Page 124 of Kissing the Villain

“What about The Serpents?” Drake asked. “Have they made any progress?”

I nodded. “They found someone connected to Cal Kurti and are working their angle.”

“Such as?” Drake inquired.

“A close American friend of Cal Kurti has a taste for young girls,” I said as I blew out a puff of cigar smoke. “He also has a raging drug addiction. The Serpents are working with our Sicilian friends to exploit that weakness. So far, it seems promising. They got a lead on a safe house that the Kurtis use in Brooklyn. We’ll see how that pans out.”

“What are we going to do?” Finn Cormac asked. “I’m not sitting on my ass, twiddling my thumbs until they bring the fight to us again.”

“I have notifications set up,” Drake said authoritatively. “If anyone lists Alex on the Dark Web, I will know immediately.”

“And if that happens,” Bastian said, “we’re going to have a bloodbath on our hands.”

“Maybe we should temporarily move to a safe house,” Damian suggested. “We don’t need them bringing another war to Devil’s Creek.”

“Let them,” I shot back. “We’re prepared.”

“This is our home,” Drake cut in. “I don’t want that shit brought to my doorstep again. My mom has been a wreck for the past two weeks because of it.”

“It was my front door,” I pointed out. “My house they destroyed.”

“Alex isn’t safe, even at your estate,” Sonny said. “I don’t care how many men you hire.”

I shook my head and sighed. “Since when did all of you turn into a bunch of fucking pussies?”

“It’s the smart play,” Callum Cormac said as he puffed his cigar, blowing rings in front of his face. “We don’t want blood all over the streets of Devil’s Creek. Drake is right. This is where we live. Gunfire will draw a lot of attention from the surrounding towns.”

“Who fucking cares?” I rested my wingtip on my knee and leaned back in the chair, my eyes on Callum. “We own the police, the mayor, the goddamn governor. And we have Senator Marx in our pocket.”

“Kali’s dad has no real power,” Bastian challenged.

“He has enough.”

“We should talk about Kali,” Damian added. “She can help us out with Alex. She wants to come by the house for an assessment.”

I had implanted Kali Marx into Alex’s life for a reason. Kali was a trained psychologist who helped Marcello’s men with their post-traumatic stress disorder. She had a gift with soldiers, so I figured she could help Alex.

“We have a meeting with Carl tomorrow,” I told Damian. “Tell Kali to come over afterward. She can have lunch with Alex at the house.”

He nodded, then removed his phone from his pocket.

“Kali thinks we’re close to unlocking her memories,” Bastian said.

“She’s getting there,” I admitted. “It’s only a matter of time. But she needs to remember what happened to Aiden. He’s the key to everything.”

“Maybe we should do more exposure therapy,” Drake suggested. “Chasing her through the streets of Beacon Bay helped her remember stabbing you.”

“We could take her to the temple,” Sonny said with way too much enthusiasm for my liking. “That might spark something.”

I nodded in agreement. “Let’s get through this meeting with Carl. I have a feeling he’s up to something.”

“Wellington is shady as fuck,” Bastian said. “I don’t trust him.”

“Me neither,” Damian added with a sneer.

The other Knights echoed their sentiments about Carl Wellington. I’d never liked him or trusted him, not even with Alex. She wanted to believe he was her savior, her perfect Pops.

But I knew the real Wellington.

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