“Like I said, I haven’t given it much thought yet, but I suppose the Exhibition is the best place to start. I had planned to bring Zaria along and take a look at the device for myself. Once we have a better idea of what it is, that’ll hopefully help us understand who might have put it there.”
“Ah. So that’s why you wanted Zaria. You hope she’ll recognize the device.”
“She’ll certainly have a better chance of it than I will.”
“All right.” Fletcher gave a firm nod. “Then I’ll come with you.”
Again, Kane was caught off guard. “You don’t have to do that.”
“I know. But better me than one of the other guys—you can’t trust some of them.”
Kane knew that. Men like Adam and Elijah, though, had proven themselves to be loyal enough. Still, he hadn’t intended on bringing anyone other than Zaria along. He’d figured it better to keep recent events to himself, given the trouble they were already in. Fletcher’s involvement, however, changed everything.
“Fair enough,” Kane decided. “Do you want to… meet at Hyde Park, then? Tomorrow, just before midnight?”
Fletcher nodded again. “Tomorrow. Midnight. Sure.”
It wasn’t forgiveness. It wasn’t even close. But something in Kane eased, and when he loosed a breath, some of his tension seemed to release along with it.
ZARIA
The bedroom was, by far, the nicest Zaria had ever stayed in.
In fact, she felt wrong here. Out of place. As if someone might burst in at any moment, drag their gaze over her meager belongings, and tell her to get out before they called the coppers. She found it difficult to imagine Ward here, fetching his clothes from a similar mahogany wardrobe or sleeping in a large canopied bed. She didn’t know what to do with the gilded accents and embroidered pillows, or how to navigate the copper plumbing in the adjacent bathing room. It was lovely, and she resented herself for the shred of glee she couldn’t quite ignore. After all, the circumstances were less than ideal, and Kane would be only a few rooms away.
Zaria hoped he’d sent Jules home, as promised. There was no way for her to be certain, but she couldn’t imagine a reason for Kane tokeep her friend here. By all accounts, Kane had won. The plot to kidnap Jules had upset Zaria just as much as he’d hoped, and now she was trapped here beneath his roof, subject to his every whim.
As the hours slid past, however, she began to wonder if Kane didn’t have as much need for her as he’d implied. She kept her ears peeled for the approach of footsteps in the hallway, and although she heard someone pass by her door a few times, nobody entered or even knocked. Still, she was on edge as she sat at the desk by the wall opposite the bed, picking at her nails until beads of blood formed at the cuticles. Thoughts of Vaughan’s threat and questions about her mother spun around her mind and coalesced into nervous energy at her core.
She needed to find a way to get back into Kane’s office. It only made sense that the ledger would be there, especially if Kane was attempting to run the crew the same way Ward had. The problem, of course, was that the manor was full of dangerous crew members. If Kane was to be believed, there might even be one outside her door right now. They wouldn’t hesitate to report her if they caught her snooping, and she hadn’t yet forgotten Kane’s warning.
A week ago, she might not have believed him if he’d threatened to destroy all happiness in her life. But this was now. And seeing the look on Kane’s face in his office, Zaria didn’t doubt that he would do exactly as he’d promised, should it come to that.
Dusk had begun to swallow the light outside her window when a knock sounded on the door. She jolted upright, neck and spine protesting. At some point she must have fallen asleep hunched over the desk, no doubt exhausted after sleeping so poorly the night before. The knock came again, this time more insistent, and she blinked a few times to focus her vision. “I’mcoming.”
There was no need for her to have bothered—the next moment,the door swung open, revealing a boy who was decidedly not Kane. It threw Zaria off, and she paused where she stood, frowning. “Why bother knocking if you were just going to let yourself in?”
The boy frowned right back. He was tall, lean, and dressed all in black, his sleeves rolled up enough that she could see the arrow tattoo on his forearm. His skin was a light brown, his dark hair short and curly. She had the fleeting, absurd thought that he was far too handsome to do whatever it was he did for the kingpins both present and former. “I wasn’t knocking to request permission. I was knocking to warn you that I was entering.”
Zaria snorted. “Thanks for the consideration.”
He either didn’t pick up on her sarcasm or chose to ignore it. “Durante says you’re to accompany us on a job.”
“What?”
“Durante says—”
“I heard you perfectly well,” she clipped, hating the way he spoke of Kane with clear reverence. “Why does he needme?”
The boy shrugged. “It’s not my place to ask, nor is it yours.”
Zaria peered past him into the hall, noting that he appeared to be the only crew member around. He must have been the one assigned to guard her door, then. Already she suspected they weren’t going to get along. “What’s the job?”
“Don’t know yet.”
“Do you know anything?”
His brown eyes narrowed. “Are you always this impertinent?”
