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I almost smiled, but the folder’s edge dug into my palm, dragging me back to why I’d come.

I let out a breath and shook my head, hating that any of us had to deal with this shit today. “You know I wouldn’t have disturbed you if I had a choice. But this needs to be handled before Xyst opens tonight, and hell will freeze before I knock on Lucian and Scarlett’s door because a hotshot city attorney decided to gut our club on their wedding night.”

“After what they survived, they get a few days of peace regardless of whatever fire is burning at Xyst’s front door,” Nik said, stepping closer and taking one of the coffees from the carrier. “And don’t apologize for coming here.”

“I wasn’t apologizing.”

“No.” He tipped his coffee at me. “But you were thinking it. I took the blood oath beside you for a reason, Lach. You need me, you come. Any hour. Any problem.”

I nodded once.

I had two kinds of brothers in this life: the one born to my mother and the ones who’d cut their palms beside mine. Nik belonged to the second kind, and men like him didn’t take oaths lightly.

I followed him to the island between the kitchen and living room, dropped the bagels and drink carrier on the counter, and pulled a coffee free. Neither of us touched the food.

Nik lifted the lid off his cup and breathed in. “Now tell me who was stupid enough to walk into our house thinking they could touch us.”

We crossed the living room together. His office sat behind glass panels on the far side, overlooking the park. The glass frosted as soon as we entered, and the door latched behind us, sealing the room off from everything but the view. In Nik’s home, every system could lock a door, watch a room, listen in, or kill access at the touch of a button or spoken command.

“After the reception cleared, and the staff and I had nearly finished cleaning up and prepping for tonight, two uniforms walked in.”

“Precinct?”

“Sixth.”

His eyes slid to mine.

“Aye.” We both knew what that meant. Luca Genovese had owned the Sixth long before Xyst existed, and before we’d become made men under his roof. Luca ran most of Manhattan through politics, money, unions, and favors, while Nik ruled the shadows with enough hacker reach to make governments sweat.

“Anyone else with them?” he asked.

“Oh, yeah—the mouthpiece.”

Nik paused and arched a brow before stepping closer to his desk.

“She was a petite woman with long black hair, wearing a crisp white blouse with one of those fancy navy suits. Confident smile. She was pretty enough to be distracting, but that wasn’t what got my attention. It was her arrogance. As if she were a predator sizing up prey.”

Nik grunted. “Good. Arrogance is what gets most people in trouble.”

I took a sip of coffee and let the heat burn a trail down my throat. “She scanned the room, found me, and locked on. Attitude screaming she’d already won, and carrying enough legal ammunition to bury us six feet under.”

“Name?”

“Isabella Delgado.”

Nik stilled. His expression didn’t change, but something cold and lethal shifted behind his eyes. That was the thing about him. Most men got louder when the air changed. Nik went quiet.

“Before she could say another word, I asked if she was related to Ciro Delgado,” I said, tapping the folder against my thigh.

Nik stared at me. “And?”

“Said she didn’t know who he was. She didn’t so much as blink. Kept that same smile on her face like I’d asked her about the weather.” I took another drink. I could read people. It was one of the few useful gifts God had given me. “Either she’s the best liar I’ve ever met, or she genuinely doesn’t know him. Could be the name’s just a coincidence.”

“Anyone named Delgado who walks into Xyst with NYPD backing isn’t just a coincidence.”

I shrugged. “That was my first thought, too, but who knows?”

Nik set his coffee down, pressed his palm to the scanner built into the workstation, and the screens woke one by one in a wash of artificial light.