“I’ll go outside with them so the dog can take a walk,” Hal offers, and I nod. As soon as the door closes, I meet Scarlett’s gaze once more.
“Moses didn’t mention the mob.”
After my meeting with Creighton, I filled her in on where everything stood, so my mentioning the mob is not a surprise to her.
“That’s a good sign, right?”
I nod slowly, my confidence rising again. “Moses loves being the smartest guy in the room. He craves it. Even back in the day, he never missed an opportunity to show off how sharp he was. If he knew the mob was on to him, he’d have thrown that in my face and taunted me about being smarter than all of us. But he didn’t. He doesn’t know.”
“Oh, thank God.” Scarlett releases a breath with her palm pressed to her chest. “If he doesn’t know ... then that means there’s still a good chance they can find him and—”
“Take care of him before the fight. Yeah. That’s exactly what I’m praying for, ladybug. Because I don’t know what the fuck else to do otherwise.”
She comes to me and wraps both of her arms around my waist. “We’ll figure it out. He’s not going to hurt us, no matter what he says. We won’t give him the chance, Gabe. I trust you.”
I press a kiss to the crown of her head. “You’re right. We’ve got this. There’s no other alternative I can live with.”
“I wish he’d just take the money,” she whispers.
Instead of my ego brushing her off, I say the one thing I never thought would come out of my mouth. “If I get a chance to talk him into it, I’ll do it. You have my word.”
Thirty
Legend
While Scarlett’sgetting Bump settled, I pull out my phone to call Creighton Karas.
When a billionaire tells you that he’s going to take care of something, and that something pops up in the form of a prepaid cell phone in your woman’s bag, the billionaire has some explaining to do.
Shockingly, he answers. “Hello, Legend. What can I do for you this Sunday evening, when I normally wouldn’t answer calls from anyone?”
“Apologies for interrupting your weekend.”
“I assume it’s important.”
I sit down at Scarlett’s kitchen table, the prepaid cell in my hand. “Moses is still alive.”
“Yes, he is. Did you expect otherwise?”
My eyes narrow on Scarlett’s wall of salt and pepper shakers, like they could substitute for Karas somehow. “I thought you said you were going to have him taken care of?”
“I did. And I meant it.”
I shake my head, and my knee bounces underneath her tablecloth. “Anytime soon? Because he made sure to get in my head today.”
“What happened?” Karas asks, his tone still conversational, like this doesn’t stress him out in the least.
“We were at a carnival. He dropped a prepaid cell in Scarlett’s purse. Wanted me to know that he can still get to me—or her or Bump—anytime he wants.”
“Ah ... he must be getting worried that you’re not going to play his game.”
I shrug, even though Karas can’t see me. “Apparently. But I’ve got less than three weeks left until this fight, and if you want your money back, then I need him out of my head. Out of the fucking city. Out of the fucking picture.”
“Are you giving me orders, Legend?”
I hear the warning tone underlying his words.
“I’m just asking if you’ve got a plan, and if you do, what’s the timeline on it? Because I need to know my people are safe.” I tap my finger so hard on the tabletop that I’m probably leaving pockmarks in the wood. “You said we were friends,Crey. So you gotta understand that my people are my whole goddamned life. They’reallthat matters. I need this covered, or I’ll cover it myself.”