Page 84 of Wrathful King
“Dante’s here?” Reina turned to me, her voice slightly pitched. “You think—” She returned her eyes to Lykos. “Did he say why he was here?”
“He keeps evading my men.” That was my brother. He knew how to move with the shadows. “So I’m afraid I’m not certain why he’s here.”
Talk about a vague answer.
Hope flickered in her eyes and she straightened her shoulders. “I bet you it has something to do with Phoenix.”
“Phoenix?” Lykos’s brow furrowed, but I wasn’t sure why he was confused. He’d been the one to slip the tip to Marchetti. “Your sister, Phoenix?” She nodded eagerly. “Why would he be looking for her?”
Reina let out an exasperated breath. “I don’t know. Those two have a hate-hate relationship, but maybe—” She broke off and shrugged her slim shoulders. “I don’t know. Maybe he’s trying to help.”
The tone of her voice suggested the exact opposite, not that I could blame her. But Dantewastrying to help, in his own way. She just worried he’d force a marriage on Phoenix.
“I’m sure he is,” Lykos muttered, the look in his eyes telling. He was on to Dante.
Reina quickly added, “They won’t get married. He’s too crazy, too unhinged for her.” She waved her hand. “Besides, he’d havea lotto atone for, and something tells me he’s not the type to grovel.”
Despite Reina’s objection to her sister tying herself to Dante, I actually thought it’d be good for my brother. For both of them.
“Anyhow.” Lykos was clearly done with the topic of Dante and Phoenix. “I heard rumors your cousin was on the run for a while before shit caught up to him.”
“More like he was hiding and now he’s rotting in a dirty rathole,” I muttered.
Lykos nodded his head. “Glad to hear he’s dead though.” I nodded. Itsuki’s death was long overdue. I wasn’t surprised that the news of his death spread quickly. It was the way of the underworld. “Anything on Hiroshi?” I shook my head. “Sometimes answers are found where it all began. It’s worthwhile to go back to the beginning.”
Well, nothing beats a vague suggestion more than a cryptic comment like that. But then, what else could you expect from a Greek?
* * *
“Are you sure?” Dante questioned. “I’ve been here for days and there’s been no trace of her. And it hasn’t helped that fucking Lykos’s men have been shadowing me like damn bloodhounds.”
The hands of dread dug their fingers into me and refused to let go. They inched up my spine and promised retribution. Lykos’s words kept nagging at me. He’d said to go back to the beginning, except I wasn’t sure where the beginning was.
Where I was born? Did he mean Japan? Or somewhere else?
I didn’t know what it was, but I could feel a storm brewing.
“She’s certain of what she saw.” With Reina in the shower, I used the window of opportunity to call Dante and update him on the woman Reina spotted. It had rocked her to her core, and I struggled to brush off her concerns. Phoenixwasin Greece. There were too many coincidences between Lykos's initial intel to Marchetti and the earlier incident. I had no interest in making Reina feel crazy over something that had to be true.
“Fucking Lykos and his men.”
“You could have just told him you were coming and stayed at his place,” I scolded. “It would have saved you time and energy. Instead, you were a stubborn ass and sneaked into the country like a thief in the night.”
“I don’t want to be wrapped up in his problems,” he muttered.
I let out a sardonic breath. “What problems?”
“Dunno.” Dante could be a stubborn ass. “We all have problems. I doubt he’s an exception. Besides, I didn’t want his little kids running around me. Annoying me.”
I sighed. Dante’s logic always left me scratching my head.
“Anyhow, there’s one thing you should be aware of.”
“What?”
“Reina swears the woman had red hair and a little girl with her.”
“Huh?”
