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“And all I want is a reliable car to get us where we need to go.” Suddenly he stops, making me bump into him. Good thing we weren’t moving too fast. “Got it.”

Sure enough, the driver’s-side door of a small gray sedan was left unlocked. It’s not a flashy car by any means, which I guess is exactly what we’re looking for—something that won’t attract a lot of attention.

“Get in,” he grunts, using the panel on the door to pop the locks on the back doors. My hands are shaking so bad I can barely get my door open before shoving everything inside, then almost throwing myself into the passenger seat while my stomach churns. I’m actually doing this. I’m participating in a crime. A felony.

I’m too nervous to speak while Adrian breaks into the area under the steering wheel. He moves efficiently, like a man who’s done this before. He has a lot of talents.

I mean, it’s not like I didn’t already know how good he is with his hands.

The engine sparks to life, and I release a shaky breath while he backs out of the spot, then peels away toward the exit leading back to the interstate. I don’t say a word until we’re on the road, blending into traffic. “Holy crap. I can’t believe that just happened!”

“Believe it.” He glances my way. “You okay?”

Okay? I’m exhilarated. Relief floods my system, along with a sense of utter triumph. “I just never expected to be in on a car theft. How do you even know how to do that?”

His brief laughter comes as a surprise. “Funny, but I have Theo to thank for that skill.”

“Your older brother taught you how to hot-wire a car so you can steal it?” I guess that’s how some families spend that important quality time.

“No, not exactly,” he chuckles. I like the sound. I wish he would do it more, and not only when he’s laughing at me. “He was already in the life. Low level, more of an errand boy. He would pick up payments, maybe rough somebody up if they didn’t have the money the boss was looking for. Of course, I wanted to be just like him.”

There’s something sweet and touching about that, not to mention unexpected. My heart softens at the thought of him trying to live up to his big brother, who he probably idolized. Especially considering their parents died. They were all each other had.

“Did he take you under his wing?” I ask.

“Are you kidding? He forbade me from having anything to do with his line of work. The first time he caught me hanging around with a bad crowd, he slapped me so hard my ears rang.”

“Not hard enough to stop you, though.”

“He only made me more determined than ever. Which is how I wound up learning how to hot-wire. There’s a lot of money to be made delivering cars to chop shops.” He sighs, then shrugs. “I wanted to prove myself. I wanted him to know I could make a living at this work, too, that I wasn’t some dumb kid he had to support on his own.”

“And that’s how you both ended up in the . . . criminal element.”

“Kind of, yeah. It definitely got us mixed up with the wrong crowd. Theo joined the Mob and worked his way up through the ranks until he ended up doing only what he did best. I started doing smaller jobs—theft, mostly—but quickly had a reputation for being able to get in and out of buildings before the cops showed up. One day someone asked me if I wanted to make some real money with those skills. In, kill, out. And from there I just . . . kept improving that skill set. Not exactly a heartwarming tale, I know.”

No, not heartwarming, but it makes sense that these boys trying to fend for themselves ended up doing unsavory work. I’m sure plenty of people stumble into that world, hoping to make a little extra money, sometimes looking for the family they lost or never had in the first place. And maybe once you’ve accepted that you’re going to be a criminal, it’s not so hard to make the leap to more extreme crimes. “It’s funny how Theo is out of the life now, but you’re still in it, when you only got into it to follow his footsteps in the first place.” When did Adrian decide to stop running jobs for people like Matteo and strike out on his own?

“Let’s cool it with the conversation for a little while. I need to think.” The icy silence that follows tells me that was the wrong thing to say.

Chapter Twenty

Adrian

There is nothing I want more than sleep. Scratch that. A hot shower, then sleep.

The sun is breaching the horizon by the time we reach Los Angeles. I haven’t been out here in years—too many bad memories. Besides, this city has never been my thing. Some people might enjoy the lifestyle so many try to embody here. I’m the kind of person who stands off to the side and observes, watching how little it takes for a smile to dissolve, catching the kisses that never reach their target. It’s fake, surface level, and I don’t have the patience.

Something makes me look toward the girl sleeping in the passenger seat, her face pressed against the window, her breath fogging the glass with every exhale. They would eat her alive out here, somebody warm and genuine and optimistic. I didn’t know people like her existed.

A fresh wave of protective instinct rises in me, and I force myself to turn my full attention back to the road. Traffic is heavy, even at this time of morning. Wouldn’t it be ironic if I got us killed on the road without ever reaching Matteo’s compound?

The sudden blaring of a horn makes June sit bolt upright. “What? What happened?” Her head swings back and forth, and I have to chuckle at how disoriented she is.

“Breathe,” I advise since it sounds like she’s about to hyperventilate. “Everything’s fine. Welcome to Los Angeles.”

“We’re here? We’re in LA?” The starstruck, breathless question makes me chuckle again. She sounds like a hopeful would-be starlet getting off the bus from some no-name town.

“As of a few minutes ago, yes. Don’t get your hopes up,” I warn. “We’re not here to do all the touristy shit. If everything goes well, we won’t be here for long.”