Page 85 of Forbidden Wish

“If there was ever a raid. Smart.”

“There’s a problem with the plumbing on ten.”

“How do you know that?”

“From my visit there.”

“You went to The Top?” her father all but roared. “What in the hell?”

“To the hotel. Just to ask questions.”

“No one ever got hurt asking questions,” Sersha said with unmissable sarcasm.

“What is the problem?” she asked. “You’re all standing there talking about Jagg going in there alone.”

“He won’t be alone,” Strat stated.

“He won’t? What do you mean he won’t be alone? Who’s going with him?”

“Ford,” Jagg and Strat said together.

“Those boys watched each other’s tails in that circle for years.”

“They’d be less likely to believe it if I went alone.”

“They’ll expect Ford.”

It defied belief. “Wait a second, so you get mad when you find out I went to the hotel, but you’re sending your son in there?”

“These boys are both my sons, and I trust them to get each other out. You went alone. Without backup.”

“Sersha and I will go too.”

“What?”

“Why not? We can watch each other’s asses.”

“Silvio won’t want a posse of people going in there.”

“Can we have a second?” Jagg asked, fixating on her. “I need a second with Genny.”

What did he think he was doing? Obviously her dad and Sersha didn’t think it was weird. They filed on out of the room without resistance.

When the door closed, Jagg stepped in front of her. “Ford and I have a shorthand. We’ve been in these setups alone so many times. There’s nothing to worry about.”

“That’s not good enough. I know you’re trying to protect me, that everyone’s trying to protect me, and I appreciate that. Can’t I want to protect you too? What’s wrong with that?”

“You want answers. Risk is required.”

Oh, damnit, they weren’t supposed to hide things, she wasn’t supposed to hide things. Without even thinking it through, she’d known telling Jagg about the Swerve conversation would be a bad idea. Now withholding it could get them both, Jagg and Ford, in hot water.

“You… can’t.” Though her heart hammered, her throat shook. Pain between the two was acute, quivering, anxious. “You can’t go to Silvio Manzani.”

“I can. There’s no reason—”

“He knows.”

Jagg frowned. “Knows? Knows what?”

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