“It’s my brother. He’s here to help us,” he explains. He grabs the remote and presses pause on the movie, stands, and leaves the room.
I swallow. I know Romeo trusts his brother, and that means I should, but I’m nervous. All it takes is one wrong person to make this blow up in our faces.12RomeoOpening the front door, Kieran sighs, adjusting the tie of his suit. He slips both of his hands over his wet hair, slicking it back as he gets closer, his eyes looking right at me. I notice it’s just him this time, I thought Leona and him were inseparable.
“Your better half didn’t come with?” I ask, letting him inside.
“I had a feeling this was a one-on-one meeting,” he replies, glancing over his shoulder at me. “Plus, she’s not feeling well.”
I shut the door, and watch him make a beeline for the wet bar, pouring himself a hefty drink, he takes a small sip walking to my kitchen island, sitting on the stool.
“Talk to me, little brother,” he requests, the lights in the ceiling casting down a light on him shadowing his features.
I open my mouth to start but then notice Luna standing at the threshold of the living room, her outfit fit for running around Central Park. Those tight yoga pants were a good idea, they outline her figure beautifully. I tilt my head in a gesture telling her to come in.
Sensing someone else in the room, Kieran looks over his shoulder, he sits straighter.
“Oh!” he claims in surprise.
“Kieran, this is Luna,” I introduce. Luna shyly tucks a wild hair behind her ear. She gives a small wave, coming off as a scaredy cat, but that woman has the roar of a feral lion. I’ve seen it before.
“We’ve met before, but you weren’t really with it,” Kieran informs her his tone conveying just how uncomfortable their introduction is.
“I remember,” she says softly. But she doesn’t come any closer. She stays back, she’s still learning who she can trust.
Swallowing the lump suddenly in my throat, I press my hands to the island and prepare myself to tell Kieran about the suicidal job I’m putting into motion.
“Luna has been trafficked her whole life and we want to take down the ring she was in. I need a crew to do that,” I cut to the chase.
Kieran’s eyes widen, and he takes a sip of the McCallan.
“Who can I trust?” I continue.
“You know Dad is within that ring, right?” Kieran says matter-of-factly.
My face grim, eyes hooded, I lift my right eyebrow. “I know,” is all I say. For now.
He looks back at Luna then to me. “You’re not doing this just to get some ass, are you?” His voice bitter.
I push off the island, anger mounting inside my chest. Jesus Christ.
“I can get ass anytime I want. I’m doing this because it’s the right thing to do. Do you even know what that feels like, to do the right thing?” I sneer sharply, and Kieran stills. He doesn’t have a clue. He’s always played the bad guy, taking the path less traveled. Hurting anyone and anything without thinking about the impact.
“Right. Well, there’s only one guy I can think of. I recruited him and Dad put him in the bottom ranks as a soldier. His name is Gideon,” Kieran informs, polishing off the rest of his drink.
Gideon. Never heard of him.
“Where can I find him?”
He looks up at me through hooded eyes.
“I’ll contact him. If you guys are going to do this, you’re going to need all the hands you can get and that’s a problem because I don’t trust anyone else not to run to daddy.”
“So you’re helping?” Luna asks, coming into the room farther. If we can’t get a crew together then we need him. If we can’t get him then this is a fail before we even started.
He doesn’t even look over his shoulder at her, he stares at the empty glass in front of him.
“Yes, because I might have a little girl one day and if something as vile as trafficking is in my city, then I want it shut down.”
His eyes snap to mine, and I give him a look. He’s never talked about having children before.
“Leona is pregnant,” he says softly. My eyes widen, my mouth parting with surprise. Our family is at war and then Leona gets pregnant. It will either bring us closer together or farther apart.
“Congrats, Uncle Romey.” I laugh. He smirks, standing from the stool.
Holy shit. I’m going to be an uncle, the feeling I’m feeling right now is different. Now I’m not just doing this for Luna, but for my family.
Straightening his suit jacket, he stares at Luna. She smiles sweetly.
“Congratulations on the baby,” she tells him.
He smirks in reply, coming around the island, he stops just beside me. Us standing side by side, you can see the physical resemblance, but if you knew both of us you’d think otherwise.