Page 5 of Last Hand

He waits. He’s not sure I’ll do it—he’s betting that I’m too in love, too afraid to lose her, to call his bluff.

He’s not entirely wrong.

“You’ll have your shipment,” I say.

Milo shifts beside me, sharp and surprised.

“If I even suspect you’ve lied before I get confirmation she’s alive?—”

“You’ll kill me,” Mikhail finishes. “Yes, I know. But Leone… this isn’t about hurting her.”

“No,” I say flatly. “It’s about humiliating me.”

“Exactly. It’s a test of character.”

“I’m not doing anything until I hear her voice.”

Mikhail laughs. “That can be arranged. For now, sit tight. You’ll get your proof. And then you’ll get me that shipment.”

The line goes dead.

Milo curses and slams his fist against the table.

“You can’t give him that shipment. You know that, right? The Cartel?—”

“I know.”

“Then what the fuck are we doing, Leone?”

I rise slowly.

“We’re doing what we always do.”

I look him in the eyes.

“We let him think he’s winning.” Milo curses and falls back on the sofa. His hands grip his hair when the door opens.

Rocco steps in, pale and limping.

“You should be resting still,” I tell him as he clutches his side.

“I don’t need rest, I’m fine.” I shake my head at him and push up from my chair and stand.

“Come on then, we are leaving,” I snap, unable to sit here and wait for everyone else to find intel. I have to do something, and right now, I need to go see my father.

TWO

Rebecca

My mind wanders as I peer out the window, trying to figure out how to get Fallon out of this mess. Everything I did was to keep them safe from my mistake; even so, history seems to have repeated itself. Watching Mikhail, my heart twists painfully in my chest at what he took from me. It was so much more than he could ever fathom. To rip a mother from her children is one of the cruelest things, yet a mother having to force herself to forget her children in order to save them is a different type of torture.

I was twenty-one. Strung out. Broke. Emma was barely three weeks old and already running fevers that the hospital couldn’t explain. I needed money. Fast.

I knew a man, Mikhail. Mid-level drug dealer. Paranoid. Brutal. Careless. He’d stashed a batch of gear in a safe house where I used to score. When faced with death, people do unimaginable things. Only I wasn’t scared of my own; I was scared for Emma, so I took it.

I thought I’d get away with it. That he would never suspect me, some cracked out junkie he hadn’t seen in months.

God, I was so stupid. Emma was getting sicker, and Nathan’s health insurance barely scratched the surface. He was working three jobs—day, night, graveyard shifts—just to afford the medications that kept her barely alive.

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