Page 9 of Vow to Protect
“Right. I have somewhere to be. I gotta run. Nearly didn’t get here at all.” Malakai stops in front of me, nodding once in a brief greeting. A bloodied gash is cut above his left eyebrow and nipped together with sutures. His eyes are electric blue, like he stuck his fingers in the plug socket or swallowed radiation.
Alexander sighs. “Looks like all you fuckers have somewhere better to be. If we’re not careful, the elders will think we’re slacking and shit on us from their retired heights.”
“We’re honoured you made it, Kai.” I throw him a smirk. He rarely comes up for air. We all know why, but we never speak about it. “Trouble?” I glare at the wound. It’s new, maybe a day or two old.
“Always.” He collects a whiskey and slugs the whole thing in one long gulp.
“Brett was asking about Blaine Casey. You’d know more about him than I would. He’s on your radar, right?” The smooth sound of liquid meeting ice makes my mouth water.
Light sparkles on the cut glass settled at Malakai’s mouth, guarding his snarl. “Why the fuck do you want to know about him for?” Calloused knuckles look worn and well used. He lowers the glass and teases the dark bristles sprouting from his chin. “He’s a waste of skin, playing a dangerous game. You definitely don’t want to get into bed with him, Brett.”
I push off the desk, away from the smell of vintage whiskey. “I don’t want to fuck the guy. I just want to know more about him. Like where he lives. Who works for him? Where he hangs out. The usual shit.”
If I’m honest with myself, I’m intrigued by the guy who everyone seems to hate. If Raen really is Natalie’s sister, then Blaine Casey murdered Tilly’s mother, and maybe I can seek some sort of retribution. Perhaps I can help Raen and feel less fucking helpless in the process.
Malakai glowers like a rain cloud preparing for thunder. I recognise his irrational temper mount, akin to my own. “I know enough about the fucker without having to investigate him. He uses women to do all the drug handling in his clubs, among other things.” He nudges the empty glass closer to Alexander, nodding expectantly. “The asshole is a drug baron with low hung balls that’ll get blasted off one of these days.” Malakai runs his tongue over straight white teeth. “That battle isn’t yours. We’ve been breaking bread with the guy for a while now. He owns brothels, strip joints and runs other shit you don’t even want to wrap your head around. Blaine would stab his own grandmother in the eyeballs if she went against him. And to look at the fucker, you’d think he was a model of society.”
“Right,” I mutter, feeling a weird pang in my rib cage. I sense war in Malakai’s manor and welcome the burn in my belly.
“What’s this all about, Brett? Did you come up against him?” Malakai tips his tumbler and sucks in slowly, trying to let the whiskey soothe his permanent state of high alert.
“A woman approached me last night.” I recall the challenge in her temperament and the silent sheen of her eyes, like secrets danced only for her. “She gave me a sob story about some guy, Blaine, who murdered Natalie, who she claims is her sister.”
Alexander exhales in a grunt. “The stripper who dumped her kid on your doorstep is the stranger's sister?” He knows the score, even though I seldom speak of her to these guys. “And you believe this random woman who appeared from fucking thin air? Did you check her arms for needle marks?”
“Tilly ismykid,” I correct. “And no, I wasn’t in the mood to yank up her sleeves, for fuck’s sake. She was waiting outside my apartment, talking about Tilly’s allegedly dead mother.” And making me feel things I haven’t felt in months.
“How do you know she’s not an imposter? Some druggy with your name and an elaborate story, looking for a payout to fund her habit?” Malakai snaps, folding an arm over his wide chest and resting a hand on the crook of his opposite arm.
“There’s a look about her. It’s her mouth, or her nose, or something familiar.” I shrug. “A vague resemblance, only she’s…” I stop myself from saying it. I don’t need to dwell on my complicated reaction to her or those eyes of hers, uniquely guarded yet brimming with fortitude. “What I need is for this guy to dig about.” I motion to Alexander. “Can you check if there were any fires or unidentified bodies in Barcelona?”
“If she is Natalie’s sister, why the fuck would you care what she does with Blaine? Natalie was never around to raise Tilly, even we know that, Brett,” Malakai fires out with vicious sharpness. “Did she ever mention a sister? I’m guessing she didn’t, or you wouldn’t have the sniffer dog out.” He nods to Alexander, who’s furiously typing on a laptop.
“Raen hunted me down.” Saying her name aloud makes this all so real. “She said Natalie told her to find me. That it was some big request. The story would be fucking hilarious if it didn’t feel real.” Initially it sounded like an elaborate trick, but after dwelling on it through the night, I’m not so sure. “She didn’t have any identification or solid proof of her connection to Natalie. Blaine torched her apartment to hide the body and destroyed all her belongings.”
“And you think she could be telling the truth? Sounds plausible.” Alexander looks up from the screen with an odd squint. “We’ve heard plenty of bullshit stories over the years, Brett. Be careful you’re not falling for lies because you’re hurting. I’m running a check as we speak. We’ll know if her story adds up any minute now.”
I sigh, eyeing the amber nectar swirl in the bottom of Malakai’s glass. “I have a nagging suspicion she’s in trouble. The whole thing isn’t sitting well with me.”
“What's this got to do with Blaine?” Malakai interjects, narrowing his eyes. “Was he outside your apartment too?”
“No.” At least I don't think so. “She asked me to help her get away from him.”
Malakai drains his liquor and slams the empty glass on the polished surface. “Back away from this, Brett. She’s not your responsibility. You can’t afford a crusade for a woman who’s already dead. The minute she met that man, she signed her own death certificate. Forget it.”
“She could be Tilly’s family,” I add sharply. Doesn’t that make her important?
“Mightbe,” Alexander reminds me.
Malakai leans in. “You’reTilly’s family. And maybe this woman knows all about the eligible bachelor with a broken heart.” His voice lowers to a raspy whisper. “You owe this woman nothing, and Tilly everything. I’ve worked too hard with those bastards for you to blow it up in my face, Brett. He’s on my hit list, and he’ll get what’s coming to him eventually.”
A headache spreads across my brow. I’m not sure if it’s the need to down the whiskey that’s too close for comfort, or if it is the adrenaline of preempted war. “She said he might come for Tilly, which puts him onmyhit list. If what she says is real, then he butchered Natalie right in front of her. I know for a fact you would take the fucker out for that alone. Natalie had her issues, but she didn’t deserve torture.” I rub my temple.
“Here’s something.” Alexander cocks his brow. “City fire left apartment block in ruins,” he reads a caption out loud.
“When?”
“Over two weeks ago. I think your visitor is telling the truth.” Alexander shakes his head. “And if she’s with Casey, she’s fucked.”
