Page 40 of Assassin's Heart
Remi nodded. I turned to Levi. “I still don’t know what to do about the Fioris. I don’t have what they want,” I said for what felt like the thousandth time.
“We’ll worry about that after Brooke is back with her mother.”
I shook my head. “Why? Why are you all doing this, risking this for me?”
Levi took his empty plate and stood, staring at Remi for a long moment before turning away. “You’re a part of us now.”
Because I had slept with his brother? Or because Remi had brought me here? I wasn’t sure which answer I wanted, so I clamped my mouth shut on any further questions.
Abby was smiling at her plate. Eli popped the last bite of pancake into his mouth, mumbling around it, “Does that mean she gets dish duty? Because I’m starting to get dishpan hands, yo.”
Remi smacked the back of Eli’s head. “Keep talking and you also get to clean every weapon in the weapons locker.”
Eli shot his brother an evil look but began gathering dishes anyway.
I grinned.
My cell rang.
The room went instantly still, silent. Another ring.
“Remi,” I whimpered. I’d thought, coming to this point, I’d be eager, confident. But I wasn’t. One wrong move could get my daughter killed.
“You’ve got this,lev sheli.”
The men in the room stirred as if surprised.
I reached for the phone. “What does it mean?” I asked without looking at him.
“It means…” He shook his head, sighed. “You’reeshet hayil, Leah. My warrior woman. Answer the phone.”
Warrior woman.I didn’t feel like a warrior at the moment, but I could pretend.
The phone rang in my hand. I clicked the Answer button, then Speaker. “Ross?”
“Leah, it’s me.”
His voice sounded higher than normal. Excited. No, scared.
What was Ross afraid of?
“We’ve got the location. Write it down.”
I glanced at Remi, saw him keying the address into his phone. He gave me a sharp nod.
“Got it, Ross.” I took a deep breath. “Let me speak to Brooke.”
I could hear Ross moving around but couldn’t make out any distinctive sounds. “Not now. This afternoon. Meet us at one; you’ll see her then.”
“Is she all right?” I had to know. Four hours from now was too long to wait. “Is she?”
Ross hesitated, making my heart jump. “She’s fine,” he finally said. “I promise, Leah.” More movement. “This afternoon, come alone, got it? And bring the recordings.”
Those damn recordings. In that moment, if Angelo had still been alive, I thought I might kill him myself. All this, the danger to our daughter, for nothing.
“Not going to happen, Windon, and you know it,” Remi said.
I opened my mouth to protest. Remi held up a finger, his eyes seeming to say it would be all right.
