Page 58 of Keeping Kasey
Three seconds during which we all come to the same conclusion.
“If Kasey’s work is what’s spooking them, they’re either more paranoid than we thought, or they somehow know what she’s really doing here,” James surmises.
“Not necessarily,” Matteo answers, sitting beside him. “Hiring a woman is already out of the norm. That alone could’ve been enough to spook them.”
Something about his tone grates on my nerves, and I have to take a second to remind myself he isn’t saying anything I disagree with. Still, his irritation when referring to Kasey bothers me a hell of a lot more than it should.
I sit behind my desk, reading Damon’s message as it comes through.
Damon:Just landed. We’ll be back at the manor in an hour.
Every deviant thing I’ve imagined doing to Kasey over the last forty-eight hours flashes through my mind, and all I want is to get back to the manor.
But I can’t.
Not until we handle this.
“We need to be ready for another one,” Matteo says, rubbing a hand over his beard.
I shake my head. “There is no way of knowing where to put our assets to reduce the likelihood of another attack.”
“So, we’re going to sit on our hands and do nothing?”
“What do you suggest?” James asks.
“More security on every run, pickup, drop-off, and meeting until these bastards are found.”
“And where exactly is this extra manpower coming from?” I ask. “We can’t pull everyone from their stations on the off-chance that more security would make a difference. And suddenly increasing security would just spook these guys more.”
“We tell them it’s a temporary arrangement until Kasey is finished upgrading security,” Matteo suggests.
“Which draws more attention to her and why she’s here in the first place,” I say in a low tone that acts as a warning.
James pulls in a long breath, and I recognize the look he gives me as a sign that I won’t like what he’s about to say. “There is one way we could increase security without raising suspicion.”
“How?” Matteo asks.
James stands, walks to the map, and runs his finger over a section of our territory in the heart of the city. “Romano has an army to lend if certain conditions are met.”
“And bycertain conditions, you mean I marry his daughter,” I deadpan.
“If we move forward with a proposal, it would allow us to utilize their men to reinforce security measures without stretching our soldiers thin. It also gives us the excuse of ‘joining our families,’which would mitigate any suspicion for increased security.”
Matteo nods, approval replacing his irritation. “It would be a huge boost to morale for our boss to settle down and have heirs.”
I curse under my breath.
I hate that they’re using a family crisis to push the Romano girl on me.
I hate even more that they have a point.
Marrying Isabella gives us the Romano resources and a plausible excuse for using them. Combined with the need for heirs, my reasons fornotwanting to marry Isabella seem selfish.
I’m not sure I have a choice anymore.
A lump the size of a baseball lodges in my throat, and I stare down at my phone, like something there will give me a reason to push this off.
But the phone doesn’t light up, and I don’t have a reason to say no.
