Page 96 of Dark Horse

“Now don’t cry on me. I know you hated me for making you pay the rent, but I just wanted you to have something for yourself. I knew you wouldn’t take handouts or help. But I wanted you to be able to buy your own bar or your own house when the time came. I was gonna give it to you when you got married or on your thirtieth birthday, whichever came first. But I might not make it to see those, and if Levi goes with me, no one else will know to give it to you, so…” He trails off.

“Thank you,” I blurt out as the tears start to roll down my cheeks, and I jump the man, wrapping my arms around him as he teeters and struggles to keep us both upright. So much for being the stoic support he needs right now. But his arms close around me, and he holds me tight as he kisses the top of my head in return. “I wish I had better words than that.” I have three I’d like to say, but they’re the same three I don’t know if I need to say. The ones that always feel like a silent exchange with him, and I worry if I whisper them out loud, it could be like a butterfly effect that sets our whole world spinning off. So I keep them silent, like we always do, when I hug him one last time.

“You don’t have to thank me, Hellfire. You just stay safe, okay? I hope I see you on the other side of this.” He looks down at me, sincerity burning through the ice to make his eyes two deep pools of glassy blue that I’m melting into.

“I wish you could tell me more. What your plan is or how I’ll know when you’re safe.” I wipe away the tears from my cheeks, cursing myself for falling apart the exact way I told myself I wouldn’t. I’m desperate for some sort of reassurance that I’ll have his arms around me again. That we’ll have another heated fight about something ridiculous, and then he’ll end up back in my bed at the end of the night. But it’s all promises he can’t keep.

“There is no plan. Just a play we have to make and hope it turns out. Just assume I’m all right unless you hear otherwise. Okay?”

“I’ll try.” It’ll be impossible. My mind will race with the worst possibilities, but I don’t want to give him trouble this morning. I want to do what we both need to keep him safe.

“Charlotte and Hazel will keep you so distracted you won’t have time to think about it.” He forces a smile, and I do my best to return it. If that’s the lie he has to tell himself to get throughthis, I’m not going to shatter it. Like Levi said, the best way I can support him is by being strong and doing the things I don’t want to do. Things like getting in the car and onto an airplane and flying away.

“You ready?” Hazel appears with a carry-on at the foot of the steps, and Ramsey’s just a few steps behind her with a duffel and a tired, sad look on his face as he sees his brother.

“We’re ready.” I gesture to Vendetta in her carrier at my feet.

“I got her for you if you want?” Ramsey points to the carrier, and I nod.

“Have a safe one.” Grant looks to Ramsey, and he reaches over to give him a swift hug and a firm pat on the back.

“You too, brother.” Ramsey grabs the back of Grant’s neck and brings them forehead to forehead, whispering something I can’t hear. There’s another stoic nod of Grant’s before they part. Hazel follows with a solemn sign of support to Grant before she and Ramsey disappear out the door.

“Guess I’d better go.” I look up to Grant, and the look on his face nearly breaks my heart, but I force a small smile. “Be careful.”

“Be safe, Hellfire.” He pulls me in for one last hug, kissing my temple in the process, and it takes everything I have in me to let go and walk out the door.

FORTY-TWO

GRANT

When Jay arrivesat the Avarice, I feel the buzz of nerves down my spine. This has to go flawlessly, or we’ll all end up in prison for the rest of our lives—or worse. Hudson and Rowan are on call, a few short meters away in case we need them, but Levi and I are meeting him alone to keep suspicions down. He pulls his aviators off as he walks into the back entrance where he’s parked, and he tucks them into his pocket before he flashes a brilliantly fake smile at us.

“Hot as hell out there today. How are y’all holdin’ up?” he remarks on his way in, nodding at Levi before turning his attention to me.

“As good as it can be, considering the past weekend. Ramsey and Hazel are obviously disappointed, and the staffat Seven Sins are having a hell of a time, given the circumstances there.”

“Right. Can’t believe it’s a total fucking loss. Fire department’s still on that one. Investigating the cause of it. The fire chief still thinks it could be a burst gas line. You know those old buildings… lot of maintenance and upkeep. Not as nice as this place.” He chatters on as he follows us down the hall. “They’re still sorting through the rubble but making progress.”

“I assume they’ll let us know when they’ve got a final finding?” I ask because the communication has been nearly nonexistent, given that I’m the property owner and Dakota owned most of what was inside. Then again, it’s not exactly surprising with what I know now.

“Of course. I’ll keep you updated as I know more. They just had that house fire up on Elk Landing, and that’s been a fucking doozy of a mess too. Guess this whole town’s going to hell in a handbasket.”

“Certainly seems that way,” Levi mutters under his breath, and I shoot him a look behind Jay’s shoulder.

“So you boys got something you want me to look at?” Jay asks as we step onto the elevator.

“Yeah. There were a couple of things that were out of place, and with everything going on, we can’t be too cautious. Figured you were the best person to look into it,” I explain.

We’d invited him over under false pretenses, telling him we were unable to find something in our vault and that the log codes had been off for a period of time last month. That combined with some strange gaps in the entries in the security system this past week had us wondering if we had a problem on our hands.

“You guys don’t have internal security?” He lifts a brow.

“We do, but we want to explore all possibilities and get your input,” I answer as we ride the elevator down to the vaultfloor in sub-basement four. Running a casino meant having a fortress underground, particularly when that casino was a money-laundering facility and housed a fuckton of black-market cash at any given moment.

“Can’t dismiss the possibility of an inside job right now.” Levi looks over my uncle. His underhanded jabs, teasing too closely to the truth. I’m half worried my brother is going to kill him before we get off the elevator. We both have tempers, but Levi’s is less practiced and more unhinged than mine, particularly when the offense is to something he holds dear—like this family.

“That’d be a real fucking problem for you boys. You gotta shore up leaks like that. Your dad and I had a couple back in our day. Not a fucking thing I wish on anyone.” His eyes go distant for a moment, and I swear it’s remorse I can see there. Given that we can’t know anything for sure now, like whether or not he was part of the machinations that killed my parents, I have a hard time trusting any emotion on his face. For all I know, it’s for show.

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