Page 521 of One More Kiss

I nodded. The unspoken words about her coming around more because of me didn’t go unnoticed.

“Lena didn’t even sit down, Paolo. She set me up on a date." She shook her head. “Although, I think it was more of a fishing expedition.”

“Explain,” I barked, and then inwardly winced when she jumped. “Sorry, please, can you explain?”

“He sat down, and it was weird. He didn’t ask a single question about me. He just wanted to know about my dad plans for his annual trip. It’s a secret vacation my father makes once a month that only Marco and I know about.”

I pulled her back so that I could see her face. “Your dad?”

“Yeah, but whenever I’d try to evade the questions and change the subject, his eyes would flash with irritation or he’d grit his teeth and ask me the same question over and over again.”

“Did he ask other things?” I needed to find out as much as I could.

“He wasonly intent on interrogating me about my dad.”

Fuck. I knew there was something about that asshole that didn’t sit right. He was too smug, too sure of himself. And now I knew why.

He was the mole.

But the question remained: did Lena truly set up the date or Joe pulling strings?

“Lena had to have known what the hell he was up to,” I murmured.

Avery tensed beneath my hands. “She wouldn’t.”

“She would if her father was pulling the strings.”

Avery opened her mouth to protest but something flashed in her eyes. She clamped her mouth shut.

“What?”

She shook her head. “The last time we met up for lunch, she was acting differently. Dating someone in our world is a no-no, Paolo. It could mean our deaths. It’s the ultimate betrayal. But Lena, she’s been so open about her dating someone.”

“Which could mean that the man she’s dating is in the life and her father has set them up.”

Avery wrung her hands together. “What if the man she’s dating is Joe?”

I raised my brows. I hadn’t considered that angle.

“I’m her best friend,” Avery said. “She’d never intentionally do something to hurt me, yet the last two times that we’ve met up, weird shit has happened.”

“You really think she knows about this?”

Avery shrugged. “Before the last time that we met, I’d have said no. No way would she do that. But now, I don’t know. I’d like to think not, but I can’t be certain.”

“No more going to see her, babe, not while this shit is going on.”

She sighed deeply.

“I hate this. Every time my father leaves the house, I’m afraid that it’ll be the last that I see of him.” She glanced away, but not before I saw the deep fear in her eyes. “I hate this world. I’ve always hated it. I’ve wanted to leave, and Dad knows that. I thought his story about a mole was him trying to bring me to heel.”

“It’s not,” I said as placed my hand on the nape of her neck and pulled her closer. “This is real, babe. These fuckers aren’t playing around. They want to bring your father down and they have no problems with taking out innocent people if need be.”

“They’ll end up using me to flush him out if they can’t get to him.”

“Yeah, if they can’t get to your dad, I don’t doubt that they’ll try and take you in hopes of doing a trade.”

“I just want this all to stop. I hate it.”

“We’ll figure it all out and we’ll stop them before they can take anyone else out,” I said.

I just hoped that I could make true on my vow.

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