Page 25 of The Ghost Assassin

“Never. This was never about me walking away. Wake up, Lilah. I have always given you the chance to walk away and when you did, I gave you space. That’s all this is.”

“I don’t want space.”

“Good. Because this is the one time in our relationship I can say I’ll give it to you but I’m not sure I would.”

I’m as relieved as I am aware of his torment over his father’s return. “Until death do us part, Kane. And it’s not going to be our deaths, but I vote we sleep and decide who dies over coffee and donuts in the morning.”

Fortunately, he agrees and a few minutes later, we crash into the mattress and each other.

We’re not out of his dark hole, but he’s at least decided to let me climb inside with him and get comfortable, which works for me. For some reason, his father made him forget just how comfortable I am in dark places. I’m actually looking forward to introducing Kane’s father to Lilah Love-Mendez.

I guarantee I’m not what he expects.

Chapter Sixteen

Kane rejects the idea that I might actually be the best me after sleeping less than four hours.

Per him, I’m scary to other people without my bare minimum snooze number, and while I might normally agree, at present my perspective is—what’s the problem? It almost feels appropriate for me to be a bitch, considering all the assholes I have to deal with at present.

Be a jerk, get a jerk.

It kind of seems like a logical mindset. It also seems like it belongs on a T-shirt.

Ultimately though, we sleep four hours, wake up, and then roll around naked, because it just feels necessary after our little fight. We’re both all the better for it, and so is the rest of the world. By the time we’re out of the shower and I manage to dry my hair, it’s started—all the shit is flowing like a river. Starting with my brother, who is blowing up my phone.

“What do we know?”

“Unless you really want to know what Kane and I did in bed these past four and a half hours, I’m not sure what you’re looking for, Andrew.”

“I have a job to do, Lilah.”

“Which one? The one where you play sheriff and catch bad guys, or work for bad guys via our father’s new administration?”

“You know why I took the job with Dad, and that’s not even official. He’s not elected yet.”

“Another week and we can celebrate. Not. Take today off so you don’t get killed.” I hang up and walk into the closet to pick out my clothes. I’m still in a robe when Kane appears in the doorway, already committed to a corporate day, not a gangster day, in one of his famously expensive suits.

“I ordered breakfast. I’ll meet you downstairs.” I nod and he doesn’t move, clearly reading my mood. “What, bella?”

“I know we talked about some of this last night, but we were both tired and riding on emotion and adrenaline.”

“Go on,” he urges.

“You know I don’t believe in coincidences. Your father and Murphy on the same night screams connection. I can’t get past that. Did your father have Murphy killed?”

“I’ve been thinking about the same thing this morning. Obviously, we’ve established I don’t know, but I agree the coincidence is unlikely. Interesting, too, he called you my weakness, therefore getting close enough to threaten you could be a strategy to control me.”

“It adds up,” I agree, “though he’s clearly out of touch with who you are and how you operate.”

His brow shoots up. “Meaning what, bella?”

“You don’t submit.”

“Only to you, my love.”

I laugh. “If only, but that’s another topic for another day. I have everyone on Murphy’s Society team on lockdown.”

“Which is expected. A hit on the whole team would have to be coordinated and in unison to be effective. Whoever killed Murphy was smart enough to know that. It was a now or never situation.”

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