"She's been torturing herself for the past week," Fiona says. "Trying to find another way. Trying to protect you and us at the same time. But there’s no other way with these people."
"So she disobeyed me… She ran straight to our enemy."
The line goes quiet and my scalp prickles.
"She's sacrificing herself, Kingston. Her life for yours."
I jump off the bed and grab a shirt from the closet. "That's not how these people work."
"No. It's not. They'll kill her and come for you anyway. But she doesn't see that. All she sees is the man she loves in danger because of her family's mistakes."
"Where would she go? How would she contact them?"
"I don't know the specifics. Cormac keeps me locked out of that side of things. But Kingston…"
"What?"
"My daughter loves you. More than her own life. More than her family. More than anything she's ever known. If youlove her the same way, you have to find her before they do.” Her voice cracks. “Please save my baby girl."
Then the line goes dead.
I stare at the phone for exactly three seconds, my mind working in overdrive to process what she just told me. I pull on my shirt, grab weapons and extra magazines from my safe, and stuff them into my duffel bag.
Livvie didn't betray me. She's been protecting me this whole time, even when it was tearing her apart.
And now she's going to die for it.
My phone rings. Bronx’s name flashes across the screen.
"Tell me you found something." I hoist my bag over my shoulder and rush toward the elevator.
"Still working on the street cameras, but I managed to pull all the Blood Vault files from that USB drive Roman gave her. The Tribunal's been planning this for months. A complete takeover of both families. They never intended to honor any deals with anybody."
I rake a hand through my hair. “Maybe she went to the estate in Long Island. I don’t know where else she’d find those bastards.”
"According to the intel on the drive, they have multiple locations across the city. Warehouses, office buildings, even a few legitimate businesses. But there's something else. According to these files, they've got a Tribunal session scheduled for today. Some kind of formal meeting."
"What kind of meeting?"
"Fuck if I know. They’re secretive bastards. But if she shows up there?—"
My bloodturns to ice. "Where?"
"I’m working on it. There are coded references, but I need more time to?—"
"How much time?"
"Ten minutes. Maybe fifteen."
Ten minutes. Livvie could be dead in ten minutes.
I grab my Glock, check the magazine, then shove it into the back of my waistband.
"Bronx, whatever you find, send it to my phone. I have to save her from those twisted fucks.”
I'm heading for the garage to sit and wait because I can’t keep pacing my living room when my phone buzzes with a text message from an unknown number.
Your wife chose wisely. Her sacrifice will be honored. Join us at the harbor warehouse. Pier 47. 9 a.m. Come alone or she dies screaming.
