“No,” I say. “I choose Adrian. I choose right over wrong.”
He snorts. “And you think Adrian’s going to beat Waters by being good?”
“Yes,” I say. “Or no. I don’t know. What are you saying?”
He cuts me a look. “Just asking questions.”
My lips press together, not sure what to make of Lucifer. “I should tell you that Adrian and I agreed that I should goad Logan. He’ll lose his temper and I know him. He’ll admit something incriminating.”
“Which does what for us? Because it damn sure isn’t going to hurt Waters.”
“I hope it allows me to force my family out of this,” I say, feeling as if this explains my desire to break free of all conflict between my family and Adrian.
“And if it doesn’t?”
My brows dip. “I don’t know what you want from me right now, Lucifer.”
“Again,” he says, “just asking questions, ones I think you need to ask yourself.”
My cellphone rings and I glance down to find a call from Logan. “Speak of the devil,” I say, answering the call with, “I only have a moment. I’m about to walk into my office.”
“What the fuck, Pri?” he demands. “You’re fucking your witness?”
“Yes, Logan. I am fucking my witness.” It’s out before I can stop it and I glance at Lucifer, who’s barely containing his laughter. “And you know what else?” I demand. “I can fuck who I want.”
“He killed his brother. Are you insane?”
I smirk. “Talking points. All the talking points. You’re almost a politician these days.”
“He’s trouble. Drop the case. Get out while you’re still alive and if you do care about this asshole, he’ll be free to hide again.”
Again. That word sticks out to me for reasons I’ll examine later. “I’m not going to drop the case. I have protection. I have Adrian. I have a mission and if it’s the last thing I do, I will end the King Devil’s reign forever.”
“And if he kills you, Pri?”
“Is it me you’re worried about or yourself?”
“This is bigger than you know.”
“Actually, I think I know more than you think I know. I need to go. I’m walking into a meeting.” I disconnect.
Lucifer laughs. “Holy hell, woman. If you wanted to get his attention, you just did.”
Already my phone rings again and I glance down to find Logan calling. I decline the call and almost instantly it rings again. This time it’s Adrian and I punch “answer.”
“Weren’t you supposed to agree to meet him?” he asks.
“Tomorrow,” I say. “He needs to sleep on what just happened and simmer until he boils.”
“Meanwhile you’ll be fucking me?”
My lips curve. “Is that a problem?” I ask.
“Not even a little bit,” he assures me. “I’ll be ready to do my part.” He disconnects and somehow, I’m smiling despite the fact that I just baited Logan. And I am perhaps one of the few people who knows just how volatile Logan can really be.Chapter Thirty-OnePRI
Lucifer pulls the fancy statement-making Mercedes into the downtown parking garage of the DA’s office building and gets lucky enough to maneuver into a rare empty spot before killing the engine. In action mode, eager to do something, anything, that might affect this trial with Waters, I reach for the door.
“Before we go in,” he says, halting my actions with words. “Let’s talk about the plan.”
“Okay,” I say, settling into my seat again, albeit with heavy reluctance. The need to get inside and ensure no new bombshells have shown themselves is powerful. “What exactly is the plan?”
“I don’t know if Pitt was dirty or not,” he says, “but even if he wasn’t, someone close to him set him up. That could be another agent, or since he spent a substantial amount of time with you, someone at the DA’s office, someone here.”
“Ed,” I say. “I feel like Ed is dirty.”
“Probably,” he says. “But we were monitoring Ed last night. He was not the person who led Pitt to that cabin.”
“Then someone else is dirty,” I say, following his lead. “What do you need me to do?”
“Build up Walker, and our resources and skills, and do so in a big way.”
My brows dip. “Won’t that just encourage the bad egg to stay silent?”
“The bad egg is already silent, or we’d have found their electronic fingerprint. But when a person is pressured, they tend to panic. We want to set the fire and watch and see who tries to put it out.”
“I’ve seen that in my work,” I say. “That makes sense. Let’s go set the fire.”
“One last thing,” he adds. “Assume there are recording devices all over the office, including on the people you’re talking with. They might not even know it. Take nothing for granted.”
“Right,” I say. “I have to tell you, Lucifer,” I emphasize the name as I add, “you Walker men are just bucket loads of warm, fuzzy comfort.”