Page 78 of Mine, Forever

Instead, York came toward us. I hadn’t even realized he was still in the room. “Ebony has a penchant for getting into trouble.”

Aubrey chuckled, followed by York. “Yes, she always had an inane ability to get herself into deep shit.”

I didn’t find the humorous side to this. How could they? “Who can help me find this boat?”

They both stopped smiling, looking over at me, serious looks now on their faces.

“Other than Luca, there’s only one other person John trusted.”

“Who?”

“His sister, Ronni.”

I frowned. “He has a sister?”

Aubrey nodded. “Estranged, but yeah.”

“Where is she?”

“I’ll have to come with you. She’s not very trusting of new people.”

I shrugged. “I don’t care.”

York raced to the garage to pull the car up for us. Aubrey changed from his orange jumpsuit into an old jacket and pants of mine. Thankfully, they fit him perfectly. As we walked down to the street to meet York, I felt his eyes on me.

“Do you love her?”

Without thinking about it, I responded, “Yes.”

I hated admitting a woman got the best of me, but Ebony did. Hook, line, and mother-fucking sinker.

“Good.”

He didn’t say anything else. York pulled up and we jumped in the car. The only noise was Aubrey giving directions. As the city passed me and I saw where we were headed, I looked over at Aubrey.

“She lives in the woods?”

“Off grid, the way she likes it. She’s had to hide from John for decades.”

“Why?”

“She double-crossed him a while back.”

“How come I never knew I had an aunt?”

“She hated his business ventures, stayed away from it, which meant away from you and your mother. Instead, she built her own empire which John hated.”

“What empire?”

“You’ve heard of the Stilettos?”

Jesus.

The female vigilantes in the city taking down half of my clientele. I’d had to be careful not to incite their rage. Trained assassins who killed the corrupt. I’d lost many a contact in the Senate because of those bitter women.

Forty minutes out of the city, we came to a cabin in the middle of the woods, not unlike my own. A shot rang out as we pulled up to a stop. I could see the barrel of a gun poking out of a gap in the door. Aubrey jumped out, his hands up in the air.

“Ronni! It’s me.”

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