Page 187 of Push

I firmed my mouth. “I…” My fists balled in my lap. “I’m going to kill him!”

“Okay, our starting point probably shouldn’t be murder—”

“Like hell!” I shot off the couch and pitched the pillow across the room. “How dare Liam interfere in our lives like this? The nerve of him!” I stomped across the floor to the balcony doors, but there was no time to admire the twinkling skyline of theharbor. I spun around and marched back toward the kitchenette. “Who the hell does he think he is?”

“Gwen, you’re pacing.”

“I’m thinking.” I paused and huffed out a breath. “Liam was shady when we were kids and constantly dodging the cops, but… I dunno… His name never popped up when I worked in prosecutions, and I haven’t seen anything like that working for him. He’s answering emails and running trades at two in the morning. When would he have time to be involved in organized crime?”

“Maybe it’s laundering, like my dad?”

I shook my head. “Insane amounts of money fly in and out of the hedge fund, but Liam and Elias cross everytand dot everyi. Everything’s legit, or I’d be out of there in a heartbeat.”

“What about the other guy Liam mentioned?”

“The Widowmaker?” I snorted, my eyes rolling to the ceiling. “He’s an urban legend. A boogeyman used to scare people into submission. No one’s ever seen him.”

“Or maybe”—Toby wiggled his eyebrows—“everyone who has seen him is sleeping with the fishes.”

I tried shooting him an unimpressed look but only ended up laughing. “I think you’ve been watching too many old movies on the pay-per-view channel.” My fingers drummed impatiently on the countertop. “Believe me, Tobes. When witnesses started disappearing in the Bankstown case, Wayne’s team chased down every lead, and sure, there were whispers about a rogue enforcer, but there wasn’t a shred of evidence. Our boogeyman doesn’t exist.”

My head fell back, and I growled with frustration. Why were there more questions and never enough answers?

Toby patted his knee. “Come ’ere, gorgeous.”

I slunk back to the couch and flopped into Toby’s lap. Strong arms wrapped around me. He smoothed back my hair, and a kiss landed on my cheek.

“We’re going to get through this,” he said. “And we’re going to figure out Liam’s game.”

“What if—”

A gentle finger landed on my lips to stop me from voicing any more doubts. “We will,” Toby insisted. “I’ve got your back until the end. But if you give the word, I’ll hike up my big boy socks and head back to that strip club and give your brother a talking to.” He kissed the crook of my neck. “Eyes closed, of course.”

Gwen

Liam, you can’t avoid me forever.

Call me.

Liam had left all my messages on read. Toby had tried calling him, too. Nothing. Work emails were blowing up my phone, so I knew my brother was online somewhere. Was I giving up? Hell no. It was time to change strategy.

My Monday morning had started like clockwork—yoga, sipping my coffee while Marnie made goo-goo eyes at Romeo, and then back to the hotel to hang with my boys before heading to my true destination.

Arms swinging, striding purposefully down the city streets, I was on a mission. Too bad my shadow was going to ruin the element of surprise.

Romeo strolled up beside me at the traffic crossing. “Where are you going now, Signora Sullivan?”

“For a walk.”

“Where?”

“Here and there.”

“You like to keep me guessing?”

“I’m fun like that.”

A smirk danced on Romeo’s lips when he followed me to work. He took the rolled magazine out of his back pocket, flopped on the lobby couch, and blew me a kiss goodbye as the elevator doors closed.

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