Page 163 of Tempting Little Thief

When I ask nothing, he calls me out. “Heard you went to the Greyson Gala couple months back.”

He doesn’t have to say Chloe told Mac, who told him. That shit’s obvious, but what’s it to him? Slowly, I nod, waiting for more.

“You know the Greysons are allies in our world, right?”

My eyes narrow instantly, and he chuckles, though it’s almost hollow, his world too heavy right now for a real one.

“Man, do you pay attention to shit around here?”

“I don’t get in your business unless I have to.”

He lifts a dark brow, and I scoff at him.

“Rae’s different. She needed my help. You told me to give it to her.”

He stares at me a minute. “You see your sister in her, don’t you?”

My eyes harden, yet my expression goes blank. This is the first time any of them have ever mentioned my sister. Not once was she brought up in the last four fucking years. Not. Once. When I don’t allow that door to open the way he’s trying to, he nods. I’d argue the dude owes me for gluing my ass to his family’s side the last few months, but I doubt he sees it that way. Still, I ask for more, “So you know Rayo Revenaw?”

His eyes narrow, but he shakes his head. “I met Calvin, he’s the dude who sits on the council for the Greysons, but that’s it. The council we have is made up of five families, one top dog from each, but how they function in their towns has nothing to do with us. Here, Brayshaws rule, but there are a lot of families that fall under the Brayshaw name.” He shrugs. “Guessing it’s the same over there.”

I nod, thinking over all the shit I do know about the girls of Greyson.

It’s true. Rocklin and all her mansion friends come from different bloodlines, but all consider themselves “Greyson.” Sort of like here. The Brayshaw brothers aren’t real brothers but were adopted and raised as siblings. Three families under one name, functioning as one.

Same shit, but the worlds are night and day, the biggest difference being the Greysons have Greyson Elite, and that brings in all sorts of fuckers.

“Right now,” Maddoc continues, “it’s our battle for one seat, and the others who have it are the Riveras, Greysons, Haciendas, and the Henshaws.”

My brows snap low, my anger from earlier bubbling right back up in my chest, not that it ever went away. I glance down at my screen to make sure Hayze hasn’t messaged as I draw the name out. “Henshaw … as in Otto Henshaw?”

Maddoc watches me closely. “Fuck you been up to, Bishop?”

“A lot. The Henshaws are a problem. Mine, not yours. What do you know about them?”

He shrugs. “That he’s a good dude to have in your corner when things go south and need correcting. He was my dad’s go-to guy for years until we took over and started handling shit on our own.”

“What kind of shit?”

“The kind that makes people disappear.”

“Way I heard it, that family makes people appear. Fake papers and shit.”

Maddoc nods, holding my eyes for a long, pointed moment I’m intended to read into. “Yeah, but papers and passports go both ways, fake or not. It’s the same shit.”

Very fucking true …

“Ever heard of Enzo Fikile?” I try my luck.

“No, but we stay out of that shit. They ain’t like us. We might be fucked up over here, but we do it to keep our townclean. We don’t want all that extra shit here. We have the council’s support in an emergency, but we don’t mix.”

No, they don’t. My work here is child’s play compared to what’s waiting on me, not that I’ve got time to deal with it quite yet, but with Rae passed out in the hospital bed, maybe I can slip away for a few more minutes.

Royce, one of the other brothers, comes over, angry and tense. Ready to tear my head off ’cause the dude’s always hated me, threatened to “get me back” for having Rae’s while his brother was gone. I know it comes from concern for her, but he’s got to give that shit up. She’s safe and I know that means a lot to him. His issues run deeper than me and we both know that. Still, I’ll watch my words in front of him. Never know what he’ll pull to piss me off for sport. I’d put nothing past the guy.

“We need to deal with Leo.” He speaks to his brother but glares at me.

I bite the inside of my cheek to hold in a grimace and climb to my feet. “I already did.”

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