There was a beat of silence, then, “Does he know about Ginny?”
“He… said some stuff at the Games.” Milo grimaced. “He said you’d stolen from him, but he didn’t say what.”
“And now he’s been beaten in the Blood Games by Luis to win…”
“Luis’s anchor,” Milo helpfully supplied. “She’s in the car with me now.”
“Am I speaking to Luis’s anchor right now?”
She sent Milo a panicked look. He gestured for her to speak, but she had no idea what to say to what could only be the head of the Amauri family.
“Um… hi?” she squeaked.
“Tell me your name.”
Shrinking into her seat, she mumbled, “Francesca Sinclair, sir. Um, most people call me Frankie, though.”
“Were you aware that you were claimed when you decided to volunteer for the Blood Games, Miss Sinclair?” Felix asked.
“No,” she answered. Annoyance gave her the usual confidence boost to add, “I’mnothis anchor, no matter what Milo or Luis say. I’m his fuckinghousekeeper,not his girlfriend. When he asked me out, I told him no.”
And until he told her properly what he wanted from her, she was sticking with that answer.
There was a long pause. Then, almost like he’d pulled the phone away from his mouth, a distant rolling laughter began to fill the car. “Oh fuck,” Felix wheezed. “Okay. Yeah. Great. I needed that. Nice to meet you, Frankie. Dahlia’s gonna love you. Good gods, I can’t wait to hear this story.”
Milo made a small rumbling sound in his throat. “Boss, what do you want to do about Burke? If he knows about Ginny?—”
Sobering up a little, Felix muttered, “That fuck’s been looking for a reason to come after us for years. This has been a long time coming. I was just hoping to put it off a little longer so I could get around his stranglehold of the docks.”
Seeing her blank look, Milo explained under his breath, “Malachi owns nearly all the warehouses in the port of Baltimore. You need something smuggled into United Washington from overseas, it goes through him.”
“That’s why we’ve tried to keep things civil over the years, but if he knows about Ginny, then there’s no chance for peace.” Something in Felix’s voice changed. It was a chill that sent a shiver of unease down her spine. “Well, there’s never a good time for this shit, so it might as well happen now. Let’s boost security on the Estate and all our businesses. I assume your brother is headed to his sex dungeon playhouse in the sky, right? When Luis gets his ass home, you tell him I want to see him first thing tomorrow night.”
“On it, boss,” Milo confirmed.
“And Frankie?”
She looked warily at the console. Without even seeing his face, she could sense something in Felix was not quite right. It wasn’t vile like whatever slithered in the dark heart of Malachi, but it wasn’t exactly harmless, either. It was cold and sharp and dangerous.
“Yes?” she whispered.
That something in him was made all the more sinister when she could hear the smile in his voice as he drawled, “Welcome to the family.”
SEVENTEEN
Luis let Maxinewalk through the door of his penthouse first, then thrust her stupid cousin in after her. Tomas followed silently, more bedraggled than he’d ever seen him.
“Sit,” he growled at Easton, pointing to one of the couches in the living room where Milo was already relaxing after what might’ve been the most ridiculous night of their lives.
“Where’s Frankie?” Maxine demanded, her voice hoarse from some mild smoke inhalation. Somehow she still managed to keep that icy lawyer facade despite the fact that she was covered in soot and one side of her face was streaked with blood — not her own but some guy who’d have to learn to live without his spleen.
Milo nodded toward the door of Luis’s bedroom. “I told her to rest.”
“Was she hurt?” His muscles felt too tight, everything in him stretched to his limit as he awaited his brother’s answer.
Luis had somehow lost his phone during the mad brawl that ensued after his narrow victory, making it impossible to check in. He’d managed to catch a glimpse of Milo carrying her out, so he hadn’t been nearly as panicked as he otherwise might’ve been, but that didn’t mean she was uninjured.
Any number of terrible things could’ve happened to her in that basement slaughterhouse. That was exactly why he’d ordered his brother to guard her rather than stand by his side. After Malachi had him stabbed, he had a gut feeling that something would go dangerously awry.