I shrink behind Elias.
The Judas. The man betrayed all of us.
And yet, I still feel safer behind him than anywhere else in this room.
Elias rummages through the papers in the box.
The blond catches my stare and taps the gun barrel against his palm. He winks and mouths something I don’t catch. Something vulgar.
I look away. Acid roils in my stomach. Elias retrieves an envelope—Mom’s letter I’m supposed to open when I turn thirty-five. An ache flares behind my sternum. I treasure this letter. It’s one of the few things Mom left me. Why does he want it?
He slides it into his pocket. “Done. Pack it up, gentlemen.”
We file back into the main hall.
Will they let me live? I’ve seen their faces. They’ll never let me walk away.
Dread punches my gut, and just when I open my mouth to ask Elias, the world stops.
“What’s going on here?”
A familiar voice. The commanding tone.No. Shit, no.Security is supposed to come. Not him.
I look up, finding Maxwell staring at us. His gaze takes in the guns, the thugs, Elias, and me.
“Lana? Elias? What’s going on?”
I can’t answer him.
“Run,”I mouth.“Run.”
Maxwell stiffens. “Elias, what’s the meaning of this? Let go of her.”
The devil tightens his arm around my waist, tension obvious in his muscles. But his voice is casual and calm. Like we’re talking about the weather.
“Lana was just showing me around. Thinking of getting a box here. She was helpful. Why don’t you head to the lounge and I’ll join you later.”
To explain. To BS. To lie to him.
My brother eyes the guns. I can see his mind working. Calculating.
“My men were just being careful,” Elias adds with a chuckle. “I have many enemies.”
He tells the blond, “Put away your gun. We’re in the safest place in Manhattan.”
The thug slowly holsters his weapon, his gaze frigid.
Maxwell narrows his eyes, then he looks at me again.
I force my expression into calmness—the men will kill him if I do anything wrong.
“Fine,” Maxwell murmurs.
Relief sags my shoulder as I watch my oldest brother walk away.
Don’t turn back. Don’t do anything stupid, Maxwell. Don’t. You have a wife and a kid.
But I know him too well. And he knows me too.
