Page 56 of Killian

“I’m sorry, Miss Catalini.” He presses a button on his walkie. “I need an escort for Miss Catalini.”

He gestures to me to head in the door. Another man meeting me right inside. I try to hide my smirk.

So independent you just used Bash to put his bouncer back in his place.

I shake the thought away.

Once in front of the office, the man knocks, stepping aside when Bash calls for me to enter.

Walking inside, I take in the surroundings. I’ve never been here before. Father never owned clubs. This was a Bash operation. He started it when my father went to prison, keeping with it once he formally took over. It’s a legitimate business for the most part.

Looking around his office, I’m surprised to see how organized it is. It looks like a proper office, not some shady back of the club office.

“Greer. To what do I owe the pleasure?” he asks from behind his desk.

I take the seat in front of his desk, watching as he sets his pen down to lean back in his chair.

“Two things actually. First, I visited Mother.”

“How did that go?” he asks in a pained tone.

“About as good as you could expect.” I sigh, biting my lip. “She needs help, Bash. Real help. Locking her up isn’t doing her any favors.”

Bash looks away and nods. “I’ll talk to the family doctor and see if he has any recommendations. The men I have watching her have had erratic reports. I planned on going out there to see for myself, but I’ll take your word for it.”

“You should still go; she is your mother.” I raise my brow.

“And we both know that she wasn’t much of a mother to either of us,” he retorts.

“Listen, about her.” My heart starts hammering in my chest. “I need to tell you something about her that I need you to promise not to fly off the handle at.”

His eyes narrow. “Is this the second thing?”

I shake my head. “This is more like ‘I’m your sister and even though sometimes you piss me off, I’m still loyal to you’ thing.”

He nods. “Alright. Tell me then.”

I let out a heavy sigh. “Mother admitted she knew what Karissa was planning.”

He gives me a sad smile. “I know. I knew as soon as I found out.”

“What?” I can’t hide the surprise in my voice.

“It was obvious that she knew something about it. I never confronted her about it, but I knew.”

“Why didn’t you kill her?”

His eyes look remorseful then. “For you. I already was forced to take your sister away. I knew you would be pissed at me. I thought perhaps I could save you more heartache and pain by not telling you that Karrisa was a traitor. That she easily betrayed our family.” He looks away for a moment. “We both know that death was the only option for her and her husband for planning an uprising. Trust me, I took no joy in ending her life.”

“And Mother?”

“I couldn’t bear to take your mother too, so I pretended I didn’t know. Why do you think she’s on round-the-clock guard?”

I shrug. “She was a bitch to your wife?”

He shakes his head. “Yes, but also because she’s dangerous. Thank you for telling me. It means more than you know because it shows you might let me be your brother again, but I did it for you.”

“I don’t want you to kill her. I know I begged you to take her back from Italy, but I don’t want to see her dead.”

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