I was still staring at the photo of and Elliot when Tony arrived in his SUV, tires screeching in the parking garage. He was out of the car before it even stopped, face chiseled from anger.
"Get in the car. Now!"
"Tony, what-"
"Now, Katherine." His hand was on my arm, firmly but not painfully, already guiding toward the passenger seat. "We’re going to your apartnt. You’re going to pack. And then we’re getting you sowhere safe."
His commanding tone should’ve pissed off. Instead, it frightened . Because Tony Marvin wasn’t easily intimidated, and at the mont, he appeared to have seen the face of death itself.
Twenty minutes later, we were in my small Brooklyn apartnt, with Tony pacing like a caged predator while I tried to process what he’d just shown . Photos. Lots of them, from two weeks’ worth.
"Soone’s been following before we even had dinner?" My voice shook despite my best attempts to remain calm.
"Before I made my proposition at the club." Tony stopped pacing to face now. "Whoever it is, they’ve been after you the mont you entered my world. The question now is why?"
"Maybe because I’m involved with you." I carefully laid the photos on the table, my hands shaking. "Isn’t that what you said? That being with you makes a target?"
"It’s different." He pulled out his phone to show more pictures - security footage taken in his warehouse, the person he’d seen. "There is soone in my company who is doing this to you. And they’ve been watching you even longer than I have."
The implications made my stomach turn. "You think soone in your family-"
"I don’t think. I know." His jaw clenched. "And until I know who, I need you out of the city. You and Elliot. I have a house in the Hamptons, which is completely secure, with its own security detail. You’ll be safe there while I take care of this."
"Handle this?" I stood, anger mingling with fear at last. "You an while you’re off to war with whoever is threatening . While you’re in danger."
"That’s not your concern."
"The hell it isn’t." The words spurted out of in anger. "You can’t just make decisions for , Tony, concerning my own life. You can’t just decide to pack off to sowhere ’safe’ while you take on dangerous work."
"I’m trying to protect you-"
"By keeping secrets? By not telling that I’ve been under surveillance for weeks?" I stepped forward, poking his chest with one finger. "You promised honesty. You promised no more secrets. And yet you’re here, making decisions about my safety without even consulting with ."
There was sothing there in his eyes - frustration, maybe, or respect. "What is it you want from , Katherine? That I’m terrified? That the thought of soone hurting you makes want to tear this city apart brick by brick? You want honesty? Here’s the truth: I can’t do my job if I’m worried about you. I can’t think strategically if every decision is clouded by the fear that you’ll pay the price for my choices."
"Then maybe you shouldn’t have gotten involved with in the first place."
The words hung between us, like a grenade with the safety removed. His expression went entirely blank, and I imdiately regretted the spite behind it.
"Maybe I shouldn’t have," he whispered. "But I did. And now we both have to live with the consequences."
Before I could even think to reply to that, my apartnt door swung open, and Elliot entered with his headphones looped around his neck and his backpack across his shoulder. He was taken aback at the sight of Tony’s aggressive stance and my defensive posture.
"You’re arguing," Elliot pointed out. "Katherine’s heart rate is elevated. Mr. Marvin’s jaw muscles are tensed. Conflict resolution in progress."
Despite everything, I almost smiled. "Elliot, this is Tony. Tony, my brother Elliot."
"We already t briefly at the park." Tony’s expression changed in an instant - the dangerous edge temporarily tempered. "It’s good to see you again, Elliot."
"Is it?" Elliot put his backpack on the floor and went to the kitchen to pour himself a glass of juice, acting out his routine with chanical precision. "You’re behind the vandalism of Katherine’s car, the threatening pictures, and the stress Katherine has been experiencing for the last seventy-two hours."
"Elliot-" I began.
"It’s fine." Tony leaned against the wall, observing my brother with what seed to be genuine curiosity rather than annoyance. "He’s right. I am the reason."
"Then logically, removing yourself from Katherine’s life would eliminate the threat." Elliot drank his juice in precisely three swallows, as he always did. "Unless the threat has sohow beco independent of your presence. And if the surveillance tiline Katherine showed is any indication, it would seem the targeting began before any aningful relationship."
Tony’s eyes sharpened. "What are you getting at?"
"Katherine showed the picture from the park. "It was taken on Saturday, the 21st of October." Elliot pulled out his phone and scrolled through with ease. "But Katherine went to your club on Wednesday, the 18th of October; that’s three days before. If soone was following her by the 21st, that’s remarkably fast response ti for a threat assessnt."
My blood ran cold. "Unless they were already watching before I even went to the club."
"Exactly." Elliot locked eyes with Tony. "Which ans either you’re not the driving force behind the threat, or soone anticipated Katherine’s approaching you before it occurred."
Tony had gone still, that kind of stillness that preceded violence. "Soone knew she was coming."
"But how?" I tried to move to sit down before my legs gave out. "I’d only just considered approaching you on my own volition. How would soone know?"
"Your boss... Richard Blackwood assigned you the Marvin account." Tony’s voice was deadly calm. "Who else knew about it?"
"Just Richard, the senior partners, and-" I stopped, my stomach turning. "Marcus Davidson. He’s been wanting my job! He knew about the assignnt before I did."
"Davidson." Tony was already reaching for his phone. "Vincent, I need every bit of information on Marcus Davidson with Premier Financial - employnt record, finances, ties to his family. I need it like yesterday."
He went over to the window, still talking in muffled tones. Elliot observed him with great interest.
"He’s more controlled than I would’ve expected," my brother said. "Reports of mafia bosses indicate they’re emotionally unstable." "He’s already calculating. Being strategic."
"He doesn’t want to frighten you."
"Why would his authentic behavior scare ?" Elliot tilted his head. "Fear response is triggered by perceived threat. Mr. Marvin is directing his threat response away from us and toward external enemies. That’s optimal protective behavior."
Sotis my brother was able to control my emotions in ways that no therapy session possibly could.
Tony returned, his expression grim. "Davidson has a cousin who works in the Torrino family businesses. Junior position, but enough connection to pass information."
"So Davidson told the Torrinos that I was in pursuit of your account," I said. "They saw an opening to co after you through ."
"That is the theory." Tony crouched in front of , his hands on my knees, his green eyes intense. "Which ans it is not random violence but planned. It’s calculated, and it began the minute you were assigned to my account."
"Actually, Katherine received the assignnt on the 17th of October. A day before she was to visit your club for the first ti."
The words hit like a physical blow. We were all stunned in silence. "Soone knew about the assignnt before Katherine ca to ," Tony said in that frightening calm way of his. "Which ans there’s a mole in Katherine’s bank who has been giving the Torrinos information, and they set Katherine up from the very start."
I studied the photos scattered across my coffee table. At the picture of myself entering Tony’s building. At the surveillance that was recording my every move.
"It was never about us feeling sothing for each other," I whispered. "This was always a trap."
"Yes." Tony rose to his feet, and the man I saw was the ruthless mafia boss everyone in the world feared. "And now we’re going to find out who set it and make them regret every goddamn second of it."
Reviews
All reviews (0)