I glare at West’s computer screen while we wait for the call from Lily’s brother.
West gives me a side eye, and I realize I’m grinding my teeth, but I’m on edge. What if this guy turns out to be as big a prick as his father? What if he doesn’t give a shit about Lily after all? And then I’d have to track him down and kill him too, along with her evil bastard of an old man. From the moment Lily told me about how she faked her own death to escape him, I’ve been dreaming of ways to make him pay. Sick, twisted ways that feed all the depraved parts of my psyche that I rarely let out to play. I know in my bones that her father is the man who hurt her. The man she was fighting off that night in the basement when I fucked her on the hood of my car. So if her brother is anything like him, he will be added to my list of people to torture and kill.
A notification pings, telling us that someone has joined the meeting room. West glances at me. “Will you relax?”
“I am relaxed,” I snap.
He rolls his eyes and refocuses on the screen. A figure sitting at a desk in a suit and tie comes into view. “Thank you for agreeing to meet with us, Mr. Constantine.”
“Well, when someone starts throwing around my dead sister’s name, it tends to get my attention, as I’m sure you know.”
West nods, and I glare at the figure on the screen. Nico adjusts his shoulders, clearly as agitated as I am.
“Are you alone?” West asks.
Nico’s eyes dart away from the screen, and he clears his throat. “No.”
“This is a delicate matter.”
Nico leans forward, his lip curling in a snarl.
A growl of frustration rumbles out of me, and I lean forward now too. “Look, fuck-knuckle. Do you trust whoever is in that room with you enough to have a conversation about your sister?”
West shoots me a warning look, but I’m not the diplomatic type. That’s why he handles all the important meetings.
“The only person in this room is my second.” Nico’s tone loses some of its hostility. “I trust him with my life, and my sister’s, if she were still here. So let’s cut the bullshit and tell me why the fuck you’re talking to me about Liliana.”
West runs a hand over the thick stubble on his jaw. “Well, Lily lives with us. She’s my …” His tongue darts out to moisten his lips. “Our girlfriend.”
Nico frowns, his eyes bouncing between whoever’s in the room with him and the camera. “What the fuck does that have to do with me?”
I shoot West a look, telling him to tread carefully.
“We both know the answer to that. We want to discuss a solution to the problem that Lily faces. The reason she can’t be who she’s supposed to be.”
He looks offscreen again, then returns his attention to us. “So, you’re both dating her?”
Glancing at each other, we nod.
Nico frowns. “Prove it.”
How the hell are we supposed to do that? I could grab a pair of her panties from the bedroom, but what would that prove? And why did my mind go straight there?
Fortunately, West isn’t thinking with his dick. He grabs his phone and pulls up a selfie of the four of us smiling at the camera. He holds it to the screen, and Nico’s eyes soften. “We love her, Nico. We’d do anything to protect her. Anything.”
“As would I.”
“So, are you up for meeting with us to discuss how we might keep her safe? You know, in the long term?”
Lily’s brother releases a heavy sigh. “If you’re talking about getting rid of my father …” I’m sure I notice the corners of his mouth curling up ever so slightly. “Then I’m all in.”
Yeah, I think I’m gonna like this guy.
