The Damaged (The Insiders Trilogy 2)

I was sensing a pattern, so I didn’t even try to speak.

Melissa stepped up. “Because she’s got a hot and rich boyfriend, and her pops is Peter Francis.”

At that, Harold’s eyes widened, and he even stepped back a foot. His hands flattened over his chest, the suspenders smashed in the middle. “Peter Francis?” He paused again, his eyes narrowing on me. “Know the boy who came out that was being half raised by Francis. Kashton Colello.”

Oh, crap.

I swallowed. “That’s him.”

“I follow the sites, know who his grandfather is.” He took in Erik and Connor, who hadn’t changed shifts yet and were standing just inside the apartment building door. Fitz was outside. “You need more guards.”

Connor and Erik both looked away. I saw both their mouths curving up as they did.

“Okay. Alrighty. Seems you’ll be fine and safe tonight, Lissy girl. You have fun. Don’t sleep with any of those guards down there. Those kinds are married to their jobs. You deserve a guy who’ll be married to you. Treat you right.” His gaze went to Esther’s door a second before he harrumphed again and disappeared inside his own place.

Yes. I was seeing why they didn’t need more security.

I asked, “Are all your neighbors like that?”

She laughed, leading the way up to the third and last floor. Her place was above Esther’s. “Most. One of the apartments on the back side is where a couple of developmentally disabled adults live, but they’re sweethearts. A fire alarm went off one night and I met them then. They were worried about everyone. They had staff with them, taking care of them.”

She showed me in, and it was a quaint apartment. The kitchen was still in the fifties era. In the dining room was a metal table with red tile on top. Her living room had modern couches. The television could’ve fit in a box; it was tiny. But she had a full desk setup set up. Four desks, one chair to wheel between all of them, and each desk had a different computer screen on it. The girl was pimping her own tech. I approved.

“Take a load off. I have wine in the fridge, if you want some. Do you need to change before going out?”

If I was remembering how Torie and Tamara took care of me before my dad’s welcoming-Bailey-to-the-world party, I remarked, “I think I’ll be good.”

“Suh-weet! Give me a second. I can get dressed super quick.”

I grinned to myself. “Amazingly quick.”

She heard me and shouted, “Girl! Amazingly quick. You got it.”

TWENTY-ONE

Kash

Griogos Maragos’s picture was on my desk, staring up at me.

I got the report from my men. I knew how in debt he was, and not just to my grandfather. He was in heavy with the Bennetts and the Marakovs, both Mafia families. If you want to be stupid, sign up to owe them. He had payoffs to senators, mayors, commissioners. And I hadn’t gotten into what he was doing with his daughters. I knew there was more. There was always more. What was found, what had been done on his behalf, was always just the tip of the rest to come. There was a glacier underneath it.

I was going to bury him with this.

And his granddaughter was in my backyard. She was friends with someone I considered a brother, a pain in the ass for the woman I was already head over heels for, and she’d been calling me, texting me, and all-around being a nuisance for me.

Was this what she wanted to get ahead of? Could she have known I was going after one of my grandfather’s biggest assets, who was her grandpapa? It made sense to me. I couldn’t say if it would’ve made sense to her. Or was I jumping the gun and she was calling because of other reasons?

I didn’t know, but I knew I had to deal with her. I had to bring her in, converse with her, put her on a string. And if need be, I would reel her in. We may even have to take a trip overseas.

I wasn’t used to thinking about someone else’s feelings when it came to business. It was black and white to me. Bailey was good. Everything else about me was in the dark. No gray.

But, Bailey.

I had to think of her, but even as I thought it, I rejected it. Bailey could not know. If she knew, she’d react a certain way. She might whisper something, or squeak something, if Matt cornered her. And he would. If his sister was acting strange, his ass would be up in her face making sure she was okay and finding out what was going on to make her act off.

Matt, he couldn’t hold a lie. Not like this. He’d want to rub it in Victoria’s face.

I couldn’t risk it, and that whole sensation of feeling off balance myself returned. I was not used to this.