he says he’s closest to their territory, so he’ll be first hit.”

And I’d let Casey walk straight into that danger. “Did you tell Casey?”

He gave me a funny look, squinting his eyes. He’d expected me to ask about Donelli, but my concern had been for Casey, and I’d blurted the question out. Not a smart move.

“Yes,” he said warily, “I damn near dragged her home with me, but she argued that bringing her back would leave Donelli questioning our trust in him. Convinced me to leave her so it wouldn’t damage the relationship. I agreed, but told her I’d pull her at the first sign that anything was going down.”

Once again, Casey’s sharpness impressed me. She was on point. If we pulled her out from Donelli’s protection, he’d see it as a slight against him and question our motive.

“So, they’re using marks,” I said, trying to turn Tyson’s attention from my misstep of asking about Casey. I tried not to think of why the thought of her there raised my hackles. Donelli had kept her safe all these years. There was no reason to think he wouldn’t continue to. “I don’t think we should assume we’re any safer from that than any other family.”

“Agreed.”

“Let’s secure the city limits, increase rounds on the house and all the businesses. Make sure the men know marks are involved. Donelli has eyes on Casey?”

“Yeah, he assured me she has two men on her at all times. One watches her building, the other her apartment, they escort her everywhere.”

The need to have that number doubled screamed through me, but I kept it silent. “Good. Riley’s been sticking with me and when she’s not, I have Breck and Leo assigned to her.”

“They can’t follow her into Tides’ territory, Mace.”

“No, she’ll be safe once she’s there. No one’s touching him now, not when he took Randall out so efficiently. They won’t risk his wrath any more than they have, and sending Randall into Bridgeville was a call for war. Having him touch Riley was a callfor annihilation. I’m just not sure they realize that. He’s biding his time until he has them where he wants them.”

Tyson ran his hands through his hair, his hazel eyes reminding me so much of Casey’s that I had to shift my sight from him. Standing, I slapped him on the back. “Let’s go home. You look like you could use a drink, and I know I could. You can tell me all about that flight attendant.”

“I wish there was more to tell,” he muttered as we left. “My dick’s still not satisfied.”

“Is it ever?” I teased, nodding to Petey, then motioning for my men to follow us.

He continued to prattle on about his hook up while my mind whirred with the news he’d delivered and the fact that he’d left his sister in the hornet’s nest where neither of us could get to her.

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