Page 29 of The Ghost Assassin

Now he turns to face me. “And your first thought was him, not me, Lilah. I would have gotten someone to Tic Tac to help.”

“My first thought was you. I called you. I texted you. I talked to your men. You, Kane. Rich means nothing to me. He was right when he said I used him then and I used him now. I was never okay without you. I will never be okay without you.”

He stares at me, and I can feel all the things he wants to say but does not. “I need to go.” He opens the door and then he’s gone.

Damn it, he’s shutting me out and it has nothing to do with Rich and everything to do with his father. We need to talk. Really talk. I follow him and by the time I’m at the second door on the other side of our elaborate security system, Kane is in the hallway and Jay is in our doorway, blocking my path.

“Move,” I order, and he’s like a deer in headlights, moving in the same direction I try to pass him not once but twice.

By the time I’m in the hallway, Kane is gone, and that is not a good thing.

He’s in a bad state of mind without me there to ground him, and I think that’s exactly what he wants. Because when Kane is dark, he’s really dark, and by his own admission, he feels no guilt. Not until he has to look me in the eye, and I don’t like where my head is right now. It’s almost as if he’s accepted he has no choice but to become his father.

I punch his number into my phone and call him.

The line goes to voicemail.

Chapter Twenty

I walk back into the apartment and shut the door, scowling at Jay. “Why are you not with DD?”

“I work for you, and she doesn’t need protection. She’s off the case. And she’s too brainy. It’s intimidating.”

I laugh. “There are so many ways I could come at that, but I’ll murder you if I do, and you might not recover.” I start walking. “I know you just blocked my path on purpose,” I call over my shoulder. “Stay away if you want to live another day.”

Jay doesn’t follow me, which means he at least has a few brain cells rattling around in his head. I’m already dialing Rich, the king of drama, when I re-enter the kitchen. The call goes to voicemail, and I silently scream in my head, because the real deal would freak Jay out to the point he might cry.

“Call me back, Rich,” I order. “Unless you’re too chickenshit Kane will answer. I can’t operate with Tic Tac in the wilderness. I need him. I’ll send one of our men to pick him up.” I disconnect. “Jay!”

Jay eases into the room as if he’s been standing in the hallway. “Yes?”

“I need you to go pick up Tic Tac in LA. Actually, no. You’ll get killed. Figure it out. Get someone on a private plane to pick him up now. Or get someone we trust up there to retrieve him. Ask Kit. He’ll work it out.”

He opens his mouth to say something, and I point at him. “Don’t do it. Do not fight me after you let Kane, who is on the verge of doing something really bad, get away from me.”

“He scares me more than you, Lilah.”

“If you think he scares you now, he’s right on the edge of being every nightmare you ever had. Go,” I wave him off. “Go do what I need done.”

He inhales and turns away. I refill my coffee cup because my being caffeinated is in everyone else’s best interest at this point. After what happened with Kane, I might as well have slept two hours, not four. I dial Tic Tac. He answers on the first ring. “What’s going on?”

“I need stuff you can’t give me in the woods,” I reply. “I’m sending someone to bring you here.”

“Is there an assassin trying to kill me?”

“Ninety-nine percent sure you’re safe, but we’ll keep you here until I know a hundred percent.”

“One percent is all I need to hear. I’m afraid to leave this place.”

“At this point, Rich has pissed Kane off so badly I wouldn’t want to be with Rich if I were you.”

“Oh my God. Why do I do this job? I need a new career.”

“Jeez, Tic Tac, easy. Have an alcoholic beverage, will ya?”

“Rich is telling me he can take me someplace with internet that’s safe, then I don’t have to go there.”

“Why the hell didn’t he do that to start with? Go there now and call me.” I hang up and my mind is already working.

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