Page 27 of Kissing Danger

“People in my position?”

It felt strange to make jokes about something I usually worked so hard to keep secret. My tongue tripped over my words, and I sarcastically turned his own phrase back on him just to hide the fact that I didn’t know what to say.

“Yeah. You know.” Deacon smirked and looked up at me through his lashes. “Big boss man.”

He started laughing, and I couldn’t help chuckling a little as well, though in the back of my mind, I worried. I hadn’t toldhim that I was the leader of my family, so his use of the word “boss” was likely just meant as a joke, but I still wondered if he’d somehow figured out more than I meant to tell him. He’d already convinced me to reveal my secrets to him. At this point, it wouldn’t surprise me to learn that he’d uncovered even more than I meant for him to know.

Pushing away the worry, I leaned back in my chair and forced myself to act casual.

“Owning a private jet really isn’t worth the effort. The plane doesn’t go any faster, and it’s a waste to burn so much fuel just to transport me. Usually, first class is good enough, though on the rare occasion when a public plane isn’t good enough, I can always rent a private jet, if needed.”

Deacon’s gaze flickered up and down my figure. “Hmmm. An environmentally responsible criminal mastermind, I see.”

Ever since learning the truth about who I am, he’d been in a strange mood. He was fidgety, like he had too much energy running through his veins. The unusual attitude contributed to my worry. I could tell there was a thought in his head that he hadn’t come to terms with, and feared what would happen when he finally did. However, until I could determine where we actually stood with each other, I would have to continue moving forward with my plans.

The world didn’t stop turning just because I was having an off day, and my enemies certainly wouldn’t give me a break to deal with personal issues.

Deacon’s face suddenly appeared right in front of me. I’d been so wrapped up in my thoughts, I hadn’t noticed him leaning over from his seat to stare at me.

His finger rubbed at the crease between my brows. “You seem worried. What’s wrong?”

I couldn’t admit that he was the thing worrying me.

What would I even say?

Stop acting so normal. Now that you know who I am, you’re supposed to be scared and disgusted with me.

I didn’t want such a thing to be true, and I didn’t want to accidentally wish it into existence by saying it out loud.

Instead, I gave him a different explanation. While not accurate, it was still true.

“I’m wondering how the fabric was poisoned in the first place. That kind of Vicuna fabric was hard to find. I had to call in a favor with some personal contacts to get my hands on it so quickly. It was in either my possession, or the possession of someone I trust, almost the entire time. So how could the poisoner have gotten access to it?”

Deacon finally looked worried as he considered what I’d said, but after only a moment, he returned to lounging in his own seat.

“I don’t really know how any of this works, but it seems to me that we’ll just have to ask the guy once we find him.”

He suddenly sat up from his relaxed pose and pinned me with a stern eye. “You are going to let me be there when you confront him, right?”

Deacon claimed that he wanted to personally take revenge for his friend, but did he really understand what that meant?

When we found the poisoner, the guy wasn’t going to tell us what we wanted to know. I would likely have to extract the information I wanted by force.

How would Deacon react once he saw the blood on my hands with his own eyes?

The flight from Las Vegas to New York was less than five hours, so before we knew it, we were climbing into a car waiting for us in front of the JFK airport.

“So, where are we going?” Deacon asked as he watched the tall buildings passing by the window.

Las Vegas was hardly a small city, but it was more of a sprawling structure of glitter and neon. New York was just as impressive in its own, different way. In the heart of the city, the buildings stood so tall the sky seemed like a forgotten memory, and the only way to see the expanse of blue was to crane your neck and stare straight up.

A police car drove past, going in the opposite direction to us. The inside of our car turned red and blue for a moment, then the siren faded into the distance. I waited for it to pass and for silence to fall again—or at least as silent as a major city ever got—and gave Deacon a basic explanation of what to expect.

During the five-hour flight, my contact in New York City had been busy. As soon as I agreed to take care of Caprice Vidales for D’Angelo, my first step had been to place a spy within the Vidales organization. I’d only wanted someone to keep an eye on things, but this spy had gone above and beyond, and managed to earn a place as Caprice Vidales’s secretary.

I’d have to give my spy a raise, because thanks to her efforts, I knew exactly where Caprice was at all times and exactly what thewoman was doing. This is why I not only knew she was in New York, but exactly in which office building I could find her.

I also knew she was scheduled to meet with a member of her family who was well known among criminal circles as a hitman.

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