"You saw him," I say. He nods once.
"And?"
He hesitates with his answer. My stomach tightens. Strike three.
"He bought it," Mikey says finally. "The runaway angle. The bait."
I pause, gauze halfway up his ribs. "Then why do you look like you just handed him a loaded gun?”
Mikey exhales slowly. "Because he didn't explode."
His comment makes me stop everything and look at him in confusion.
"He didn't scream. Didn't threaten to burn the city down. Didn't send his men out immediately to search for her." Mikey's jaw tightens as he continues. "He was kinda amused."
I finish taping him up and sit back on my heels. "That's not his style."
"No," Mikey agrees. "When he loses control, he gets violent. When he thinks he's gaining it--" he cuts himself off.
"He gets patient," I finish.
He nods, and a chill crawls up my spine.
De Luca's patience is worse than De Luca's anger. Patience means planning. Planning means traps layered inside traps. This whole thing means he thinks he's already won something.
"He didn't push for a location?" I ask.
"No. He just told me to find her." Mikey's eyes flick to the hallway, staring at the door, where Julia is sleeping. "Which means he thinks she'll resurface. Or that I'll lead him to her."
"Or," I say slowly, "he already has another angle."
Mikey looks up at me then... studying me. "That's what scares me."
I scrub my hand over my face and start to pace. "He wants her married, controlled, and untouchable." I stop pacing for a second and glance back at my brother. "If he truly believed she ran, he'd be tearing the city apart."
"But he's not," Mikey says. "Which means he's waiting."
"But the question is for what?" I raise a brow.
Mikey doesn't answer, because we both know... He's waiting for her to make a move... for us to slip.. for our fear to do the dirty work for him.
I lean against the coffee table and stare down the hall. Thank god she's still asleep.
"He didn't bite because he didn't need to," I say quietly. "He thinks the leash is still on Julia."
Mikey's jaw hardens. "Then we cut the fucking leash."
I nod once, "And we do it before he decides to yank."
We fall into an uncomfortable silence because now the plan isn't about hiding Julia; it's about staying ahead of a man who's always ten steps ahead and just proved he's willing to wait to get what he wants.
Chapter 26
Julia
Iwake up to tense-filled silence. The kind of silence that feels stretched too tight that it might snap if I breathe wrong.
The bedroom is dim, with the curtains barely open. I can see the city outside, muted and gray. Mikey's sheets are still warm beneath me, and his scent invades my senses.
