"Boss?"
"Julia's back. We're working together. Get the team ready—I’m bringing her in."
A pause. "You sure about this?"
"No." I met Julia's gaze. "But we don't have a choice. Someone killed Big Sal Russo, framed me for it, and now they're trying to kill both of us. We have one week to figure out who before the Russo family sends Silvio to finish us off."
"One week?" Stone's voice was incredulous. "That's the timeline?"
"That's the timeline."
"Then we'd better work fast." I could practically hear him shifting into tactical mode. "I'll call Serenity, get Forrest on standby. Meet at your place in twenty?"
"Twenty." I hung up.
Julia was already grabbing her bag, her laptop, moving with purpose now that we had a plan.
"Quentin?"
I turned.
"Thank you." Her voice was quiet. Sincere. "For believing me. Or—or at least for giving me a chance to prove I'm telling the truth."
"Don't thank me yet." I headed for the door. "We might both be dead in a week."
"I know." She followed me. "But at least if we die, we die fighting. Together."
Together.
The word shouldn't have meant as much as it did.
But as we walked out into the night—into whatever waited for us in the next seven days—I couldn't shake the feeling that "together" might be the only thing that saved us.
Or the thing that destroyed us both.
Either way, I was about to find out.
Chapter 30
Julia
Quentin's house felt different than I remembered.
Bigger. Colder. More fortress than home.
Or maybe that was just the three people staring at me like I was a bomb that might explode at any moment.
Stone stood by the window, arms crossed, expression carved from granite. Serenity perched on the edge of the couch, her usual warmth replaced by careful neutrality. And Forrest—the cyber security specialist I'd only met briefly—was setting up laptops on the dining table, not looking at me at all.
"Coffee?" Quentin's voice cut through the tension. "This is going to be a long night."
"Please." I set my bag down carefully, hyperaware that any sudden movement might trigger Stone's protective instincts.
Quentin disappeared into the kitchen. I stood there awkwardly, not sure if I should sit or wait to be invited.
"You can sit, Julia." Serenity's voice was gentle but not exactly warm. "We're all on the same team now. Apparently."
The "apparently" hung in the air like a question mark.
