Alex takes the long way around the sectional, rounding behind Reagan and Liam. With his free hand, he reaches down and plucks Reagan’s coffee straight out of her hands.
“Hey!” she shouts in protest, trying to snatch the drink back, but Alex has already got the cup tipped back to his lips, taking a long, drawn-out sip. “Thanks for the coffee, Rae.”
He hands Reagan her cup back but she eyes it as though it’s been poisoned, a pout evident on her face.
“The shipment?” I meet Alex’s eye as he takes a seat a safe throwing distance away from Reagan.
“Secure.” He nods, knowing what I’m referencing.The girls.It was important to move them out of the city—and out of the reach of Matteo and his little minions.
“And the clean-up?” My eyes slide to Aidan, who lets out a heavy sigh.
“Done.” He leans back in his chair, his arms folded across his chest.
“Any newcomplications?”
His jaw flexes at my words. I love my brother, but he’s gotten sloppy in his time away from the family business, leaving more than a fewproblemsfor me to clean up. He made a big mistake last night when he took off his mask before killing that Italian; he was lucky the warehouse didn’t have cameras. But he did leave behind an eyewitness who could I.D. him and then we lost her.
“No.”
“Good. Now we just need to locate the girl.”
“C’mon Koen,” Liam tries again. “You saved her from a world of hurt or worse, she’s not going to tell anyone what she saw.”
“The girl is a liability,” I say almost robotically. “A loose end.”
My gaze is drawn to Alex who’s busy digging something out of his pocket. “Aidan and I found these while we were”—his eyes dart to Reagan before clearing his throat—“cleaning up.”
She narrows her eyes, not fooled by our use of code words.They were taking care of the bodies, ensuring nothing could be traced back to the Devils.
He reaches out and I take the small stack of plastic cards from him.
“IDs.” My eyes widen as I take in his discovery, shuffling through the stack, looking for mylittleliability.
“What are you going to do if you find her?” It’s Aidan who asks. I don’t look up, my entire body going still when I get to the second to last driver’s license in the stack.
Briar Elizabeth Ralston, 301 Ironworks Street, Apt 5B, Roxbury, Massachusetts.
Found you little Rose.
TuckingBriar’sID into my back pocket, I hand the rest of the stack back to Alex before heading for the door.
“I’m going to take care of it.”
21
WHEN I SAY DANCE…
BRIAR
Now
It’s a little past noon by the time I wake up. After Lily and Remi left, I crawled back into bed, sleeping for hours, though I still feel as though I haven’t. That could be because of the anxiety weighing on me over Koen, Gio… and howeverythinghurts.
I’m peppered in bruises from head to toe, but it’s the burn on my neck and the whip marks on my back that bring tears to my eyes with every little movement. Wincing, I drag myself out of bed and change out of my now blood-soaked t-shirt.
Gathering up the bloody clothes and Koen’s sweatshirt, I throw my shredded top and sports bra away and dump the rest into an empty laundry basket before beginning the long trek down to the basement communal laundry room. Our apartment is on the fifth floor and there are no elevators.
As I load the clothes into the wash, the hair on the back of my neck rises and unease trickles through me. I glance around the small room but see nothing.
