Page 77 of Fate and Family

“Well, I’m working for you now, so that tells you everything you need to know.”

Declan’s hair is graying, and the lines around his eyes speak more about his experience than his resume. “He’s an asshole, never liked him. No fucking field work either, all behind a deskfor his twenty years.” He points his milkshake at me. “Not like us.”

I nod. There were lots of reasons I didn’t like Marshall—his casual misogyny, his holier-than-thou attitude, and his cologne. But I didn’t realize he had never been in the field.

“I’ve been trying to get you on my team for a minute now.”

“Really?” The swell of pride bursts inside of me.

He takes a sip of milkshake. “Hell yeah. You’ve got great instincts. How else would you have gotten out of Russia the way you did?” He dips his head, realizing what he said. “I lost my whole team to a cartel raid, against the Sotelo family. It was like they were waiting for us. But how?” He presses his stomach. “Took some lead right here, almost didn’t make it.”

I know how he feels. “It’s the survivor’s guilt that keeps me up at night.” I take a sip of my milkshake and my insides freeze. “It’s like I need to keep punishing myself for living.”

He nods. “Probably why you kept working for Marshall.”

I laugh. “Karmic justice.” We both eat for a few minutes without saying anything.

“Do you replay that night in your head over and over again? Looking at it from a million different angles, perspectives,” he asks as he watches over my shoulder toward the door.

I scoff. “All the time.”Except when I’m with Dimitri.

He leans forward and whispers, “And do you come to the same conclusion every time?”

Nodding, I admit the same circle pattern always emerges. “Things can’t be trusted.”

He touches his nose.

My late night conspiracy theories are right, and my years of sacrifice, worth it!

“You ever heard of the Four Families?” he asks, and it takes every ounce of my self-control to keep my face neutral.

“Yeah, different criminal organizations linked together through a shared allyship,” I say while taking another bite of my sandwich. Crumbles explode everywhere. Stupid crunchy sandwiches.

Declan smirks and nods. “They aren’t alone. There are other groups who have the same alliances.” He leans in closer. “And The Deviant runs one of them.”

Shit. I almost choke on my ham and cheese. “And the Four Families are on his shit list because they won’t play nice and flood the streets with Majesty.”

Declan nods. “Their nobility could be the end of their line.”

My brain starts swirling, making rapid connections. “It can’t just be The Deviant that links the other crime families. He would need a team or an associate or something.”

“There’s one name that keeps coming up in all my investigations of the cartel, and it’s closely linked to The Deviant. The Spider.”

My stomach drops and I gasp until reality sneaks itself in. “Let’s face it, The Spider is a pretty common name amongst criminals… were they taking a shower and had an unwanted eight-legged visitor and that’s the fucking scariest thing they can think of?”

Declan laughs and points at me. “What if that fucker jumps on your naked body? That is a completely reasonable fear.”

“Fair.” I laugh into my milkshake that’s now more milk than ice cream. “Good point. But I’m looking at The Spider too. Probably not the same guy, but he is moving Majesty.”

We’re both quiet for a few minutes, and from what I can tell about Declan, he’s probably trying to forge the same connections I am. Is it a coincidence? Or is there something here we’re both missing?

Declan sucks down the last of his milkshake. “Hmm, my Spider has connections to the Sotelo cartel and the Smirnov family.”

Smirnov. My stomach twists and I want to scream. “I want to find him.”

Declan raises an eyebrow at me. “Then let’s do it. I’ve got one year left until I retire and I want The Spider behind bars.”

Or dead and buried.

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