His gaze was pure interest. Not a hint of deception that I could see… but who was to say he hadn’t practiced that look just like I had?
“So, when you’re not visiting them, you live alone?” He was fishing for something, but it felt more like casual curiosity than an investigation.
I shook my head. “No, I have Stanley.”
Where the fuck had that come from? Not even changing his name?
Kai’s brows hiked. “Boyfriend?”
A laugh escaped me before I could catch it, then I felt obligated to explain. “Stanley is a plant. But he’s been my only roommate for so long that he’s sort of developed a personality in my head. My friends are so used to it I don’t even notice when people assume he’s a person.”
Kai grinned, and goddamn, that grin was sexy. “Stanley the plant? I like it. I mean… it’s a step further than being a cat lady, but it’s cute anyway.”
“Fuck you,” I muttered, fighting a smile and forcing my mood to sour. “Not that it matters now, anyway. Janet and Sarah will assume I’m dead, and Stanley will shrivel up with no one to water him. So, thanks for fucking my whole damn life up, Kai.”
He frowned at me. Then gave a small shrug. “If you’re waiting on an apology from me, Danielle, you’ll be waiting a long damn time.” He got to his feet, peering down at me with a hard, unreadable expression. “Then again, that’s the one thing you have plenty of now.”
He walked away, leaving me once again sitting on the end of a jetty and reeling from his whiplash mood changes. If that motherfucker was playing me… he was a damn expert.
30
T he absolute last place on earth that I wanted to be right now was exactly where I was. Fucking Shadow Grove again . About as far away from Italy—where my best intel told me Danny was being held—as I could be. But when the email came through, I couldn’t ignore it. My loyalty would always be to the Guild above all else.
So here I was, back in motherfucking Shadow Grove of all goddamn places, tracking down an idiot who thought he’d switch from Guild service to nice, cushy gang life. Lazy shit. He might have been left right the hell alone if he hadn’t started running his mouth about Guild business.
Unluckily for him, the powers that ran Shadow Grove had no desire to land in a war with the Guild, and now here I was.
“You again?” the pint-sized firecracker of a girl sitting at the counter blurted out as I walked through the door to the cake and coffee shop.
I quirked a brow. “And you. Shouldn’t you be at school?”
She shot me back a sassy grin. “It’s Saturday, dipshit. You here to kill someone? Nadia says you’re part of the Guild.”
I gave a quick blink of surprise, then shifted my gaze to the old woman behind the coffee machine. She’d been listening in and just gave me a shrug. “I’ve got a good memory for faces.” She turned back to the little girl. “I told you to keep your trap shut though, little madam. Just wait until I tell—”
“Nadia!” the girl exclaimed. “You wouldn’t. Come on, I just asked a question. Look, see?” She turned back to me and mimed zipping her lips. “See? No more questions. This never happened. But also, is that a Nighthawk VIP?”
I snorted a laugh and pulled my jacket over my concealed weapon. Fucking kid was a weapons recognition prodigy. If I hadn’t promised to steer clear of Hades’s family, I’d be recommending the little spitfire for recruitment.
“I just came to get a coffee,” I told the old woman, Nadia. She was the owner and a grandmother, but also so much more. “Takeaway, please.”
She gave me a flash of a smile and a nod. “Coming right up.”
I’d come to her shop for two reasons: one, because it was the best coffee in this curious, crime-run city; and two, because she was located within the territory run by a local gang, the Shadow Grove Reapers. It was within that gang that my chatty former mercenary was hiding.
“Why always this town?” I muttered to myself, eyeing the patrons and pointedly ignoring the red-haired girl staring at me. As much as it suited my curiosity to visit Shadow Grove and check in on how Layla’s little brother was doing, it was better for everyone involved if I weren’t here.
Just the fact that I’d had to take this job at all, that there was no one closer… it was concerning. There had been a lot of deaths on the Guild payroll recently, some of which I’d admit I played a part in. But not all of them. Lots had been written up as jobs gone wrong, just like Danny’s death would have been if she hadn’t escaped in Prague.
“There you are,” Nadia said, placing a large takeaway cup in front of me. “On the house.”
I dipped my head in a nod. The version of Leon I played here was a nice but shy hacker, so I should really keep that act running. “Thanks. Nice to see you again.”
The old woman gave me a shrewd look. “The man you’re here for is usually over at Scruffy Murphy’s at this time of day. You’ll find him playing pool.”
Nadia—the owner of the coffee shop—was grandmother to one of Shadow Grove’s criminal kingpins. Her shop was deep within Reaper territory, and there were three good reasons I always popped by for a visit while in town. Her coffee was excellent, her cakes were to die for, and she knew everything .
Offering her a bland smile, I sipped my coffee. “I’m just here for the coffee. But thanks.” Unable to help myself, I shot a glare at the kid, who was still staring. “Stay out of trouble, Diana.”
It really was good coffee, and I wasn’t much for vices. Scruffy Murphy’s, Nadia said. That wasn’t too far from the coffee shop, so I took my time drinking my coffee while I walked over there.
I finished it just before I reached the gang-owned bar, and dropped the cup into the trash before letting myself in. The sign said they wouldn’t be open for another couple of hours, but I never was one for following rules .
“Hey, you!” a bearded man in leathers called out. “We’re closed.”
I ignored him, heading straight for the back of the bar where several pool tables were set up. A dozen rough-looking gangsters stood around, either drinking beer or playing pool. My target stuck out like a sore thumb. He was too clean-cut for this crowd.
“Hey, I’m talking to you!” the bearded guy bellowed, grabbing my shoulder.
“Whoa, Cuddles, back down,” another man exclaimed, standing up from the table he’d been drinking at. “Seriously, big guy, step away.”
I eyed the huge, meaty hand on my shoulder, then glanced up at Cuddles . “You heard the boss,” I murmured in a low, dangerous voice. “Back off.”
The big guy glanced from me to his boss—a barely twenty-year-old man named Roach—then peeled his paw off my shoulder.
“My apologies,” Cuddles rumbled.
I ignored him, turning back to meet my target’s frightened eyes. “Brenton. Let’s go.”
The defected mercenary shook his head. He looked to be maybe a year or two younger than me. Maybe Danny’s age, twenty-eight. Shit, why was I thinking about her in the middle of a kill order? She was quite literally haunting my every waking moment—and sleeping, for that matter.