Page 89 of The Billionaire Who Saved My Cat From The Mafia

They all stare at me.At least I’ve got their attention.

Declan sighs dramatically.“Oh, Kevin.Nowwhat have you gotten yourself into?”

No one laughs but him.I continue with my mission description.

“How would you go about applying all the resources and expertise we currently have at our disposal to achieve the strategic goal of disappearing safely and for the long term?How would you do it without unnecessarily escalating an existing conflict, attracting attention to yourself, or creating unintended consequences.”

Declan removes his feet from the table and sits up straight in his chair.My other brothers take their seats, as well.They’re silent for a good long while.

“This isn’t hypothetical,” Finn says.

“And it’s impossible to answer without knowing all the underlying variables,” Declan says.“What’s the threat matrix look like?Who’s the known threat actor and what are his capabilities, motivations, and weaknesses?What is the nature of the current primary conflict and what is the operation environment?Who is trying to disappear and what is the worst possible outcome that must be avoided at any cost?What—”

“We got it,” Finn says, cutting him off.

“Oh, holy shit,” Cal says.He rests his elbow on the table and then drops his forehead into his hand.

“This is about the squatter,” Evander says.

“Don’t call her that.”

“All right.What term might you prefer?‘Uninvited pioneer?’How about ‘lease-less inhabitant?’”

“I vote for that last one,” Declan says.

“Her name is Frankie, and I really like her.”I shock myself.I didn’t even plan to say that.“I care for this woman.She’s incredible.And yeah, I know it makes no sense at all, but it’s the truth.”

After a silent pause, Cal nods seriously and says, “Sometimes, the best things in life don’t make sense at first.”

“They can even seem completely out of the question,” Finn adds.

“Making sense isn’t the measure of how good something is or how good it isforyou,” Evander says.

Declan nods.“Yeah, sometimes weird shit happens and you just gotta say, ‘Fuck it.I’m goin’ in.’”

I assume they’re talking about themselves and their relationships, and not me.But then they ask me about Frankie.Who she is.Why she’s here.What she’s afraid of.

Her last name.

“This is where it gets a little vague,” I say.“I don’t know all the details.But I know she’s afraid for her life and trying to hide, not because of something she did but because of someone she was with.She called him a psycho killer.She said if I try to fix it he will kill me and my whole family.”

Cal blinks at me.

“And that’s really all I know.So, how does Frankie disappear?”

An hour later, I’m tacking up DG to ride up to the ridge, mulling over my brothers’ advice.

I’ve been away from Frankie for almost twenty-four hours.That’s far too long.

CHAPTER 43

Frankie

I start packing.

The first step is to sort through all the storage bins of stuff Special K brought up here.I need to decide what, if anything, I should take with me.But there’s a problem: I have no fucking idea where I’m going!

And I’ve already learned what happens to women who run blindly into the night not knowing where they’re headed.