Page 72 of To Curse A Knight

“She will understand,” I replied smoothly. Uncertainty lanced my gut, but I pressed onward. “My employees are in danger.”

Lauchlan’s gaze blazed with determined fire. “Then let’s go save some worker bees, yeh?” He gunned the engine and roared out of the parking garage in a spurt of obnoxious smoke, but I appreciated the sentiment of the childish Irishman.

“Wait a minute—is that my suit?” His attention left the road and his accusing stare swept over me as if I’d attended the murder of his puppy.

“It is nowmysuit.” I smoothed my hands over the mid-level fabric and shifted uncomfortably in its tight confines. I did not want this mediocre suit in my wardrobe repertoire, but as it was now all I had, I would suffer the consequences. “I will not need it after today.”

“Might need it for your funeral,” he muttered under his breath, but he said nothing more about it. “Where to?” he asked instead when we came to the roundabout leading through town.

“Club 7,” I directed, and he weaved through the Carlisle streets as if we were in a cliched Los Angeles Street race. “I will tell you when to turn.”

Admittedly, the man got us there more quickly than Jacques would have. He likely had sensed the urgency in my tone and body language because he continued to glance at me from the corner of his eye. I was concerned about the lack of eyes on the road, but I felt safe in his care. Lauchlan was reckless and woefully ignorant, but his skills were vast and often underestimated.

I was learning not to underestimate him.

Instead of pressing me for more information about the brothel’s activities, he broke the silence with a different question.

“Why are you trusting me with this? I’d have thought you’d want my head on a spike.”

Ahh, yes. His game withMi Reina. I was surprised to learn of such a game, but I was also learning my love thrived on unpredictable challenges;Rojoembodied that like pliable silicon.

“You did not betray her, no? She was aware of your intentions and played with you, anyway. What is to come of you and her is between the two of you.” I caught his wandering eyes, forcing his gaze from the road once again with the hardened malice in my stare.

“You choose to play me, little Irishman, and I will chop off your limbs and feed them to mountain lions while you watch, slowly bleeding to death.”

Henodded as if this were an appropriate punishment for such a crime.

“Noted,” he responded with ease; threats on his life were normal for him, it seemed. “Kellan will beat you to it, though. I might be bled out by the morning.”

I watched the traffic with blind eyes, the unfamiliar feeling of anxious energy worming its way beneath the folds of my skin.

“Kellan is a protector, as am I. I choose to trust thatMi Reinacan take care of herself, and will request me when she needs me. Kellan is an impatient man and does not wait for her to ask. He will learn to trust her in time, or he will not. What is to come of them is between them.”

“How are you so calm about all of this?”Rojo’s voice took on an incredulous tinge. “You’re really are Mr. Roboto.”

I did not love this nickname, but I had been called far worse insults in my lifetime. This man would not gain the satisfaction of riling me in the way he excelled at riling Kellan.

“There are two things I am most certain of in this life. Hillary Lane and my love for her. The rest is immaterial. You will be here next week or you will not, and that is at her discretion.”

I turned my whole body to face him, which was difficult in the confines of his sporty clown vehicle.

“You were going to thieve from her and she chose not to harm you. Perhaps you should express more gratitude to the woman who spared your life, when she can take the air you breathe and force you to choke on it.”

I didn’t give him time to respond. Club 7 was in my sights, and I needed to focus on my mission ahead. No other woman in my care would be touched without her permission.

“Wait here,” I commanded once he had pulled up to the darkened private employee entrance at the rear of the building. He gave me a two-fingered salute, and I hurried toward the building I’d swore I’d never see again.

To my relief, the code still worked on the keypad. As a precaution, I did not use my own—I chose a generic one we kept for emergency use when an employee got locked out of the building. I slipped into the familiar hallway; its dark, glittering walls now foreign to me as I crept down them towards the staircase to my old office.

I wasn’t used to creeping about like a thief in the night; I commanded this space and everyone within it. It may have been more suitable for Lauchlan to complete this mission on my behalf, given his proclivities.

But no—this burden was mine alone to bear. My birthright made me my parent’s insufferable keeper until such time I made them suffer themselves.

I saw no sign of Rosa near her usual perch by the stairwell; I didn’t have the time or opportunity to search the building and remain unseen. If I were to find an employee and pay them to remain quiet about my appearance, I could verify if the message was true. My arrival was too big of a risk to not leave with answers.

The hallway opened up to a series of doors; all private rooms for our—their—most profile clients. I jiggled the door handle on the first one and found it open. These rooms had automatic locks if the room was in use, so I moved to the next one in sequence. I had no use for empty rooms.

“Mr. Rodriguez!”

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