This time, the playful, flirty tone is gone as he studies Kai. “I brought a package.”
“And? How did you find us here?”
“The address.”
I realize he’s playing games, and no doubt Kai figured it out earlier. He seems in his element here, staring down his enemy while trying to get information. It makes me wonder what tactics he’d use on me to get information if he needed it.
The thought makes me hot, and I take a step backward to search for the package he mentions. I scan the address and hand it to Kai. “Is that the penthouse address?”
Kai nods. “I’ll have to let Adrian know. But they are secure. No one can get to them and survive, which is why this dickwad went after me.”
He kicks the man in the shin and leans over to look at him. “You come here to get me to tell you how to bring down Adrian? I promise it’s not going to happen. Not in this lifetime or any other.”
I keep my eyes on Kai, waiting for the moment he tells me I can shoot this guy. The man turns to look at me this time. “Oh, you know, maybe I do remember you. The Novak orphan, right?” His smile splinters in my vision into the same man who sneered down at me that night. “I remember now. You were plumper then, and if I remember correctly, you were asking for it.”
15
KAI
I lean back and brace my hands and the gun against the coffee table. No use in getting splattered with blood when she shoots this idiot in the face.
I wait, shifting my eyes to her, watching her face. She might not be shooting at me, but watching her still gives me the same little thrill. Seeing her defend herself is even sexier than lingerie.
I look at Sal’s brother again. He’s definitely one of them, but I can’t remember which. One of the nobodies, of course, relegated to hooker duty at the family casinos. He won’t ever amount to much, and I doubt his family will miss him when he’s gone. Which begs the question? Why did he come here seeking a premature death?
I peek at Rose from the corner of my eye. Her hands shake slightly, but she keeps the gun steady. As I look at the man again, I can’t help but think of how tired I am of cleaning up dead bodies. Someone else gets to handle it from now on. Maybe Alexie would appreciate the nuances of disposal. Either way, I’d do it for her, just like I did with Sal and Valentina’s father. No one on the planet would find either of them.
I’d hide a million bodies if those deaths gave her some peace. Which is why I’m not asking her to wait, to hold out until I get some answers. Well, not until her hands start to shake so badly I fear getting shot in the leg.
I stand and cup the top of the gun to gently lower it. “How about we see if we can get some answers first? I promise, it will be messy and painful, so you’ll get to watch the bastard scream.”
She nods, sniffing like I’d just offered her an ice cream cone to cheer her up. She lowers the gun and sits on the couch while I take up my spot again. “Looks like you get a reprieve, buddy. So do you want to answer my questions to save yourself some torture?”
He shakes his head, but he’s paler now. At least he knows I’m good at this shit. If I want answers, there’s nothing he can do to keep them from me short of dying. It wouldn’t be a great hardship that way either.
“What are you doing here?” I ask him again.
He shakes his head.
“No smart-ass remarks this time, though. We are making steady progress. Can you tell me if someone sent you here?”
Again, another headshake. “All right, how about a stumper of a question…did you come here for me or for her?”
He shifts his gaze between Rose and me, then glances away.
“Yeah, that’s what I thought. You see.” I lean forward like I’m about to tell him a secret. “No matter what happens, you’re going to die here today. You can die in agony soiling yourself, or you can help me out, tell me the truth, and then I’ll make it nice and clean with a bullet to your brain.”
I nod, hoping he’ll nod with me, but he doesn’t.
“Hard way it is then. So what’s in the box?”
Rose stares at the box behind me on the coffee table. I pick it up and shake it. It doesn’t feel heavy at all, so it’s definitely not a bomb. I hand it to Rose. “Will you open that for me? Let’s see what he brought us.”
I watch as she heads into the kitchen, finds a knife, slits open the box, and spreads the flaps. “It’s a candy bar.”
Her hands shake as she pulls out a king-sized candy bar and a little piece of paper. “It was addressed to you, but this is for me.”
I study the shock and joy on her face. “Well, at least it’s not a bomb. Did it really come from Valentina?”