Page 102 of Imperial: The Corvidae Family
His jaw tightened. Not in irritation but more like he was bracing himself. “I told you, it’s nothing.”
“And I toldyouif you’re not honest with me, this won’t work.”
He arched a brow and grinned, then stared at me like he was deciding how much to say. “Baylyn?—”
“No,” I cut in, stepping closer. “You keep telling me I have to trust you. You know what you’re doing and I don’t need to worry about what’s going on in your world. Fine, I rock with that, but I’m also not stupid. I know when something’s weighing on you, and if you’re distracted, then I’m not safe.”
That made him pause.
I watched his expression shift and his fingers flex like he was fighting the urge to reach for me. He was debating. I could see it in the way his eyes moved, scanning my face, weighing the risk of telling me the truth versus shutting me out.
Then amusement moved across his face.
“You’re really arguing me down in my own damn kitchen?”
I shrugged and locked my arms over my chest. “Yep.”
His lips twitched like he was fighting a grin, but it faded fast. He set his cup down and ran a hand over his beard, exhaling before finally meeting my eyes again.
“Yair found something on Trent. Did a deep dive and pulled up some shit we didn’t know about.”
I leaned against the counter, waiting.
“He has a sister,” Emir continued. “Eighteen years old and two months ago, he transferred the last of his money into a trust for her. Half a million. Then he transferred his properties too.”
I frowned. “That sounds like?—”
“He’s planning to disappear,” Emir finished. “Ordie. But based on the way he’s moving and how well he knows me, I’m betting on the last one.”
“You think he’s setting you up.”
“Not think,” Emir corrected. “Know.”
His voice was calm and steady, but I saw the edge beneath his relaxed posture. “Trent wants to die with honor,” he continued. “And he wants to ruin me in the process. If I kill him without proof that he came after me, it will go against code. He’s trying to make it so that when I pull that trigger, I’m the one who loses everything.”
“You won’t, will you?”
“No,” he agreed. “Because I’m not stupid enough to walk into his trap.”
I hesitated, piecing everything together, then shaking my head. “We have proof.”
Emir frowned. “What you mean?”
I grabbed my phone off the counter and pulled up my social media. “Remember those flowers you sent me? And the ones that showed up on my car that night at the club?”
His eyes narrowed and I saw the anger he carried from feeling like he’d left me exposed. I didn’t blame him. As much as Emir believed he could control the entire world, he couldn’t. “Yeah.”
I swiped through my screenshots since I had unfollowed and blocked the account, then turned the screen to face him. “And this.” I held up the page of the second account that followed me after I met Emir.
He took the phone, studying the images and his jaw was tight right before his fingers slid into my hair. He pulled me closer, dropping his mouth to mine in a kiss so deep and possessive it had me gripping his arms to keep steady. When he pulled back, his eyes were dark with satisfaction.
“Damn,” he muttered. “With everything going on, I forgot all about this shit. I’m sure Yair did too. Your pretty ass really does fit in my world.”
“So this helps?”
“This and all the other shit we have is just what we need. I’m about to remind Yair about this account. If he can link this shit to Trent, when I drop that muthafucker nobody will say a damn thing. They’ll know it was justified because he was on some bitch shit.”
I smiled big as hell. “So I helped.”
