“I haven’t,” I say in a voice sharp with warning. “These are dangerous times, Liev, you know that. If Hinto gets a foothold…I’m keeping the legitimate side of things running. I’m building that up so we have the infrastructure on the other end to take him down when we make our move.”
“Funny. It feels like this has all been orchestrated for you to avoid me.”
My jaw tights. Has it? If it did, I did not do it consciously, not really.
Deep down a part of me has worried that if I see Liev too much face-to-face, he’ll take one look at me and know. Know what I’ve done, what I still hunger for.
“You’ve been hiding away since making the suggestion that Aly needs to be protected.”
Her name sits heavily between us. Heavily, but unavoidable. For a fleeting second, guilt pricks at me, sharp enough to register. Liev has been my brother in everything but blood for decades.
“Do you trust me?” I ask, forcing myself to look at him—at the face I’ve known for so long, that suddenly looks more lined and tired now. “Do you trust me to keep her safe?”
He looks away first. The silence between us blots out the rest of the world. Finally, he says: “She’s always hated what I do. Whatwedo. I thought it was her mother’s influence, but now perhaps she was right. All of this has put her in danger.”
“Are you thinking of leaving?” The question comes so abruptly that it surprises us both. I’ve never really considered it until now. Now that Liev might want to leave one day.
He’s still for a moment, but then he shakes his head. “It wouldn’t matter now. If Hinto knows about her, it means others could find her, and use her against me…against us. Even if I did step away, it doesn’t mean she wouldn’t be hunted down someday.”
I nod tightly. This has been my exact train of thought, too. Even on nights when guilt burns through my veins. Liev has trusted me for the entirety of our lives, and I dragged her straight into the center of our violent world without him knowing.
If only I hadn’t followed her to The Foundry. If only I hadn’t lied, hidden, done whatever I had to do to watch her. I told myself it was only to keep her safe. But she was nevermineto keep safe in the first place?—
It’s too late now.
“If we can take him down,” I murmur, “if we can show that anyone who comes after us or those we love will be destroyed, no one will dare try.”
He turns to face me, and for the first time in a long time I see the man who grew up at my side. The man who made a blood pact with me to rule this city together after my uncle passed. Despite the last few months of turmoil between us, he still believes me when I make promises.
He has no idea I’ve broken the most important one.
He exhales hard, scrubbing a hand over his face. “While you’ve been playing house, things have been getting worse.”
That pulls my focus. “Talk.”
“Hinto’s changed tactics,” he says. “Since he hasn’t been able to get to Aly, or to anyone else close to you—” His eyes flicker, knowing. “—he’s gone after the business. Not Tech. The other side.”
I let out a dry laugh that holds no humor. “He’s welcome to try. I don’t have anyone else close to me. No wife, no children, no family he can touch.”
Liev watches me for a long moment, clearly weighing whether to call that lie out for what it is. He lets it pass.
“You remember the port incident last month,” he continues. “The accident.”
“I remember,” I say. I remember the bodies, the blood in the water, the way Nika’s voice went tight when he called it in.
“Well, three days ago, one of our east coast ships went down,” Liev says. “Mechanical failure, according to the coast guard. They found it drifting after a gap in its tracking. By the time they recovered it, most of the cargo was gone.”
My jaw tightens. That cargo was worth millions, and more importantly, it was leverage. “Stolen,” I say flatly.
“Stolen,” he agrees. “Cleanly. Whoever did this knew exactly how long they had before anyone started asking questions.”
I nod slowly, the pieces sliding into place. “He’s testing us. Seeing how far he can push without provoking a direct response. Why is this the first I’m hearing of it?”
“Because you’ve kept yourself locked up. Even when you’re at headquarters, the men can’t get to you, can they? Nika said you sent him away the day before last?—”
“Because I had a meeting with our supplier in Japan,” I snap, feeling myself start to lose control. Not knowing what’s happening on my own territory.
“Kaz, he’s bleeding us. You have to do something,reallydo something.”
