“So, you have to go with Bastian alone?” Brey asked me again, like I was the worst friend in the world a couple days later on the night of the gala.
“It’s best just this one time. We’re running late, anyway.”
“It’s been more than just one time now, and Jax and I can wait. We have the babysitter all night.”
I winced at the reminder that my high school best friend, the one I’d somehow managed to keep by my side all these years, had a child. She had a family. A good one. A solid one.
One I would not put in any type of danger.
“We’re probably going to run really late, if you know what I mean.” I paced around the counter in Bastian’s penthouse with my beaded black dress all zipped up, heels clicking on the tile while Bastian chuckled softly as he read a newspaper.
“No, I don’t know what you mean,” she deadpanned, totally and completely knowing what I meant. She was pissed, but my friend had the manners of an etiquette coach. I knew pushing anyone’s boundaries was hard for her. “Why don’t you enlighten me, Katie? Because I have it on good authority that Bastian isn’t really all you’re saying he is. You forget I work for Stonewood Enterprises and that company runs the city along with Bastian.”
“Can you hold, please?” When she started to say no, I cut her off. “You’ll hold.”
“Does she know, Bastian?” I fumed from across the room. The man had a dumb smile on his face, like he did every time he knew something I didn’t. He’d come home numerous times with intel that he wanted me to drag out of him, like a kid hanging onto a secret with slippery fingers and a big mouth.
“Know what?” he said, his eyes crinkling with a silent laugh he was holding in.
The fucker.
I stalked over and snatched the newspaper from his hands. “Who reads newspapers anymore anyway?” I seethed, balling it up and throwing it on the floor. “Are you all talking about this dumb show we have to put on tonight without telling me about it?”
“Only her husband knows. Probably his brothers. Now that I think about it, most likely their wives. Yeah, I’m guessing Brey knows.”
“What happened to no one talking about the family?”
“The Stonewoods are family by proxy. For business purposes. For all purposes, really, at this point.”
“I have kept that part of my life separate for a very long time and for good reason.” I enunciated each word and folded my arms across my chest. “Do you remember what happened to Vick a few years back?”
My friend had been sideswiped by a car. No one was found guilty. No one was found dead either. Which meant Jett Stonewood and Bastian had tracked them down and made them pay in more ways than one.
He stared at me, his eyes darkening with a malice I barely saw there. “Nothing like that will happen again.”
“How can you be sure? You weren’t sure then.”
“I wasn’t the boss for more than a minute when that happened. It won’t happen again. Not to Brey, not to Vick, and never to you. You’re all protected now. Untouchable.”
“They are?” I squeaked out. “Do they know?”
“Of course they know.”
I stalked away, leaving the piece about me being an untouchable for another day. I didn’t want to be untouchable; I wanted to be a part of the family. Did he know that? Did he know I wasn’t like the other women, the other children and friends of the mob? I was part of them.
“You’re an untouchable, and you didn’t tell me,” I said softly into the phone. It wasn’t a question.
“I was waiting for you to tell me about your life before I imposed on it. You’ve been a part of the family for a long time, you said. I didn’t know how deep.”
“Brey, that’s not something I ever wanted to put on you.”
“I put my life on you before. I put a lot on you. I expect the same from a best friend. Lean hard.”
“Leaning could get you killed,” I shot back, glaring at Bastian for good measure. He waved me off and mumbled he was going to get his shoes and suit jacket on.
I watched him walk away. I was in the apartment of the most dangerous man in the city, and I felt no fear except for my friend on the phone. Fear that her affiliation with us would cost her her life. “Jax and you are—”
“Very careful. And we’re very much on the outskirts. You know his music app keeps us more isolated from the business than anything else. I’ve stopped working as much. We’re protected, not really involved.”
I sighed with relief. “And Vick?”
“Probably much more invested than me. Jett owns half the city, Katie. Mario and Bastian must have told you—”
“Not much. I’m . . .” For the first time I didn’t want to say bait. I didn’t want to tell the only person who’d been in my life as long as she had that I was a tool they used more than a family member they took care of. “I’m helpful to them in a lot of ways, but I’m a woman who’s not married in. I’m just me.”
“That’s a pretty formidable thing to be, if you ask me.” I heard a muffled, “And me,” in the background.
“Hi, Jax.”
“Always a pleasure, Katie,” Jax said like he always did. The man never found pleasure in anyone taking his wife’s time. I was a necessary nuisance to him. “So, we’ll see you at the gala?”
“You’ll see me. I’ll find you both when I arrive.”
And somehow Jax had navigated the situation between Brey and me perfectly.
Brey sighed. “I love you, Katie. Don’t get so lost you can’t find your way out. And if you do, find us.”
“Of course,” I replied quickly.
I never would, though.
Brey was blood much thicker than the family’s. She was my home. And I’d barely ever had a home after my father died. Not one I felt safe in, not one I was loved in, not one I cared for at all.
When I was with Brey, though, I got a friendship that was immovable and love that was freely given. When you found a home that safe, you never ever tarnished it.
But for some reason, I couldn’t admit within my safe place with her today that I was the mob’s bait. It made me wonder for the first time in a long time if I’d let them all take advantage of me. I was a woman, but I was as formidable as Brey said.
I’d never backed down.
I’d never given them a reason to doubt me.
I’d delivered important information time and time again.
Was bait as good as blood, or was bait a couple of drops they were willing to waste?
I paced the kitchen, round and round that counter, until I’d talked myself into believing I was more. Then I strode back to my room down the long hallway and yelled to Bastian, “I have to check my dress. Be out soon.”
I slammed my door and eyed the walk-in closet. The dress I had on was sleek and black. It was the first one I’d tried on, the one Rome conceded to having me wear. But I’d called the saleswoman and had the other delivered.
I still didn’t know why. It was a hell of a dress. Like the devil himself conjured it up for me to do bad things in. The feathers felt like heavenly clouds brushing against the swell of my chest, but the cinched waist, the boning digging in, and the tied ribbon squeezing my lungs reminded me that most days could be heaven and hell mixed together. The feathers were woven into the lace and tapered off just at my hips where beads and mesh swirled over my ass and pooled down my legs. The material would swoosh with each step I took, and I knew every man would love it.
I’d straightened my hair and dyed it onyx black, and painted my eyes dark and smoky. With my hair in a high ponytail and red lipstick on, I knew I was asking for every man’s eyes.
Tonight, I wanted them.
I wanted an audience, and I wanted to be the juiciest bait yet. I just wasn’t sure if I would allow anyone else to save me tonight.
I was starting to think I needed to save myself. Save myself from everyone.
Even the family.
“You ready?”
I jumped, and my hand immediately went to where I’d just slid my knife under my armpit. The metal fitted there perfectly because the knife was small, crafted to wound but not necessarily kill. I’d have to twist and truly gut someone if I wanted to. I never used it, but my hand flew to it much more often than necessary.
“Carrying into the gala, Katie?”
“A little extra back-up is always nice.”
“For what? I’ll be by your side all night. We get Georgie alone and he’ll admit everything to us. He won’t be able to stand us together, and he’ll confront us. He just needs to admit something about Russian ties. Cade and I discussed it with lawyers. We could potentially get him on arson or RICO laws if we get audio too. Supposedly a burned-down factory was a part of all this. That’s it. If you feel unsafe at all tonight, though, you press the button on your bracelet.”
I glanced down at the nifty device that appeared to be a diamond bracelet. It had a tiny black button on the clasp that signaled distress.
Distress? As if I hadn’t been alone with Georgie hundreds of times on my own, as if now I was important enough to hold on to. But why?
“Is this necessary?” I lifted my wrist. “I’ve never needed this before.”
“Before we didn’t realize you were dealing with men capable of murdering you, Katie. We were fucking stupid.”
I narrowed my eyes. “Anyone is capable of murder. Georgie’s fine.”
“If we get more intel on Georgie, our lawyers will take care of the rest.”
“This isn’t how your father would do things, Bastian,” I said as I turned toward the mirror. “What’s the plan? Have me on your arm and get him so worked up he comes over and confesses all his dirty deeds? It won’t work.” I moved a few feathers around and dragged my ponytail to my front to comb a couple of the curls into submission.
“It’ll work,” Bastian responded, but his shoulders were bunched, and I saw the question in his eyes.
These men didn’t understand how other men worked. It took a woman, someone like me, who’d lain with them in their most vulnerable moments, to know what made them tick. Georgie was proud and slimy all at the same time. He wanted love for his manliness and did just about anything to obtain it.
“He’ll never approach you, Bastian,” I murmured, but I decided to concede for the time being. “Don’t worry. This will work. I promise, you won’t need backup. We got you.” He huffed, and I knew he meant well, but I was on edge, in a place I’d never really been before.
I’d avoided telling my best friend that I was bait and Rome’s words echoed in my head. The thought of being alone, of the family not really being mine, of not belonging had infiltrated my soul. It was uncomfortable and real, and it exposed me to the one thing I didn’t want to remember—that I didn’t really belong anywhere.
But I did deserve to be somewhere. I’d earned that right.
If they wouldn’t give it to me, I’d take it.
