Page 37 of Blood & Heartache

The man had a point. Just because they wanted to talk to me doesn’t mean I have to talk to them, but letting them ramble on might prove to be helpful. “All right, I’ll speak with them.”

“Lady Astin, I think it would be best if I went with you,” Liu said as he got up from the table and walked over while holding a coffee cup and saucer. Even at one in the morning, he was the picture of professionalism, wearing a white button-down, sleeves rolled up, and navy slacks.

“Oh?” I questioned.

“I’m a lawyer, and one of the reasons your father liked to have me around for certain meetings. Criminal as well as contract law are my areas of expertise, which I feel will help in this situation,” Liu explained. “If the person in the sitting room is who I think it is, you’re going to need to be extremely careful in what you say. Detective White has tried on more than one occasion to pin various murders on the Caprioni Family via your father.”

“How lovely,” I grumbled. “Yes, come along. Ralph, you too.”

“Lady Astin, I must warn you that there is only so much I can do when it comes to law enforcement. Any contact with him could be seen as obstruction or attacking an officer,” Boykov pointed out.

“Don’t worry about that. I’m not bringing you to keep me safe. It’s to make sure the man leaves this house alive. Something tells me by the way you’re all reacting, he’s going to make it incredibly hard to remember that fact,” I shared, then turned to the others. “Keep working on the mayor situation. We must know everything the police know, if not more, so we can ensure this doesn’t come back to bite us. While you're at it, look into the situation with my car as well. It’s odd they haven’t reached out to me since it’s my car.”

“That’s the thing, though, they don’t know it’s your car,” Luca interjected. “Whoever set the thing on fire made damn sure all the VIN and serial numbers were destroyed. It’s possible they might not ever find out it belongs to you.”

“Huh, well, isn’t that convenient,” I said absently as I got to my feet and grabbed my cane. “They really were trying to cover up whatever Flora was doing. Now, if only we could figure out who the fuck it was, I’d like to thank them personally. All right, carry on, men. I’m gonna go poke the bear and see just how far I can get before he tries to bite me,” I shared, pretending to poke at the imaginary bear with my cane.

Atticus frowned. “Why do you make that sound like a good thing? Being bitten by a bear would most certainly not be an enjoyable experience, especially if you plan to agitate it in the first place.”

I dropped a kiss on his cheek as I passed and whispered in his ear, “That, my dear Atty, was sarcasm.”

Understanding spread across his features at my alert. “That does make far more sense,” he commented. “Then, Astin, enjoy your endeavors to infuriate the cop for your enjoyment. I hope you get the reaction you’re looking for and it meets your expectations.”

“Thanks, Atty. I’ll tell you all about it when I get back,” I assured him as Boykov held the door open for me.

Liu was ahead of us in the hall, speaking to the house staff I presume had knocked a few minutes ago. “I’m sorry, Master Liu, but the man simply wouldn’t accept no for an answer. I tried to explain it was late, he didn’t have a warrant, and should come back in the morning. He left me no choice when he threatened to arrest me for hindering his investigation.”

“It’s all right, Hank. If you could let the detective know we’re on our way down and will be with him shortly. Also, ask him if he’d like any coffee or tea. He might be a rude guest, but we will be generous hosts,” Liu instructed.

Hank nodded, looking far more relieved now that the matter was taken out of his hands, and hurried to the front of the house. Liu came to walk on my left side but didn’t try to help me or discourage me from walking and not using the wheelchair. There was no fucking way I was going to show up to a meeting with a cop looking like a fucking damsel in distress. Yeah, it might take me longer to get there, but if the bastard gave me shit about it, then I’d be more than happy to share my feelings on the matter.

“Astin,” Liu murmured in a low voice. “I can see it in your face that you’re gearing up for war, but that battle has already been won. We own the police in this city, and his bosses won’t be happy when they hear he pulled this stunt.”

I glanced at him, intrigued that he felt the need to warn me. “What you’re interpreting as battle readiness is really more like you’re in my house now, bitch. There’s no need to fight when you yourself pointed out I’ve already won the war.”

A smirk tugged at Liu’s lips. “My apologies. I’m still learning to read you, and it seems I might have misjudged that expression. If I may, I ask that if I jump in to cut off the question or answer it for you, there is an excellent reason I’m doing so. Your father and I had an unspoken way of communicating in meetings like this, so you’ll have to give me some leeway as we figure out what works for us.”

“I can agree to that. Besides, I was just telling Ralph earlier today that I suck at being a team player, but it’s about damn time I picked up a new skill. I think group projects and experiences like this will really help me find where my weak areas are, don’t you think?” I asked, trying to keep a straight face, but the concerned expression on Liu’s face had me cracking a smile and knocking him with my shoulder. “Oh, don’t look so panicked, bro.”

Liu’s face instantly scrunched up at being called bro, and I had to agree it didn’t feel right at all.

“I think I’d prefer not to be called that by you,” Liu requested ever so politely.

“Yeah, the second I said it, instant regret,” I agreed.

He chuckled at my fervent tone on that. “While I suppose we are siblings of a sort on paper, I don’t really feel like either of us has that connection. Jamison, on the other hand, I’ve known as a kid and seen him grow up over the past ten years. He and I have a pseudo-sibling relationship, so when he does call me his brother, it fits.”

“So you’re saying you never wanted a little sister, is that it?” I teased.

“Out of the many thoughts and feelings I have about you, Astin, not sure familial is one of them,” Liu shared right before he opened the door to the main sitting room.

The cheeky bastard absolutely caught me off guard by that comment and knew I couldn’t say anything about it. Having a sibling of any kind was new, and I wasn’t sure I was enjoying it much right now. In silent retaliation, I just so happened to set my cane down on his foot as I walked past, making him grunt at the pain. Take that, asshole.

I’d never been a fan of the gaudy style Flora transformed our Huntingford house into when she moved there. It was like she needed to throw the fact that she was rich and could afford all these luxury pieces of furniture—even if they were fucking uncomfortable. My personal style and taste ran to the opposite end of the spectrum. I wanted things to be inviting, comfortable, and not like you had to worry about putting the Persian silk accent pillow on the floor when it got in your way. Here at the Caprioni Estate, it was a blend of the two. The areas such as this room where guests or people who weren’t Family were escorted to lean toward the more opulent side of things. More so to put the person on edge and remind them where they were and who lived here. So when I found this Detective White sprawled on the burgundy crushed-velvet loveseat, I was a bit surprised.

“It seems you’ve made yourself at home,” I commented as I stood there watching the man with interest.

Detective White jerked awake and almost fell off the small couch. Collecting himself, he stood, smoothed his hair, and adjusted his suit, one that seemed far too expensive for the average detective to afford. When he finally looked up and gave me his attention, there was a spark of surprise and recognition before it was gone and replaced with irritation.