Finally, George lifted his gaze. It was empty in a way Zaria had never seen before, and it sent panic surging through her veins, making her lightheaded. “He’s gone.”
“What do you mean,gone?”
“The new kingpin took him.”
Her voice sounded strangled. “I don’t understand.”
“Don’t you?” George said, the question cutting. “Because he appeared to be quite familiar with you.”
No.No, this could not be happening. Kane had been here. He’d come while Zaria was out, and somehow managed to leave with Jules in tow. Why, though? It was Zaria he was furious with, not Jules. Nothing connected the two boys, save a mutual dislike.
But that wasn’t true, was it? They did share one significant thing in common:her.
She couldn’t breathe. A distant part of her knew exactly why Kane had come here, but she refused to acknowledge it. It was too horrible. Too crooked, even for somebody like Kane.
“The kingpin said it was because of an ultimatum Ward’s men gave me two weeks ago,” George went on, a slight flush in his cheeks. “I owed money, you see, and they said that if I didn’t pay up, I would either lose the pawnshop or—”
“Or Jules would have to join the kingpin’s crew,” Zaria finished without thinking.
Both George and Mirko went still, watching her in a mix of distrust and confusion. She felt heat flood her own face, cursing her foolishness. She wasn’t supposed to have known about that. Even when Jules had argued with his father about it, he’d promised Zaria afterward that he hadn’t brought up her name.
It was George who broke the silence. “How do you know about that? I instructed Julian to keep it a family matter.”
For some reason, that sent a stab of pain into her gut. She could lie and say Jules had gone against his father’s wishes, or she could be honest. “I accidentally overheard you, the night Ward’s men came bythe pawnshop. I heard them deliver the ultimatum. That if you didn’t pay Ward whatever he believed you were owing, Jules was going to have to join his crew.” She tensed her shoulders. “How did you think Jules found out about it? I told him the truth, the way you should have.”
“You had no right,” George said harshly, his dark eyes sharpening in anger.
Zaria recognized the need to proceed with caution, but as usual, the injustice of it all had her speaking before she could think it through. “I kept it from him as long as I could, but he knew I was hiding something. It wouldn’t have been a problem if you’d been honest sooner. I think he deserved that much.”
“You donotget to tell me how to deal with my son.”
Mirko glanced between the two of them, combing his receding brown curls back with obvious unease. Zaria couldn’t shake the sensation that she’d lost her hold on everything; none of this was supposed to be happening. Her world was devolving into chaos. “That’s not what I—” she began, tone sharp with frustration, then shook her head. “It’s not important anymore. If Kane has Julesnow, then we need to figure out how to get him back.”
“Kane?” Mirko repeated, perplexed, as George’s frown deepened.
Zaria realized her slip a moment too late. White-hot dismay surged within her, and she abruptly felt as if she were staring down the barrel of a gun. She didn’t blame George for his lingering distrust where she was concerned—he had put his faith in her father once, and Itzal had let him down. Still, she hated the way he was looking at her with that furrow of suspicion between his brows. “The new kingpin, I mean.”
“So youarefamiliar with him, then,” George said. “You must be, if you call him by his given name.”
“We’re acquainted, yes, but—”
“In what sense?”
What was she supposed to say? She could hardly explain that she and Kane had committed a multitude of crimes together. Furthermore, she didn’twantto lie to George. Despite their somewhat-strained relationship, she knew he truly cared about Jules. So Zaria inhaled a fortifying breath, looked him in the eye, and settled on a version of the truth. “The kingpin blames me for a number of problems he’s currently facing. I believe he came after Jules because he knew it would hurt me, and used Ward’s ultimatum as an excuse.”
This time, the silence was, if possible, even longer. The only noise came from Mirko surreptitiously rising to back out of the room, his eagerness to leave apparently overwhelming his desire not to interrupt. As he went, he shot Zaria an apologetic grimace.
George slumped in his chair. He no longer looked angry; he looked like an older man who was simplytired. “God help me.”
“That’s how much I care about Jules,” Zaria said, voice raw. It felt like she was being clawed apart on the inside. It seemed impossible that George couldn’t see her bleeding on the floor before him. “I care about him more than I care about myself. The kingpin knows it, and that’s why he did this. He knew it would hurt me more than anything else. But I would take Jules’s place, if I could. I’d do it in a heartbeat.”
“I have never doubted that you care about my son, Zaria.”
She waited, anticipating George would say more, yet at the same time hoping he wouldn’t. When he pressed his lips together, the similarities between him and Jules were striking. They wore misery in the same way—like a shroud that unfurled from head to toe, making them appear wholly demoralized.
“Get out.”
Zaria started. Her heart, however, seemed to stop. “What?”
