Chapter 25
CHAPTER 25
I sla really must’ve wanted to see her dead, because she did the twenty-minute drive to the warehouse in ten.
So, Lark took an inordinate amount of pleasure at seeing the shock and disappointment on her face when Nico let her in the back door and she realized she’d been had. Lark crossed her arms over her chest. “Have a seat, Isla.”
Neal straightened in his chair as she sat down next to him with a disgusted sigh. “Isla, what the hell? What have you done?”
She tossed her hair over one shoulder and pouted at him. “She never appreciated you. I told you that at the Christmas party, but you wouldn’t listen! You deserve someone who loves you as much as I do!”
Nico frowned as if they’d lapsed into a language he didn’t speak. “You would hire me to kill someone for this man? Why?”
Lark couldn’t help but feel like this was yet another metaphor for their entire relationship. She could’ve died because of this idiot she didn’t even love because she’d been too weak to walk away when she should’ve.
Well, she’d be damned if she was going to ever let that happen again. In a weird way, she supposed she owed Isla the same thank you she’d given Nico.
Not that she’d actually ever give it to her. Because fuck her.
But that was beside the point.
Isla turned a nasty scowl on Nico. “I’d do anything for him.”
Ren cocked his head to one side like a confused terrier. “For him ? Then why frame him for the hit?”
She shifted uncomfortably in his seat. “I never would’ve let him take the fall for the murder. I’d alibi him, of course. But I needed to have something to hold him over him in case he was angry at me.” She bit her lip as she looked over at Neal and whispered, “I’m sorry.”
But Neal didn’t seem to care that she’d essentially planned to blackmail him into a relationship with her. He was too busy looking at Isla like he was seeing her for the first time. “You…you did all that for me?”
Her eyes flew to his. “Of course! You were always too good for her. You just didn’t see it! I couldn’t let you ruin your life for her .”
Nico scratched his head. “I don’t get it.”
Tenley patted his shoulder. “I know. But what I think we’re looking at here is karma in action. These two deserve each other.”
That was a generous way to look at it, Lark thought. And probably truer than even Tenley imagined. But as far as she was concerned, Isla could have Neal in all his small-penised, doesn’t-like-going-down-on-a-woman, whiny, narcissistic glory.
Meanwhile, she’d be having multiple screaming orgasms with the tatted, pierced, stalker/hacker/kidnapper/protector/lover/boyfriend of her dreams, finally making her the main character in her own story.
All’s well that ends …
“Wait a minute,” she said, turning to Isla. “So, we’re square, right? You get Neal free and clear. The hit is canceled, right ?”
The rotten little wench’s chin came up stubbornly as she turned her attention to Nico. “What exactly is going on here? Why is this bitch still alive?”
So much for all’s well that ends well .
“I’m glad you asked,” Nico practically purred. “See, you needn’t worry about her anymore. Because you’re going to be busy informing on your uncle and his criminal operation to the FBI. You’re going to destroy the entire Franchetti organization, princess.”
Lark’s eyes widened. She had not seen that one coming. And given the look on Ren and Tenley’s faces, they hadn’t either.
Isla snorted. “The fuck I am. He’ll kill me.”
“Not if you’re in WITSEC.”
“Witness protection?” She shook her head. “No way. I won’t do it.”
Nico moved toward her and leaned down, grabbing the back of her chair to cage her in. Lark knew she shouldn’t enjoy seeing fear light the other woman’s eyes. But she did.
“You’ll do it, or you’ll die today.” He gestured to Neal. “So will he.”
Her eyes widened. “But I don’t know anything about my uncle’s operation! What would I even tell them?”
“Don’t worry about that, princess. I’ll provide you with everything you need to know.”
“Won’t that implicate you, too?” Lark asked.
He smirked at her. “I’m guessing our mutual friend here can make it look like I wasn’t even in this country all year. Am I right?”
Ren shrugged. “Sure.”
The ease with which he agreed to falsify records for a mafia hitman was somehow scary and sexy all at the same time, much like Ren himself.
Isla was starting to sweat. “There’s no way I could convince them I know enough about the operation to get any charges to stick.”
Neal sat up straighter. “It’s a conflict of interest, anyway. Her uncle is my firm’s client.”
All eyes turned to him. He didn’t seem to realize what he’d just admitted. Lark held in an eye roll, but just barely, because seriously, had he always been such an idiot? How the hell had he made it through law school, for fuck’s sake?
“ You work for Mario Franchetti?” Nico asked.
“Well, my firm does. But attorney client privilege prevents me from testifying against him.”
“That’s not entirely true,” Tenley said. “If you’re given a court order based on the authorities suspecting your client of crime, or if concealing information will harm another person, either financially or bodily, you can be forced to break privilege.”
Nico raised a brow at her. She shrugged and said, “What? Successful criminals know more about the law than any lawyer ever could.”
“He can testify, but he’d probably be disbarred,” Ren said.
Nico pretended to think about it for a minute before saying, “I don’t so much care about that.”
“Wait a minute,” Neal said, leaning forward in his chair. “You’re saying you want to turn me into an informant against the mafia ?”
“Welcome to the conversation, Neal,” Lark said dryly.
“He’s saying he wants both of you to inform on the mafia,” Tenley clarified. “You’ll be able to corroborate everything Isla says, which would make the Fed’s case rock solid. The Franchetti’s will go down hard. ”
He blustered. “I won’t do it.”
“It’d be the easiest way to skip out on your gambling debts,” Ren reminded him. “Start fresh somewhere else with a new identity and brand-new credit to ruin.”
He faltered, but muttered (with far less conviction than before), “No. I won’t do it.”
Nico shrugged. “Fine by me. This conversation is boring anyway.” He pulled his gun. “I’ll just kill you both.”
Isla threw her hands up with a squeal. “OK, fine! Damn you, I’ll do it. Just…just let Neal go.”
Neal turned fully in his seat to face her. “You’d trade your life for mine?”
Her eyes softened. “I told you, I’d do anything for you.”
That’s when he lunged at her, kissing her with more passion than Lark had seen him have for, well, anything. Isla let out a happy little moan that totally perplexed Lark. Did she enjoy the way Neal kissed? His tongue stabbing its way into her mouth, the bobbing head motion that reminded her of an angry chicken?
Tenley made a sound like she was gagging before whispering to Ren, “It’s like a horrible train wreck. I want to look away, but I can’t.”
Ren scowled. “That’s disgusting.”
Nico shook his head. “I should’ve just killed them when I had the chance.”
Lark shrugged. “I think it’s kind of sweet. Just goes to show you that there’s someone out there for everyone.”
Nico shuddered when Neal moaned and made a grab for one of Isla’s giant fake breasts. “Ok, that’s enough,” he said, giving Neal’s chair a kick. “Do we have a deal?”
They were both panting and gasping for breath, looking dazed. Neal wiped Isla’s lipstick off his mouth with the back of his sleeve, looked up at Nico and said, “I’ll do it.” He turned back to Isla. “We’ll both go into WITSEC. Start over somewhere. Together.”
Lark winced at the answering squeal Isla let out. But Neal just laughed when the other woman pounced on him, dumping them both out of their metal folding chairs onto the dirty concrete floor. She peppered his face with bright red kisses as everyone else looked on in mute horror. Even Dammit George looked vaguely grossed out.
Ren eventually cleared his throat. “So…yeah…can we go now?”
Nico nodded. “I’ll be in touch so that we can work out the details of my alibi when the Feds start to shut down the Franchetti organization. But there’s no reason for any of us to see…” he paused, nose crinkling up as Neal and Isla continued kissing and babbling about going into witness protection together. “…this.”
“I am so out of here,” Tenley said, making a b-line for the door. “Ren, Lark, I’m sure I’ll see you again soon. And it was nice meeting you, Lucky .” She gave him a saucy wink before she disappeared.
“Damn,” Nico said a moment after she’d gone. “I think she stole my wallet.”
Yeah, that sounded about right.
“Why do you want the feds to shut down your boss’s organization?” Lark asked. “I’ll admit that everything I know about the mafia I learned in romance novels, but won’t some other criminal just step up to take over once the Franchetti’s are gone?”
His answering grin was 90% evil, 10% pure sex appeal. “I’m counting on it, bambina .”