Page 53 of The Boss
He finally looked at her. The light painted a blade along her cheekbone. Her mouth was set in a line he’d learned meant resolve. “I like truth,” hesaid.
“Then you hate this.”
He didn’t answer. He didn’t need to. The silence between them saidit.
She took a breath, steadying herself, then began with a calm that made his skin prickle. “The car bomb last night was crude. If it had gone off, it would have been loud, obvious, meant to scare me into obedience and rattle you. That’s Rocco. Obvious. The conference room was different. It was placed, not tossed. It waited, didn’t announce itself. It took someone with access and patience, someone who could move inside your building without raising a flag. That’s not Rocco. He isn’t patient. He likes to be seen.”
Leif’s gaze flicked to her hand where the Brand pulsed faintly like a heartbeat visible through skin. “You’ve been thinking about this.”
“I couldn’t sleep.” She gave a small huff that wasn’t a laugh. “You told me not to run. Ididn’t. Ilay there and counted the seconds instead.” She turned to face him fully. “It doesn’t fit, Leif. And if you pretend it does because it keeps the families quiet, that’s not protection. That’s surrender.”
His displeasure lifted its head. “Careful.”
She didn’t back away. “I’m not afraid of your temper.”
He stepped closer, close enough that the heat off her skin slid under his. “You should be afraid of the men who want you gone. My temper keeps them alive long enough to wish they weren’t.”
Her eyes flashed. “Then point it at the right target.”
“My target is the man who tried to kill you and me in my house.”
“Good,” she said, voice sharpening. “Then stop pretending the most convenient story is enough.”
“Enough to keep a lid on a war,” he snapped. He didn’t raise his voice often. He didn’t need to. But something about the calm certainty in hers needled him past collected. “Enough to keep half the city from lighting up because someone wants to watch my house burn.”
“The city will burn anyway if you shoot the wrong man and call it justice.”
He laughed once, without humor. “You think I don’t know the price of a wrong trigger? Icount costs before most men know they’re in debt.” He held her gaze. “Why are you pushing this?”
“Because I don’t like lies any more than you do.” Her mouth firmed. “Because if we build on a lie, it collapses. And because I’m tired of you acting like the Brand is some holy writ that excuses you from listening.”
There it was. The real blade. It sank under his ribs. “The Brand is not an excuse.”
“Isn’t it?” She took another step and the room seemed to tilt. “You say it defines us. You say it’s proof. But when I tell you we’re wrong about Rocco, you stare at my mouth and don’t listen to my words.”
His hand shot out before he thought, fingers closing around her wrist. He lifted their palms and pressed them together. Heat rushed like blood. The lion burned. “Tell me this is a lie.”
Her breath hitched, not with fear but with that basic response he bore in his own bones. Her pupils widened. He wanted to kiss her, to take the argument out of both their mouths and replace it with something he knew how to speak. She held his gaze steady. “I won’t call it a lie. I’ll call it a force. Forces can be wrong if you treat them like gods.”
“Fate is not wrong.”
“Men are.”
Silence stretched. Far below, the city kept moving. The two of them didn’t.
“You want me to lock down the building,” she said softly. “Double guards. Triple checks. Move me into your shadow and leave me there.”
“I want you breathing.”
“That’s not the same as living.” She eased her hand out of his. He let her. She rubbed her wrist where he’d held her like the heat had soaked deeper than skin. “Let me help you find the right enemy.”
He stared at her. “You don’t need to be bait.”
“I’m not offering to be bait. I’m offering a brain.” She tilted her head toward the desk. “Walk me through the logs again. Walk me through who had badges, who swapped shifts, who signed for deliveries after inspection. Aflorist cart showed up in the records that shouldn’t have been there at all.”
He stilled. “You noticed that.”
“I notice everything.”
