Page 18 of Ruthless Reign

She stiffened. “Is that a threat?”

I laughed cruelly and tried not to sound too much like a cliché. “It’s a promise.”

She pursed her lips, her eyes searching mine for sincerity.

“Now, if you’ll excuse me.” I turned back to the office, where it seemed Thor and Detective Green were in a good old-fashioned stare down.

“Roman,” she called, making me pause to look back at her. “What if I could help your father?”

I didn’t have a comeback to that, cliché or otherwise. “What do you mean?”

“Since we’ve taken both Montgomery and Washington into custody, they’ve said nothing. They’ve been uncooperative at the best of times and downright belligerent the rest of it.”

I huffed to myself. That sounded like them. Both the president and the vice president, Aris, had been arrested that day concerning an attack on the Holabird docks some two years before. It had taken all that time for Jordan to get the evidence she needed to arrest them, and now that she had it, I didn’t see why she’d be willing to help either of them.

“My father’s not a snitch,” I said. “And neither is Aris.”

She stepped forward and put her hands on her hips, lifting her chin to look me in the eye. “What if I could get you visitation rights? What if…what if you tried to talk some sense into him?”

My heart nearly leaped out of my chest. I wanted to see my father so badly it itched. But even if I made such a deal, he wouldn’t listen to me. Just like I wouldn’t listen to him if the roles were reversed. He was in the pen with other Roses, other MC members, other outlaws. None of them would suffer a former president with loose lips, no matter how hard his son may plead with him.

“That’s a pretty offer, but it’s no good. Crow won’t do that. You’d be better off trying to paint the sky purple than to get him to talk. But I do wish you luck in both efforts.”

“I want to help him,” she said. “I want the people who hurt your family to find justice, but I can’t ignore all the terrible things he’s done, too.”

Fair enough.

“Find out where your leak is, detective. Then maybe you have a case.”

5

JULIA

No one had ever made me breakfast before. I had serving staff that prepared my meals every day, but I paid them to do that. Not even Hugo had lowered himself to cooking. And yet, I couldn’t bring myself to eat it. I stared at it for entirely too long before eventually chucking the whole plate in favor of drinking coffee instead.

The gesture was too kind, too personal, and after the way he’d stared at me when he woke me up from my nightmare, I felt too vulnerable to accept such a gift.

What did it mean? Why would he do it?

Did he simply make himself too much food and decide to give me the leftovers? Or was it a show of peace, a white flag over the vast divide between us? Was he trying to tell me he expected the same of me, and I was too well-bred to know the difference?

ShouldI start making him food? Was that what a wife of his…standingwould expect? I hardly knew how to operate a vacuum, let alone an oven and stovetop.

Frustrated with myself, him, and the whole ridiculous thing, I showered and dressed before reviewing my texts from the previous evening. Titus replied with his typical precision. Heknew the details of the upcoming arms deal and Gabriella’s conversations with various underbosses.

Titus:She’s still trying to ascertain whether Leo is alive. Davila may be a problem. He seems to know Leo’s location, but he wants more money.

He rattled off more information about my aunt’s itinerary and where she planned to be in the upcoming days. I decided to wager that against what I wanted from Roman. With this type of information, we could track her down. We might even be able to get her alone if we were lucky.

Hannah, on the other hand, hadn’t answered. I tried again, hoping to hear from her soon. Both of them knew the dangerous game they played, so I prayed nothing nefarious had happened to her. I prayed she hadn’t been found out.

My phone buzzed, flashing Della’s name, so I answered.

“It’s good to hear your voice,” she said. “How are you? Where are you?”

“I can’t say,” I replied. “But it’s good to hear from you, too. How are you?”

We caught up for a few minutes, and tears nearly burned my eyes at the thought of having to do this all without her. But she was being carefully watched on Caputi territory, and I had three “bodyguards” outside who wouldn’t let me have visitors without my husband’s permission, as if I needed that. What was supposed to be a healthy alliance had quickly turned into a cage.

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