“I see why the shipping side of the business made your syndicate so powerful,” I murmur to Aria.
“Halifax has the second-largest ice-free natural harbor in the world,” she agrees, “there’s no limit to the size of ships we can accommodate at our docks. This is a huge, gorgeous city but there’s a strange sense of isolation here.”
“Oh?”
“We have a mysterious airfield where all the commercial and military planes land when they have security issues on board. If you listen to the drunks at the dockyard taverns long enough, they’ll convince you that it’s also where the UFOs land.”
“I’ll be wanting some video of that,” I laugh.
“The UFOs or the drunks? We have more pubs per capita than any city in Canada,” Marcus adds, “walk into any one of them, order a drink and the conspiracy theories start flowing as fast as the beer taps.”
Three Range Rovers are waiting for us when we land, and I give a hard look at the first man brave enough to approach us. He’svery tall and muscled, his black skin gleaming against his white dress shirt.
“Miss Aria, welcome home,” he said, nodding respectfully. “I have all the information you requested.” He hands her an iPad.
“Thank you, Monroe,” she smiles warmly, “I appreciate it. Please ride with us, you can bring us up to speed.” She puts her hand on my arm. “This is my husband, Lachlan MacTavish.”
He puts his hand out. “Good to meet you, sir.”
I shake it, gripping his fingers firmly and looking for a wince. He never changes expression.
Good man.
Elana is already heading off towards the cars, and with a wry expression, Marcus joins her. “I don’t want to be part of this conversation, even if you wanted me to be,” he says. “Stress gives me wrinkles.”
“As if you have any of those!” Aria shouts after him. “Seriously, his skincare routine is more demanding than Taylor Swift’s.”
The dynamic is fascinating to watch. As we settle in the back of the Range Rover, Zed helps himself to a drink from the walnut-lined bar and looks out the window as Aria and Monroe go over the report. Looking at their heads bent close together, I’m fighting an irrational surge of jealousy. She greeted the man like a long-lost brother. Were they ever together? Has he seen my wife naked? Because if so, I’ll have to kill him.
“...Lachlan has offered to help go through the security staff,” she’s saying, and I snap back from my murderous thoughts. “This is one of his specialties, and I have a feeling we’re going to need to take a very close look at everyone who has accessto the estate.” She smiles at me as I take her hand, kissing her knuckles.
“It will be an honor to work with you,” Monroe intones, not looking at all pleased by the idea.
Aye, I might have to kill him. Lucky, the harbor being as deep as it is. One more body won’t bother the fish.
The King estate is on a hill overlooking the north side of the harbor, a massive white shingle-style mansion with two turrets crowning either side of the house. There’s a pool, a dock, and a matching boathouse. The view is spectacular, but I suspect her father selected the location based on how the compound is positioned. It would be very difficult to breach the perimeter. I’m thinking the three arseholes I killed along with Uncle Bastard aren’t the only ones who’ve turned against the family after last night’s attack.
Aria walks through the main hall of the mansion, a soaring, two-story entryway with a glittering chandelier and a curving stairway leading to the second floor.
“Show me our room,” I lean down, whispering in her ear. She refuses to look at me, though the tips of her ears turn pink and it’s fecking adorable.
“Why?” she whispers back, “We have a lot of work to do.”
“Aye, but if I fuck you, you’ll be relaxed and you’ll concentrate. Look at you, you’re all pent up again.”
“Pent up?” she hisses incredulously. “I’m barely getting the feeling back in my legs after… you know.”
“Know what?” I ask, just loudly enough for Monroe and the two other men following us to hear. She grabs my hand, squeezing ituntil the tips of my fingers turn white. “Fine. We’ll wait for that… conversation, aye, baby?”
“Lachlan…” she sighs. The three men carefully stare straight ahead, pretending they don’t hear a thing.
Monroe steps ahead to open a tall set of double doors, leading to another two-story space. One wall is glass, looking out onto the harbor, the wall opposite is shelf after shelf of books. Unlike the book collections some men use to show off their power or intellect, these looked used and well-read.
Aria’s settling behind a huge mahogany desk, turning on the computer and sorting through some papers.
“So, this is your office,” I say, “you make a grand CEO.”
“Oh, it’s not really mine,” she says, “it’s meant for Zed when he officially takes the position as head of the family. I just started using it after my father was killed, trying to keep up on everything Uncle Bastard was doing to us.”
