Page 25 of Hide Little Traitor

I sigh. Just the reminder of his brother makes my skin itch. He’s the one my girl is afraid of. Seeing Ronan was difficult for her because of their history, but Damon hurt her, and in my books that’s enough reason for him to die.

To be fair, that bar isn’t very high right now. The guy that cut me off on the highway on the way back to the airfield also made the list, but Damon always would, regardless of how long it had been since my last kill.

“I’m sure it’s difficult weaving a web of lies when your father is the most paranoid fuck on earth.”

I’ve never had the displeasure of meeting Salvatore Lombardi, but his reputation precedes him. Ever since his wife’s accident, he’s been convinced there’s a constant plot to tear down his empire, and he’s lost his mind because of it.

He changes phone numbers every week, has a constant armed guard around him on the increasingly rare occasions he leaves his fortress, and despite the family’s tradition to relinquish the throne when his oldest son turned twenty-one, he’s yet to do so.

Ronan nods and taps something out on his burner. “That’s what I’m worried about. Maybe if we could just⁠—”

“We are not going back to Miami.”

“But—”

“No,” I snap. “Do you want to die? Because that’s what will happen if we step foot back on Lombardi territory. It doesn’t matter how good a lie your brother is spinning, there will be doubt within your father’s inner circle. There’s only so long they’re going to believe you allowed yourself to be kidnapped by an old man, and you do not want to be in Florida when they start to put the pieces together.”

He rubs a hand down his face and drops back against the seat. “He’s my brother.”

“Yep. And he’s been training to take over the family for well over a decade. He’s not an idiot, and I’m sure as hell he can take care of himself.”

Defending Damon has my skin crawling, but if it keeps Ronan away from the compound, that’s all that matters.

If the way she clung to him when they arrived at the medical center is any indication, Chloe would never forgive me for getting him killed, and as hard a pill as that is to swallow, I’m not willing to do anything to upset my girl.

“Where are we heading next?” He drops the phone on the table in front of him.

“Kingston has a place in Maryland that he doesn’t think I know about, so it would be a good place to hide Chloe.”

“How many more places after that?”

“Four.”

“And if they’re not at any of them?”

I’m quiet for a beat, unsure how to reply to him when I don’t have an answer. At least not a good one.

Because the truth is, I’m not sure what we’re going to do if we run out of places to check.

We can’t spend the rest of our lives chasing a ghost, but in the same breath, I won’t be able to live until my siren is back in my arms where she belongs.

“I don’t know,” I tell him truthfully. There’s no way to sugarcoat it, and it doesn’t do either of us any good to do that.

“How do we know he didn’t just move her to the first place we tried?”

“I left some cameras around just in case. There’s been no movement at any of the properties we’ve been to so far.”

“And you’re sure he won’t hurt her?”

“If there’s one thing I’m absolutely certain of, it’s that Kingston would sooner cut off his own hands than hurt Chloe.”

Which is truly the only reason I haven’t lost my fucking mind with worry.

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

CHLOE

THEN