Being allies with his club afforded us a certain amount of protection, but I didn’t need favors. “I’ll be handling all of them.”
“The Diamonds okay with that?”
As I washed away the blood from my hands, red ribbons threaded through the water and swirled down the stainless-steel sink. Mixing and tinging the water pink, just like my ties to the Heathens, to clubs, to societies—we warped and changed each other’s existence. Since my father was gone, I led the Diamonds. They didn’t lead me.
“Daddy?” My daughter’s voice singsonged through the basement walls, and I narrowed my eyes at Jacques as I finished the last of my cleanup.
Two of my men continued cleaning the operating table, and another folded up the stained clothing I’d cut from Jacques.
“Franny, we’re back here,” he yelled out, because not one of the men I dealt with missed a chance to see my daughter. I would have let it be had I thought Franny was only with Hades, considering it wasn’t the first time she’d stumbled upon me while operating.
Not the first time I’d worked on Jacques either. He was reckless on a motorcycle, and with his life. Faulting him for it would have been hypocritical after what he’d said—we both knew I enjoyed tempting death before my daughter.
My problem now wasn’t Franny. It was with Mia. Pretty, sweet, naïve Mia, who followed my daughter in with Pink and Olive flanking her.
Two women who weren’t sweet or naïve.
Olive lived down the street and had grown up with me. She was sharp, strategic, and always three steps ahead of anyone whodared to cross us. Plus, she was married to Dimitri, who owned part of HEAT, one of the largest tech and real estate businesses in the world.
Then there was Pink, Bane’s girl—a player in her own right, one who had a seat at the table of the highest syndicate discussions. Her involvement went far beyond being a companion—she was a mastermind, known for navigating our world in a way that left our enemies scrambling.
They always had a seat at our table when large decisions were made and always would. I trusted them both with my life and with the syndicate.
Trusting them with Mia was a whole other situation, though.
My daughter flew at Jacques and abruptly stopped right before she hugged him, her brows slamming down. “You’re hurt again, Jacques? You have to drive safe and stop at all the red lights!”
Jacques whispered placations to her as I took in that Hades was nowhere to be found but Mia stood there almost frozen. Her eyes were wide, her tiny fingers wringing themselves into oblivion, and the rapid rise and fall of her white blouse told me she was uncomfortable. Her cheeks were flushed and she took breaths in through her nose, out through her mouth, like she was trying not to faint.
Glancing behind me, I knew what it looked like: A crazy surgeon had built his own little hospital. Glass walls stood around an operating table with lights that were state of the art, as were all of my tools. I could rip someone apart and put them back together on it easily. I’d done it time and time again.
I’d designed my space with some of the best engineers in the country. I took pride in it but also knew how it looked to an outsider.
And that’s what she was.
“Ms. Darling, you’re supposed to be teaching,” I ground out.
“Franny wanted a snack,” she murmured as she took a step forward, but then, like she thought better of it, she took one back as she glanced at the blood seeping through Jacques’s chest bandage.
“In the basement?” I ground out. I didn’t wait for her answer as I glared at the other women. Both of them were meddlers, and both served our society well. I had utter respect for them in that regard and no respect for them when it came to snooping. “You two have anything else to do with your lives?”
“Nope,” they said together. Olive pulled me in for a hug and continued, “My husband has Baby Grayson at work today, and I was bored as ever, but then Pink showed up at my door wanting to come visit you. You’re welcome for not bringing all the nosy neighbors too.”
“Can you imagine?” Pink snickered.
They both chatted on and on, but I watched how Mia’s hands shook at her sides. “You should be upstairs, not down here,” I said.
“You’re not a real surgeon. This isn’t … The liability of—”
“You’re right. He’s a half-assed surgeon, for sure.” Jacques laughed as he scooped Franny up with a wince and held her on his good side. He walked over to Mia and held out a hand. “But I can guarantee you I’m not worried about any liabilities. Ms. Darling, is it?”
I shoved his hand away. “We don’t need introductions. You need to leave, and Franny needs to go upstairs with Mia.”
My daughter frowned at me. “You used to let me come down here.” Her tone was hurt, and I didn’t know what to say. Yesterday, I’d seen a glimpse of the old Fran, carefree while she swung that racket with us at tennis, but we couldn’t be that way always.
Jacques wasn’t deterred; he leaned around me, and Franny started giggling. “Of course Ms. Darling needs to know myname is Jacques. I’m here all the time. Right, Olive?” He continued on like he was going to tell Mia everything about our lives. “Olive comes over way too much too, but I guess that’s what happens when you grow up neighbors. Old habits die hard.”
“He does get hurt a lot, Daddy,” Franny reasoned with me quietly while Olive rolled her eyes and brushed a curl from her face.
