Page 150 of The Best of Us

The soft kiss he set there managed to warm my entire body.

“He is your flesh and blood. Of course he was serious.” I sighed, facing Colin on the bed again.

Despite the chaos swirling around us, I was shocked at how calm I felt. Then again, why was I surprised? I had Constantine grounding me.

I shifted around to face him, pulling the door closed behind me in the process.

“You put your stubborn foot down, too, as I recall.” He set one hand on my waist as my back went flush to the bedroom door. “What’d you tell me would happen if I didn’t let you come along?” He lifted his other hand between our close bodies, drawing my chin up with his index finger. “Withhold sex from me, was that it?”

I most definitely didnotsay that. “The fact you can make a joke . . . well, thank you. Even if you’re faking being calm for my benefit, I appreciate it.”

“I’ll never fake anything with you.” He captured my mouth with his, fusing our lips in a hot kiss, officially pulling my focus away from what was left of my worries and kindling a fire inside me.

“Ahem. Sorry to interrupt,” a deep voice came from behind.

My shoulders collapsed as Constantine’s mouth went still against mine, and I had a feeling he was waving him away—ahimI was certain was Hudson.

“Busy.” The word vibrated against my lips as he said it. “Go away.”

“Sebastian and the McGregors are with CarmelloandAurora at his hotel in Dublin.”

His words hit like ice water, deluging my desire and banishing it to the ether. They must have done the same for Constantine because he immediately lifted his head, stealing his mouth from mine to face his brother-in-law.

The hall was too narrow for the two of us to stand side by side, so Constantine stood at an angle, making space for me to look at Hudson, ensuring I was part of the conversation as well.

“Is that a good or bad thing?” I took hold of his hand as Izzy strode up behind her husband.

“Both-ish?” Not the most encouraging response from her.

Constantine had eased the burden of my mental stress load, only for his sister to bring it back and double down, electrifying my worries.

“Where’s Lennon? Aurora has to know where the mercenaries have her by now.” Constantine tightened his grip on my hand. “Unless you’re about to tell me the theory we confirmed an hour ago, that she’s behind all of this, is wrong.”

“Carmello told Sebastian what we already knew—Daniel’s his son, and they began talking around Christmastime after his wife died. And it was only over encrypted messages. Aside from telling Aurora she had a half brother, he wasn’t ready for anyone else to know about Daniel,” she clarified. “After someencouragementby Emilia, Aurora finally admitted her father told her about Daniel, and she’d started talking to her brother as well over an encrypted chat app. She befriended Daniel and made him feel like he could trust her. You know, the sibling-he-never-had-and-always-wanted kind of thing.”

“With plans to sabotage the kid like we assumed,” Hudson said bitterly,

Izzy continued with her explanation. “She confessed that Daniel had told her about Lennon dating Colin and his jealousy. Daniel already knew about The League at this point. His father had told him. So, when Daniel mentioned to Aurora that Colin’s uncle worked at The Sapphire Hotel, she devised a plan and a promise to him. She offered to handle Colin for him, but she’d need a favor in return.”

“Set up the meeting with the Sicilians to abduct Colin,” Constantine said in a low voice. “Did Daniel have any clue what he was getting himself into? What about Jamie?”

“She only told Daniel he’d earn his father’s approval by helping her, which was all he wanted. Well, all he wanted aside from Lennon.” She continued, “As we guessed, she threatened to kill Jamie’s dad if he didn’t help out as well.”

“As we suspected, Daniel never gave anyone the heads-up he’d been detained by us before the rave. He was too scared,” Hudson added. “Just crossed his fingers the mafia would handle us for him.”

“So, what I’m hearing is we’re right,” Constantine said under his breath. “Why haven’t you answered my question and told me where Lennon is?”

Izzy lifted her eyes to the ceiling and whispered, “Because Aurora doesn’t know.”

“What do you mean? Didn’t she hire those mercenaries when her first plan to get Colin failed?” Constantine grumbled.

Izzy glanced at her husband before turning back to us. “She didn’t hire them.”

I frowned. “Then who did?”

Izzy exhaled, shaking her head. “Aurora said no one was ever supposed to get hurt. She just wanted to set up her brother, then be the one to help find Colin, preventing Sebastian from even considering the trade.”

She took a second to catch her breath, so I took that time to catch mine.

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