I look up at his somber face and somehow find comfort in his solemn tone.
This isn’t a man who kills indiscriminately and has no care for the value of human life. He actually probably understands that value more than anyone, because he knows how it feels to pull the trigger and end it.
“I believe you.” I set the coffee mug on the counter and pick up the paper to my left. The one with the headline about the girl who was held captive by a deranged man. “I would’ve killed this bastard myself if I’d had the chance.”
His icy expression melts a few degrees.
“I’m not just saying that. I mean it.”
“I believe you.” He echoes my words from a few moments before.
For almost a minute, we stare at each other in silence, and I’m not certain what to say next. Thankfully, Kane speaks first, changing the subject.
“What time do you need to be at work?”
I glance at the clock on the oven. “As soon as I can. I’m usually there before anyone else.”
“And you stay later than everyone else.”
It’s not a question, but I nod anyway. “Usually.”
“You’re going to have to cut your hours shorter this week.”
“Because we’re going to be working on finding Rafe?”
“Iam going to be working on that.”
I cross my arms over my chest. “I’m helping. He’s my brother. I know him and his patterns better than anyone.”
“Which is why you’re going to tell me all of it and let me do my job.”
Oh, hell no.“You aren’t cutting me out of this. You told me yourself that I’m in danger too if we don’t figure this out, so don’t expect me to sit on the sidelines.”
He opens his mouth.
“And don’t you dare tell me it’s too dangerous. I’m not going to be on lockdown and shut out of whatever you’re doing.”
“Get ready for work. We’ll discuss it on the way.”
“As long as the discussion ends with you agreeing with me, I’m fine with that.”
I turn on a heel and head back up the stairs, already thinking of the order in which I’m going to unveil my arguments on the drive to the distillery.
Kane hasn’t seen anything yet.
18
Kane
Ithought Temperance was impressive on the drive in, when despite having her eyes covered by the beanie, she laid out a four-pronged argument in favor of her being an integral part ofOperation: Save Rafe’s Ass, as she called it. But it wasn’t until I saw her in action at Seven Sinners that I realized how much of a badass she truly is.
The woman is an unstoppable force of nature when she gets rolling.
From a guest chair in her office at Seven Sinners, I follow along as she rips a supplier a new one for missing a delivery date, threatening to sue for breach of contract if they don’t have the delivery there within the next twelve hours so they don’t slow down production.
That’s not the truly impressive part, though. The impressive part came when she got off the phone and I asked, “Were you bluffing about walking on the deal?”
She raises a dark eyebrow, crosses her arms over her chest, and purses her lips. “I never bluff.”