9. Kane
KANE
I tell Lilah to come to the house tomorrow at two.
Anton lets her in and brings her straight to my study. I'm standing by the window when she walks through the door, and for a second, I forget how to breathe.
She looks better than she did yesterday. The shadows under her eyes are still there, but her color's improved and she's moving easier. She's wearing jeans and a sweater that's too big for her, probably Priya's, and her hair is pulled back in a messy bun.
Beautiful.
"Lilah."
"Kane."
We stand there looking at each other for a beat too long. Then she crosses to the chair opposite my desk and sits without being asked.
Good. I want her comfortable here.
"You said you need my help understanding the corridor," I say, settling into my own chair. "I can do that. But first I need to know what we're dealing with."
She pulls out her phone. "Here. Skye sent over everything Vetrov filed with the city."
I hold out my hand and she passes me the phone. I scroll through the documents, my anger mounting with every paragraph.
The petition argues her building constitutes a public safety hazard due to structural damage from the fire.
That she's failed to secure the property or take steps toward remediation.
That the lot is blighted and abandoned, making it eligible for compulsory acquisition under the city's redevelopment authority.
It's all lies. But it's also legally sufficient to trigger a hearing.
"This is dated May second," I say. "Eight days ago."
"Skye said he filed it the day after the fire."
While she was still chained in his basement. The fucking audacity of it makes me want to put my fist through the desk.
I hand back her phone. "What did Skye recommend?"
"Independent structural assessment. Documentation of my intent to rebuild. Evidence that Vetrov caused the fire in the first place, which makes his petition fraudulent."
"All good moves. What does she need from me?"
Lilah meets my eyes. "She needs you to explain why Vetrov wants my building badly enough to burn it down and kidnap me for a week. And she needs you to help me prove his petition is part of a broader conspiracy to defraud me of my property."
I lean back in my chair. "Okay. But if we're doing this, we do it right. Which means everything I know about the corridor, everything I've learned about Vetrov's operation, everything Niko's dug up in the last week—it all goes to Skye. We put it together into one case and we bury the bastard."
"Agreed."
"And you move back in here while we're working on it."
She shutters. "Kane—"
"You're a target, Lilah. Vetrov took you once already. You think he won't try again if he figures out you're building a RICO case against him?"
I keep my voice even, reasonable. The truth is I'm feeling everything but.
"This house is secure," I stress. "Armed guards, cameras, reinforced doors. Nobody gets through who I don't want getting through."
"I'm not moving back in with you."
"Why not?"
"Because we're not together."
I don't show her how hard those words just hit me.
"We're not not together," I argue.
"Kane."
"We're figuring it out. That's what you said. You need time to think."
"Yes. And I can't think if I'm sleeping in your house and eating your food and letting you touch me whenever you want."
Whenever I want. Like I've been doing anything but obsessing over whether she'll let me near her again.
I force myself to stay calm. "Fine. Then don't sleep in my room. Take one of the guest suites. Or the whole third floor if you want space. But be here."
"That's not the point."
"Then what is the point?"
She looks away. "The point is I can't be your woman and your client at the same time. And right now I need you as my partner in taking down Vetrov more than I need—"
She stops herself, but I know how that sentence ends.
More than I need you in my bed.
It's a gut punch. But she's not wrong.
"Okay," I say. "Partners. Separate rooms. Separate lives until this is over and you've had time to figure out what you want. But you're here where I can keep you safe."
"Kane—"
"That's the deal, Lilah. You want my help, you take my protection. Non-negotiable."
She goes quiet, thinking it over. I can see her weighing the options, calculating risks.
Finally she nods. "Okay. I will consider it. But I have conditions."
"Name them."
"I keep Skye as my lawyer. Anything you share with me, she gets a copy. No exceptions."
"Done."
"And this is a partnership. Equal authority, equal access to information. You don't make decisions about my property or my safety without consulting me first."
I grit my teeth. Every instinct I have says to lock her in this house and handle Vetrov myself. But that's not what she needs.
"Agreed," I say.
"And if you lie to me or keep secrets or pull any more shit like you did with the corridor, I'm gone. Permanently. No second chances."
"I won't."
"I mean it."
"So do I." I hold her gaze. "You want my word? You've got it. No lies, no secrets. From here on out, you get the truth even when it's ugly."
She searches my face. "Okay."
"Anything else?"
"One more thing." She straightens in her chair. "I need you to admit what you did. Out loud, to my face, no excuses."
"Lilah—"
"You targeted my husband because you wanted my building.
You knew about the forged guaranty and you used it to keep me.
You lied to me for months about why you wanted the corridor and what you were willing to do to get it.
" Her voice doesn't waver. "I need to hear you say it.
All of it. Because if we're going to work together, I need to know you understand what you're asking me to trust you with. "
Fuck.
I want to deflect. I want to explain the context, the twenty-year promise, the way the corridor was never about money or power but about keeping a vow to my mother.
But that's not what she's asking for.
She's asking me to own it. All of it.
So I do.
"You're right," I say. "I targeted Boyd because he owed me money and his wife owned the last property I needed to complete the corridor.
When I found out about the forged guaranty, I didn't report it or void it.
I used it as leverage to keep you close.
And when you asked me directly if I'd been buying up the corridor, I lied. "
Her jaw tightens but she doesn't look away.
"I told myself it was justified because I never meant for you to get hurt.
The debt wasn't really yours and I was going to release it after Easter anyway.
And what I felt for you was real, even if the circumstances were fucked.
" I bend forward. "But none of that changes what I did. I used you. And I'm sorry."
Lilah is silent for a long time. Long enough to make me wonder if I missed something. Then again, I pulled a lot of shit with her.
Not a day goes by that I don't regret it.
"Thank you," she says eventually. "I know that couldn't have been easy."
Understatement of the year. I don't do apologies, ever.
But Lilah is the exception.
She has been ever since she walked into my life.
And I'm not going to let my pride get in the way of us again.
I exhale. "So we're doing this?"
"Let me think about it. Everything else, yes, but the moving back part…" Lilah sighs. "I'm gonna need a minute."
"You can have as many minutes as you want."
"Can we still plot Vetrov's demise in the meantime?"
I allow myself a smirk. "Thought you'd never ask."
I stand and cross to the map cabinet, pulling out a laminated reconstruction of the original corridor sheet I burned. Niko's handiwork. It shows ninety-one parcels shaded green with my lot numbers and acquisition dates.
Lot 22 is white.
I spread the map on the desk between us. "This is what Vetrov's working with now. Every parcel I spent twenty years assembling, all transferred to his shell companies."
Lilah leans over the map. "Why does he need my building?"
"Same reason I did," I say. "Because without it, the corridor is incomplete.
Which means no developer can build anything that crosses parcel lines.
Fletcher wants to put up residential towers, probably eight to ten stories, running from Thirty-Ninth to the water.
He needs continuous ownership from curb to curb. Your lot is right in the middle."
"So if I don't sell—"
"Fletcher's project dies. Or gets redesigned around your property, which costs him time and money and makes the whole development less valuable."
She traces her finger along Fourth Avenue. "How much is my building worth to him?"
"Conservatively? Two million. Maybe more if he's desperate."
Her brow lifts. "Two million?"
"Because of what it unlocks, Lilah. Fletcher stands to make hundreds of millions once those towers are built. Paying you two or three million to get out of the way is nothing."
"Which is why Vetrov thought burning it down would work."
"Yeah. He figured you'd be so desperate to rebuild that you'd take the first offer. Especially after a week in his basement."
She frosts over. "He was wrong."
"I know." I meet her eyes. "But he's not going to stop because you filed a legal challenge. If anything, he's going to escalate. Which is why you need to be here where I can protect you."
"And what about Priya? And my staff? Are they targets too?"
"Yuri's already assigned someone to watch Priya's building. And I've got men stationed outside the bakery in case anyone tries anything else."
"Without asking me first."
Shit. "You're right. I should have asked. But I'm not apologizing for keeping you safe."
She looks like she wants to argue, but she doesn't. Looks like we're all picking our battles this season.
"Anything else I should know?"
"Niko's working on tracking down the Thirty-Ninth Street files you heard about. If Vetrov's keeping off-site records of his shell companies and payoffs, we can use them to prove the whole operation is corrupt."
"And then what?"
"Then Skye files an amended complaint adding RICO claims, conspiracy, fraud, and every other charge we can make stick.
We prove Vetrov caused the fire, kidnapped you, and filed a fraudulent petition to seize your property.
And we make sure he goes to prison for long enough that he never comes near you again. "
Lilah lets out a slow breath. Maybe I'm crazy, but I think seeing me go full pakhan is doing something for her.
Good. Means I'm not the only one who can't forget.
Lilah sits back in her chair, processing. "How long will all this take?"
"Months, maybe longer. But in the meantime, we get an injunction blocking the compulsory acquisition.
And we make it public. Every reporter who covered your Christmas video, every food blogger who's been inside your bakery—they all get the story of how Osip Vetrov burned down a small business owner's shop and kidnapped her because she refused to sell. "
"You want me to go public?"
"I want Vetrov crucified. And the fastest way to do that is to make him toxic. No developer will touch him if he's a PR nightmare."
"Okay." She nods, taking it in. "We go public."
"You sure?"
"I'm sure." She stands. "When do we start?"
"Now. I'll have Anton set up the guest suite on the third floor. Stepan can pick up whatever you need from Priya's when you finally decide to stop being stubborn."
"Kane—"
"Equal partners, remember? You said yes. So we're doing this my way." I throw her a sidelong glance. "But like I said. Have as many minutes as you need."
Her mouth twitches. Almost a smile. "Fine. But if I move back here, I'm telling Priya myself. No Stepan running around like a carrier pigeon."
"Deal."
She turns to leave, then pauses at the door. "Kane?"
"Yeah?"
"Thank you. For being honest."
I watch her walk out, her shoulders straight, her head high.
And I think: I'll burn the whole fucking city down before I let Vetrov take her again.