Dead Drop (The Guild #2)(11)
I barely made it halfway across the small room, though, before I sucked a sharp gasp of shock.
The jug slipped from my numb fingers, hitting the floor and splashing water everywhere, but I barely noticed. I sure as fuck didn’t care.
Because Stanley was gone.
5
Nine days. That was how long it took for the silent alarm I’d placed at Danny’s house to activate. Nine days between me locating her safe place, her secret haven, and making a move that would force her to come back to me.
Okay, in fairness, I personally hadn’t found it. Our insider at the Guild had slipped us the information after I pressured Mo into digging deeper. Without that tip, we never would have found Danny’s home.
“She knows that I have you now, Stanley my friend,” I told the enormous plant. Stanley the Devil’s Backbone. A mature euphorbia tithymaloides variegata. The one thing that she had told me the truth about. She’d lied about everything else, but Stanley? He was real. And now he was settling in nicely in his new home, positioned in front of my bedroom window overlooking the ocean. I’d added a bow and a little tinsel to dress him up. It was the holidays, after all.
I sat back in my armchair. In her armchair. Her scent still clung to the fabric, and if I closed my eyes, I could almost imagine she was still here with me. But then I opened my eyes again and remembered that the tether I thought I’d tied to her was never secure. She’d just made me think she was trapped, lulled me into complacency… then ripped my heart out and took it with her on a speedboat out of Venice.
“Shit,” I muttered with a sigh, staring at Stanley like I had done every day for nine days. “Do you think she’s still thinking about me, Stan? Or has she been off fucking that slimy sack of shit Leon? I bet she has no idea that he’s on the Circle too.” I drummed my fingertips on the arm of the chair, fantasizing all the horribly painful ways I would hurt that bastard when I got my hands on him. Part of it would be for his position in the Guild, but most of it would be for touching her. She was mine, and it would only be a matter of time before she fully understood what that meant.
“I see why she likes you so much, Stanley,” I commented, flexing my fist and still picturing how it’d feel to punch that shit stain Leon in the face. “You’re a good listener. Nonjudgmental. I bet I could tell you all about—”
A sharp knock on my door interrupted what I was saying, and I sighed. “Come in!”
My older sister let herself in with a tight set frown pulling her brow and gave an irritated sound when she saw me sitting in Danny’s chair again.
“Seriously, Kai?” she asked, exasperated. “You need to snap out of this.”
I glared up at her. “Back off, Moana. You have no idea what you’re talking about.”
She rolled her eyes. “Oh, I don’t? Jesus, Kai, she was fucking acting. You don’t even know who she is, and you’re sitting here mooning over her goddamn plant like some heartbroken fool. Pull your shit together.”
Anger rippled through me, and I surged to my feet. “Watch your tongue, sister. I’m no one’s fool.”
She tipped her chin up, holding my gaze defiantly. She was one of the few people who was never afraid of me. Probably because she knew I’d do anything for her. “Really? Sure looks like that shady bitch snared you within her trap and hasn’t let go yet. You were supposed to play her, not the other way around. Fuck, Kai, you’re lucky you’re even alive. She could have killed you when she took your phone, you know?”
I knew. It was that shred of hope that I’d been clinging to like the lovesick puppy Moana accused me of being. “But she didn’t,” I bit back with clenched teeth, “which means she wasn’t totally unaffected.”
Moana stared up at me for a long moment, then gave a pitying shake of her head. “She doesn’t love you, little brother. She was just doing her job.”
I swallowed hard. My head knew she was probably right. But my heart…? I couldn’t accept it. Danny could have killed me that morning. Hell, she could have killed me any one of a hundred moments in those days we spent alone here on my island. But she didn’t, and I had to believe it was more than just strategic.
“We’ll see,” I replied in a cold voice. Because now I had Stanley, she would come for him sooner or later. I just knew it.
Mo sighed and ran a hand through her dark curls. “Whatever, Kai. Are we going to talk about the next steps with our plan? We haven’t done anything since before Halloween, and I’m starting to worry you’ve changed your mind.”
I scowled. “Of course not. Mo…” I trailed off, my eyes flicking over to Danny’s plant. Shit, she was right. I was so consumed with getting my siren back that I’d all but abandoned our plans for the Guild. “Is the rest of the team in the kitchen? Maybe we should have a strategy meeting.”
She nodded, and I followed her out of my bedroom. Better that we all discuss our next steps together rather than having to repeat myself anyway.
Down in the kitchen, my guys were sitting around the huge dining table with beers in hand and a casual game of poker underway.
Eli spotted me first, jerking me a small nod of greeting, which I returned. Jae and Cyryl gave me cautious looks, like they weren’t sure what kind of mood I was in. Sam just glared.