Page 86 of Celestial Combat

“My place in Brooklyn.”

Another pause. “I didn’t tell you to do that.”

I clenched my jaw. Trevor wasn’t my boss. He knew that. And he sure as hell would never talk to me like this if it wasn’t about his sister.

“You know how safe it is here,” I said evenly. “You helped me set up the security. No one can get in but me.”

Trevor sighed, but it wasn’t relief. More like frustration. “She slept in your bed?”

I grabbed the coffee pot, pouring a cup. “I wasn’t going to make her sleep on the couch.”

Silence.

Heavy.

When Trevor finally spoke again, his voice was lower, edged with something that wasn’t quite anger but damn close.

“I don’t think I need to bring this up,” He said slowly,deliberately. “But you took the couch.” A pause. “Right?”

It wasn’t a question.

It was a warning.

I didn’t hesitate. “Of course.”

Trevor sighed again, more relaxed this time. “Alright.”

The first time I’d lied to my best friend.

Present

I followed Trevor into the house, my shoes barely making a sound against the floor as he led me into the dining room.

Trevor gestured for me to sit, and I did, leaning back slightly as he pulled out a chair across from me.

A beat of silence passed between us.

Then, he leaned forward, arms braced on the table, voice lowering like he was about to drop something heavier than either of us wanted to hear.

“Before I killed Tao, he told me something.”

I didn’t move. “What?”

Trevor’s jaw was tight, his fingers curling slightly against the dark wood. “He said,Ruiz didn’t work alone. This is just the beginning. A war is coming for the New York Families. You will all pay.”

I went still.

The words hit like a bullet.

Ruiz had been a dirty ex-fed – one who played both sides until the game finally caught up with her. She was corrupt and dangerous in all the wrong ways.

She had made the mistake of going after Zachary Di’Ablo – Matteo’s baby brother, new leader of the Diablo Mexican Cartel and one of Trevor’s oldest friends. After Zachary got shot in the chest four times for protecting his girlfriend’s life, she was the one to kill Ruiz.

Zachary’s girl was no one other than Maria Pérez, the ex-assassin I’d once saved the life of and trained to become better. She was like a little sister to me.

Thankfully, they were both okay now.

We all thought Ruiz’s death was the end of it.

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