Page 38 of Blood Ties

“Let me try.”

There was a bunch of rustling and some clinking sounds. It sounded like she dropped a bunch of items. Then she was quiet for so long I had to look at the screen to see if the call was still connected.

Finally, she sighed. “It looked like maybe Chicago?”

A mix of relief that he hadn’t known where we were and that he wasn’t near where Nivea was. There was no way her dad took her to Chicago. He would’ve taken her home, if anywhere.

“Thanks, Granmé,” Voodoo said with a fond smile.

“Anytime, my boy, anytime. Now when are you bringing my great-grandson down to see me?” She briskly asked him. He chuckled and gave us a wave before he left the room with his phone.

I knew from my research that Nivea’s parents lived in California. Her mom was an heiress to a tech empire with more money that even Justin Santino. Her dad, Matt, had been very good at burying his past and his secret side because I hadn’t come across a peep of it. I now regretted that I hadn’t had Facet look into them instead. In the beginning, he’d offered to look into Nivea, but I had told him I could do that part.

“Wanna help me flush out a killer?” I asked Facet before pressing my lips flat.

“You wanna be bait?” His eyes narrowed.

“Might as well,” I replied with a lift of one shoulder.

“Let me talk to Venom and Chains,” Facet murmured as he stood up and left the room.

I dropped my elbows to my thighs and buried my face in my hands. What I had in mind could be dangerous, but if I couldn’t take care of shit so there were no worries about Nivea’s safety, then there was no point. Because the last thing I wanted was to worry about Nivea’s safety if she insisted on returning to Chicago.

Because if I knew her, the moment she learned Jade was dead, she’d want to go home. I could only hope her dad could get her to see reason. Because he, as well as anyone in our line of work, knew the ball was already rolling. Whoever else Jade had hired wasn’t going to stop until its target was obliterated.

So I was going to flush them out.

Facet returned with Chains and Squirrel. Chains leaned against the wall and crossed his ink covered arms. The ever-present thin leather gloves covered his hands.

Squirrel dropped into the recliner in the corner and observed.

“So what’s the plan?” Chains asked.

I grinned, and we began to plot.

Then we left for Chicago.

I’d made myself known once I got back to Chicago. I stopped by my brother’s office, I went out to the club owned by The Family, and I ate out at multiple restaurants. Each time, I ensured no one could get a clear shot at me.

I also called Matt every day to check on Nivea and to see if he would let me talk to her.

“I don’t like this,” Gabriel muttered as we sat in the club’s VIP area with his girl, Alia. Vittorio and Kendall would be there soon.

“I have things under control,” I assured him.

“But do you?” my oldest brother, the don, grumbled. He was a control freak and hated that this was so unpredictable.

Then, after the night at the club, I made sure it was obvious I was going for a trip and drove in my convertible to my brother’s lake home.

We decided to draw him in there. It was more secluded than risking a bunch of civilian casualties since he’d already shown he didn’t give a shit about being obvious.

Once I was there, I went inside.

My brows shot up in surprise when I found Angel with the rest of the boys. “I wasn’t expecting you.”

“Yeah, well, when Voodoo told me you were putting yourself out there all week for someone to use as target practice, I thought you might need me,” Angel explained with a smirk. Then he stood, and I walked to him. I gripped his hand and gave his arm a squeeze with my free one.

“Are you ready for this?” Facet asked me from the dining room where he had several laptops spread out on the table. One of them was hooked up to a large monitor and had all of the camera footage on it. He and his boys had come up here early to prepare.

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