Page 59 of Darkest Kiss

"Don't worry about it. You won't have the time to do anything with the answer."

He fires. The shot goes wide because his hand's shaking and he's not really aiming. I let him have the one.

Then I'm on him before he can reset, and take the gun out of his grip like lifting keys off a drunk. "You won't need this."

I tuck it into my waistband. Behind me Hale's voice is dry. "You good?"

"Give us a few minutes."

"Right outside the door." He backs out.

Andreas is crawling now, which is undignified, and I let him, because I'm in no hurry. I take off my watch and set it on the desk so I don't ruin it. There's a clean version of this and a slow one. Ransom would prefer the clean one.

This isn't going to be the clean one.

"You," Andreas spits, getting his back to the desk. "You killed my brother. You killed Leo."

"Leo earned it the same way you did." I push my sleeves up. "You hurt my girl."

"What girl?" Smooth as anything. The man doesn't even blink.

"Noemi Caru⁠—"

A secret panel swings open behind me.

I know before I turn. I know it in my spine, the way you know a step's missing in the dark the second before you start to fall. The air in the room changes. Andreas looks past me and he smiles.

I turn.

Kathleen has Noemi by the hair. A pistol sits under my girl's jaw, pressed into the soft place below her ear. There is a swipe of blood on her neck, enough to make Beast snarl with fury. But it's a fine spray pattern. I don’t think it’s hers.

“Look who I’ve brought!” Kathleen says in a singsong voice. When I move toward them, she tuts, “Ah ah ah. Not a step further.”

My eyes don’t leave the blood on Noemi’s neck. I can’t get a full breath with her here. Noemi wasn’t left with just anyone, so it would make a sick kind of sense that the only way Kathleen got her here was by going through them. I think that blood might belong to one of the guards that were in the SUV with her.

The whole room stills. Every plan I made drops out of my head at once. Andreas is forgotten on the floor behind me. There's a gun on Noemi and I can't take a single step without ending her.

Noemi's eyes lock on mine. She looks more excited than apologetic, the crazy woman. She looks as though her mind is already working, the way she gets right before she does something I won't be able to stop.

Take the woman's arm off, Beast snarls. He throws himself at the door inside me hard enough to make my teeth ache. Do it now.

For once I shove back against him with everything I have. He won't be careful about the gun. He'd tear through Kathleen without a second thought. So I hold the door shut.

I've done it so far to keep him from ravishing Noemi. Now, it might be to keep a bullet out of her aunt.

"Who are you?" Kathleen's voice is warm. Bitter, like a too-sweet sugar substitute. "The shadow on the corner. Are you with the King crew?"

"Let her go." I tilt my head, trying to take her measure. "She’s not part of this.”

"There's no price left, sweetheart. Your people put my face on the news this morning." She smiles, tightening her grip on Noemi so that she squirms. "We're past selling now. We're settling up."

"I don’t understand." Noemi's voice comes out high, stressed. "What could you possibly be trying to get out of this, Kathleen? That man murdered Uncle Marc."

"Oh, honey. Surely you see by now." Kathleen plays with a lock of Noemi’s hair, then yanks it, grinning at her reaction. “Marc was just playing at power. Andreas has it already.”

Noemi's face changes, a sudden understanding blossoming on her face.

"The last time we ate at Nonna’s.” She laughs, shaking her head. “I can’t believe I didn’t see it. You never got over Grandma giving Mom the bookstore."