Luna woke to a blistering headache and enough pain that she immediately wished she hadn’t. The last thing she wanted to do was move from the bed she was in—how the hell did she get there?—but she could hear voices just outside the bedroom door.

Forcing herself up, she breathed in through her nose and out through her mouth as she struggled to her feet, each step she took a painful reminder that the beating she had taken was far worse than she’d originally thought.

Curling an arm around her ribs, that at least helped with the pain a bit, she wrapped her fingers around the door handle and jerked it down, pulling the door open and surprising Celt and Skorpion who were standing on the other side.

Celt’s green eyes widened as he looked her over then winced at what he saw. “You look like shite.”

Glaring at him—though it even hurt to do that—she stepped around him. “You think?”

“Better to look like shite than to not have a look at all, eh?”

Fair enough. “What are you still doing here? I thought you’d be back in New York by now.”

He shrugged, though his expression wasn’t as casual as he probably thought it was. “Another job.”

Carefully making her way down the stairs, she shook her head. “Sucks for Amber.”

He shrugged. “She understands.”

But by the tone of his voice, Luna wasn’t so sure even he believed that.

Luna was almost to the last step when a wave of pain hit her so hard that she stumbled. Skorpion caught her as gently as he could before setting her to rights.

“You shouldn’t be up,” he said, his expression reflecting the pain she was in.

“I’m fine. I’ve suffered worse. Where’s Kit?”

But even as the question left her lips, there was no need for her to ask. He was standing outside the back door, his phone to his ear, his expression unreadable.

Something was wrong—she could tell from the way he was standing and the tension in his shoulders.

The pain she was in no longer registered as she went to him.

He didn’t turn as she slid the door open and stepped out, while Celt and Skorpion disappear around a corner to give them privacy. Whatever was wrong with Kit, they knew what it was.

“Kit …”

He turned just his head, glancing back at her, and the expression on his face was enough to make her suck in a breath.

He looked … wounded.

“What’s happened?”

Kit didn’t speak, not yet. He merely listened to whoever was on the other line until he ended the call a minute later.

Luna could only think of one other time when he’d looked this lost, this pained. But she was standing right in front of him, battered maybe, but she was there.

She touched his chest, her heart breaking at the way he shuddered. Whatever the pain was, she offered comfort despite not knowing.

For a long moment, they stood like this, his hands at his sides, hers resting on his chest, then he was releasing a breath.

“Elias …” Kit seemed at a loss for words. “He didn’t stop at taking you.”

“Who else?”

It wasn’t one of the mercenaries, she knew, Celt or Skorpion would have told her—and if it were Uilleam, they would have told her that as well.

That only left those closest to Kit.

She ran through a process of elimination in her own head, but it only took a second of careful thought to realize who was missing—the one person who never left Kit’s side.

“Aidra,” Luna whispered.

He tried to hide it, concealing his pain in the blink of an eye, but she saw it before it was gone. She saw it before he could hide it and the sight of it made her heart skip a beat.

“Where is she?” she asked, even as she was afraid to know the answer.

“Elias took you both,” Kit explained, his voice flat and void of any emotion, “and put you in separate locations. I came for you while Fang and The Wild Bunch went to find Aidra.”

She knew how it ended for them—she was standing there in front of him with a few bruises and pains but alive all the same.

“Is she hurt bad?” Luna asked, treacherous hope flaring to life.

But she knew better.

She knew from the look on his face that despite what she wished, his answer wouldn’t be the one she wanted.

“Fang isn’t … processing well. I need to go.”

He needed to go—the distinction wasn’t lost on her.

She knew it wasn’t her fault, that none of them could have predicted this, but she understood why he was pretty much telling her she would have to remain there at the house.

Fang wouldn’t want to see her.

Whereas she was alive … Aidra wasn’t.

“Wait for me,” Kit said, touching his lips to her forehead. “Skorpion won’t let anyone near you again.”

Of that, she had no doubt, but she wasn’t thinking about her own safety at the moment. “I’m so sorry, Kit.”

She knew how much Aidra had meant to him—she’d been at his side far longer than even Luna had. She had been more than an assistant or even a friend.

Aidra was family.

He held her against him for one long, breathless moment before he was leaving.

---

“She’s a new recruit,” Zachariah said as they walked toward the bunkers where the sleeping quarters were located on the other side of the compound.

Having been a part of the Lotus Society for the better part of three years now, Kit was in a position where he wasn’t just an asset—he was a valuable one they believed could shape future recruits into what he’d become.

“What’s his name?” Kit asked, gazing down at the file in his hands.

There wasn’t much to find, merely a brief history and the recruit’s country of origin.

“Not his,” Zachariah said with a hint of a smile in his voice. “Hers.”

Kit blinked in surprise as the metal door before them slid open, and he got his first look at the woman inside the room, though girl was better suited for her.

She might have been his age or a few years younger, but she looked drastically younger, with her bones standing out in stark contrast against pale skin, and a smattering of bruises all along her arms.

He suspected she was closer to death than becoming an operative, but Kit had never been one to question orders.

With a nod, Zachariah went on his way, leaving Kit to confront the girl on his own.

The moment he got his first look at her, the only word he could think to describe her was: spirited. He could see it in the way she held her head up just a fraction higher than what was appropriate, as though trying to look down her nose at him.

He liked her immediately.

“Your name,” he ordered, looking her square in the eye.

Nodding at the file in his hands, she asked, “You already know the answer to that, no? Why are you asking pointless questions?”

And it was at that moment Kit knew he was definitely going to enjoy training her. Not because she had been forced on him and he couldn’t say no, but because Aidra hadn’t shown a drop of fear.

He despised weakness in others, and she hadn’t exhibited a single bit of it.

Not since before his tenure with the Lotus Society did Kit allow himself to feel. He felt physical pain—even he couldn’t manage to turn that off completely—but he had learned through careful practice how to bury any emotions that rose inside him.

No, that wasn’t quite right …

He had let himself feel with Luna—pride at watching her blossom and grow, lust when she happily knelt at his feet, annoyance when she refused to follow the simplest of orders, and heartache when she had walked away from him without looking back.

Luna had managed to undo years worth of training in half the time.

Luna had inspired him.

And maybe, it was because of Luna that it felt like his skin was too tight and his wrath was simmering too close to the surface at the knowledge that Aidra, his closest confidante, had been murdered.

This wasn’t the first time he had lost someone in this life—that number was endless.

He hadn’t even cared when his father had finally gone to hell, where the man belonged, once he took his last breath.

But just hearing that confirmation had put Kit on edge.

Scrubbing a hand down his face, Kit drew in a calming breath as he headed up the stairs toward the loft, the silence of it preparing him for what he was already expecting.

Ever since they had escaped the school in Romania, they were never silent—not unless absolutely necessary. They played music too loud and had the television at the highest possible volume, if only because they were trying to drown out their own thoughts.

Kit knew them nearly as well as they knew themselves, maybe even a little better, because, like most people, they didn’t see their flaws.

He knew the demons they were running from, and if any of them, Fang especially welcomed the utter stillness that was silence. Something was terribly wrong when he couldn’t hear anything.

Letting himself inside, Thanatos and Invictus were the first two to greet him, both still in full gear, each holding a glass of vodka if the bottle resting on the counter was anything to go by.

Invictus’ drink remained untouched—he rarely drank anyway—but Thanatos downed his in seconds before pouring himself another. The bottle was more than halfway empty.

But that was the pair of them.

Two halves of a whole.

Whereas Thanatos would drink to excess, was jovial and laughed louder than all the others, Invictus was very careful with what he ate, with the actions he took, and even the way he spoke.

They balanced each other out.

The television was still on, a game paused, the controllers tossed down on the floor in front of the massive sofa.

Even that told a story.

Everything had paused, and whatever easy joy had been felt earlier when things hadn’t fallen to shit, and death didn’t leave a hole in the room, was gone.

Nothing would be the same now.

They couldn’t just pick back up where they had left off—it wasn’t that simple.

“Where is he?” Kit asked, his voice sounding impossibly loud in the silence of the room.

Thanatos nodded his blond head toward the shadowed hallway. “Last door on your left,” he further explained, but neither he nor Invictus made any move to follow him.

It was in the hallway, sitting in front of the very door he meant to enter that Kit found Tăcut.

Outside of the men in this place, no one else knew how much Tăcut despised, not just silence, but darkness as well.

He hated the shadows and what could hide in them.

Despite his fears—despite the way Kit could see the panic in the man’s eyes—he stayed dutiful in front of Fang’s door.

Despite his fears, he would have rather protected Fang from himself.

“I have him,” Kit said, extending a hand to help the man to his feet.

Tăcut didn’t express his relief, not that Kit would have wanted him to, as he allowed him to pull him up. He merely glanced back at the door one last time before heading back down the hall.

Kit waited until he disappeared out of sight then turned the doorknob, only vaguely surprised to find it unlocked, before he let himself inside.

He didn’t mean to flinch at the smell, didn’t mean to react at all, but even as seasoned as he was, there was nothing that could have adequately prepared him for the stench of death.

Fang didn’t move from his spot on the floor. Not when the door opened, or when Kit came in and closed it behind him.

The window was open, a soft wind rustling the curtains and blowing in cool air.

Kit could only imagine what the smell would be like should it have been closed.

Not that Fang seemed to mind.

He seemed oblivious to it all.

“I wasn’t just going to leave her there,” Fang said, still staring up at the ceiling, bringing the cigarette he had pinched between two fingers to his lips. The cherry at the end burned brighter for several seconds before he finally pulled the tobacco away and exhaled.

“I understand.” And he did.

If it were Luna …

“They—whoever the fuck it was—fucked off before Than or Invictus could catch them.”

“They won’t be able to hide for long,” Kit promised.

Not Elias.

Not the men he had kidnap Luna and Aidra.

Not even the fucking driver.

A lot of blood would be spilled by the time they finished.

“We fought,” Fang whispered, as though he didn’t want to make the confession, but the words were burning to get out. “Right before she was taken.”

“You don’t have to tell me,” Kit said.

“I said you’d get her killed,” Fang went on as though Kit hadn’t spoken—or maybe he just needed to get the weight of his guilt off his chest. “But … what if we hadn’t argued? What if I would have caught her sooner? There’s a lot of fucking what-ifs.”

“Regardless of your actions, she would have been taken—you know this.”

Fang offered a shrug, grinding out his cigarette on the concrete floor beside him. “Maybe, but it wouldn’t have been easy.”

For the first time since Kit had entered the room, Fang turned to his right, looking at the tightly wrapped bundle beside him, the white sheets stark against the darkness of the floor.

It was still, so fucking still that he couldn’t ignore the ache resonating in his chest.

He should have done better by her—provided her with the same level of security he provided Luna.

Maybe he should have gone after her instead. Luna could handle herself. How many years had it been since Aidra was in the field, using the specific set of skills he’d taught her?

But even as Kit felt his own guilt over Aidra’s death, there was one way to make it right.

“We’ll find them,” Kit said, “we always do.”

Fang gave a humorless chuckle. “It’ll be my pleasure.”

“I’ll call a friend,” Kit said, not having to explain what this particular friend could do for them.

Turning to leave, he was almost out the door when Fang spoke, his words making him pause.

“I’m done once the last body hits its grave.”

Kit thought of questioning that, or making him understand that losing loved ones was part of the job, that he had to swallow his grief and continue forward.

That was what the Lotus Society had taught him.

Duty before everything else.

But despite the strenuous regimen he had lived under, he didn’t want him, or any of the others, to live under the same rules if they didn’t want to.

It was why they had opted out of the Lotus Society the moment Kit had walked away.

“You never had a contract with me,” Kit reminded him, his acceptance of what Fang was saying left unspoken.

But Fang wasn’t finished. “I owe you my life.”

If you force me to stay, I will.

If you want me to be the soldier, I will.

Kit knew what Fang said without him having to say it.

“But you don’t owe me your soul, Christophe.”

Fang flinched at the name, but didn’t say anything more as Kit slipped out the room, then out of the loft entirely.

Tonight, the only thing he wanted was to hold onto his wife as tight as he could because the thought of losing her still weighed on his chest.

---

After Celt and Skorpion had slipped out, Luna curled up on the couch with a blanket wrapped around her, waiting for Kit to return.

Numbness had swept through her the moment he had told her about Aidra, but even as she anticipated the moment Kit came home, her mind was working.

She refused to sit idly by and do nothing after everything that had happened. She didn’t want Kit trying to protect her and keeping her locked away safe while he handled everything.

Even with everything that had happened between her and Kit, and even with the time she spent away from them all, Aidra had still been her friend.

“Kit—”

She didn’t get a chance to get another word out before he was taking her face in his hands and kissing her. It was a desperate sort of kiss that made her ache for him and the obvious pain he was in.

It was a long time before he released her, drawing in a breath as he rested his forehead against hers.

“How is he?” Luna asked.

Kit hesitated, and that was all she needed to know that Fang wasn’t handling it well. It only made her feel worse.

“It will be sorted,” he promised, brushing her hair behind her ear. “Don’t worry.”

She knew it would, even if Kit had to tear the entire city apart to make sure of it, but she didn’t want to sit around as he did it.

“Elias may be behind this,” she said, “but Carmen, or even Ariana, knows something about it.”

He nodded once.

“Let me handle them.”

“Luna—”

“She was my friend too,” she whispered. “It’s the least I can do.”

And more than anything, it was about time she confronted the pair of them.

---

Kit was still sleeping when Luna slipped out of their bed, careful not to wake him. Slipping into a pair of jeans, her boots, and a tank top, she glanced back at Kit one last time before exiting the bedroom, then the bungalow altogether.

Skorpion was waiting for her, arms folded across his massive chest. As she approached, he tipped his head at her. “Are you ready for this?”

As much as she would ever be. “Where’s she being held?”

“She’s not,” Skorpion said as he opened the door for her. “Insufficient evidence as to her involvement in the trafficking. She was let go late last night.”

Luna frowned. “Then where is she?”

“Seeking refuge,” he responded with an amused smile.

She didn’t ask with who—her sister would turn to only one person to keep her safe.

“Then let’s pay them both a visit.”

The compound they drove to was located on the outskirts of the city where miles and miles of land separated the properties.

Twenty acres of land kept anyone from venturing too close to the mansion that was also surrounded by ten-foot-high walls—not to mention the army that ensured no one entered without approval.

Guards stood around the property, AKs strapped across their backs. Luna only had to give her name before they were allowed entry.

Waiting for them outside the massive front doors with a cigar between his lips, Agustín blew out a stream of thick smoke as they exited the car.

“Luna, beautiful as always.” He glanced over at Skorpion, his brow arching up—most people’s reactions at seeing him—before he turned back to his house.

Despite the place feeling like a bit of a prison, the inside of the mansion was opulent with white walls and dark trim in rich brown shades. Even the floors, an expensive looking tile were stunning, but considering Agustín was a drug lord, it made sense.

If there was a tiger in the backyard, she wouldn’t have been surprised.

As they turned down a hallway leading to the East wing, Luna centered her thoughts, focusing on why she was there—for Fang and nothing more.

And maybe if she told herself that enough times, she would believe it.

Agustín stopped in front of the last door, only sparing Luna the barest of glances before twisting the knob and pushing the door open.

Pacing the length of the room, Ariana spun around in a flurry, ready to lay into her fiancé, but before she could, she caught sight of Skorpion first—her throat working as she swallowed—and when her gaze darted to Luna, she froze.

A myriad of emotions crossed her face—disbelief, fear, and even a touch of guilt—but she settled on outrage.

“You’re dead,” she said between gritted teeth.

“Afraid not,” Luna responded, hoping the quiver in her voice wasn’t heard by the others.

She was no longer that little girl desperately wanting her sister’s approval. She no longer thought Ariana was everything she wanted to be once she got older.

While she might not have felt completely detached from her sister, there was no love either.

And maybe later, that would sadden her, but for now, she had a job to do.

“What the hell are you doing here?”

“I’ve come to make you a deal,” Luna said as she ventured further into the room, going over to one of the wingback chairs in the room and taking a seat. “Depending on what you say, I may leave you alive.”

“What is this?” Ariana demanded, gaze cutting to Agustín who was now cutting into a polished green apple with a pocket knife. “Are you going to let her talk to me like this?”

“Trust me,” Luna said before he could, “he can’t save you from me. So unless you want to end up in an undisclosed prison like our mother, I’d suggest you cooperate.”

At the mention of prison, Ariana’s gaze narrowed on Luna as she tilted her head up, looking down her nose at her.

Had she not had plenty of time to work through the varying emotions she felt at just the thought of her mother and sister, Luna might have been offended.

“There’s nothing you could ever offer me that I would want.”

“Take a look around,” Luna said with a gesture of her hand. “I’m pretty sure there’s plenty I can offer you, but understand that the price of freedom is high.”

Ariana didn’t respond for a long time, just stared across the short space that separated them with an unreadable expression—not just annoyance colored her face.

“Our mama wanted to get an abortion when she learned she was pregnant with you. Papa talked her out of it. Considering he’s dead now because of you, I wonder if he regrets that decision.”

“I don’t think he can feel anything anymore,” Luna said. “He’s dead.”

“How easier our lives would have been had you not been a part of them.”

“Or rather, had Carmen not tried to have me killed … we wouldn’t have ended up here had she not done what she did. I’d wondered whether you would express any guilt over what she’d done, maybe even act sorry, but I know better now, don’t I?”

“Sorry? Sorry? I should feel sorry for you?”

Ariana scoffed, starting across the room as though she meant to attack her, but before she could make it an inch, Skorpion cleared his throat, making her freeze.

Luna didn’t have to move.

“Everything you’ve done—your fucking existence ruined my life!” Ariana spat at her, unable to conceal the rage brewing inside her.

“How, exactly? When Carmen hired the Kingmaker to kill me?”

“Oh, as if you’ve had it so hard. You’re not dead, are you? How did you manage that, exactly? Did you become the Kingmaker’s whore?”

She could have told her about Lawrence Kendall, about the horrors she had faced in his home, but she knew there was no point.

Ariana wouldn’t care about that.

Her opinions had already formed, and there was no talking someone out of what they truly believed.

“I’m not here about me. I want to know the name of the men Elias hired to kidnap me and my friend.”

“How should I know, and why should I care?”

“In the next hour, I’m going to make the same offer to Carmen. If she agrees to give me the names, I’ll make sure she escapes the cell she’s sitting in, but we both know what that means for you, don’t we? Do you really think she has any plans of taking you from here? Tell me, has she tried to contact you at all?”

That was a lie, but Ariana didn’t have to know that.

There was no way Luna, or any other, would take Carmen away from there if Kit had his way—he had plans for her.

Ariana’s expression told her all she needed to know. “I don’t know their names.”

“Then you’re of no use to me.”

“But I know who Elias might have gone through.”

“Speak,” Skorpion said, “or forever hold your peace.”

“Jonathan Winston.” Ariana flicked her hair over her shoulder. “They talked about him when they thought I wasn’t paying attention. Whenever Elias needed someone to do something for him, that was the name he always gave.

While Luna might not have ever heard the name before, Winter could definitely find something.

“Thank you,” Luna said, standing, “for your cooperation.”

Ariana glared at her. “You should have stayed dead.”

“You shouldn’t have tried to sleep with my husband.”

Ariana’s head jerked back. “I’ve never … Nix is yours?”

Luna drummed her fingers along the chair, drawing attention to the ring on her finger. “I can see you’re putting the pieces together. You understand now why he was so annoyed with you that night you went to him.”

“Well, this is the first I’m hearing of this,” Agustín said, and while he was smiling as he said it, there was no humor in his voice. “I asked you for one thing, did I not? Do you remember what that one thing was?” He came over, brushing his hand along her jaw, then cupping the nape of her neck.

When Kit did it, Luna felt comfort, but judging from the expression on Ariana’s face, she wasn’t feeling comfort.

The meaning behind his words went right over Luna’s head, but it was clear that Ariana knew, and whatever it was had her swallowing, fear renewed.

But Luna couldn’t bring herself to be upset on her behalf. “I think we’re done here.”

She didn’t know why, but as she and Skorpion left, Luna didn’t think Ariana would ever leave that room again.

---

“What are you doing?” Kit asked, his voice gentle, but curious.

His call was a welcome distraction as she did her best to put Ariana out of her mind.

“I’m finding a name for Fang.”

He was silent for so long that she was afraid he wouldn’t say anything at all. “You know you don’t have to do this. You know I’ll have an answer soon enough.”

“I can handle this,” she murmured for only him to hear.

“Undoubtedly, but you don’t have to handle it alone. You don’t have to face her alone.”

Luna hadn’t mentioned her visit with Ariana, but she wasn’t surprised he knew she hadn’t gone to Carmen yet. “But I do. It’s something I should have done a long time ago.”

In almost eight years, she hadn’t gone back to try to find her family, nor did she particularly want to after the truth came out.

The desire had always been there to go back to them—she had wanted nothing more at the time.

But, something had always held her back from asking to go to them. It wasn’t fear of not finding them—Kit could find anyone—yet, she couldn’t identify what had held her back.

Was it this?

Had a part of her known all along?

She had never voiced her doubts because even she hadn’t believed it was possible, but a part of her had wondered about the day she had been left behind when her parents and sister had gone off.

It might have been because Fang and the others had been teaching her how to survive in the world she was training to be a part of, but something had made her uneasy about everything that had happened.

“I won’t stand in your way,” Kit said, drawing her back to the present. “But while you’re there, have Skorpion stay with you. Where you’re going … I don’t want to take any chances.”

That was because Carmen was currently being held in a secure facility until she was transferred. Luna didn’t know, nor care, how Uilleam and Kit had managed to pull it off, but a part of her was a bit nervous walking into a government sanctioned building and expecting to walk back out again once she finished.

“I can handle it.”

“I know,” he responded before hanging up.

Now, it was up to her.

The place they arrived at was nothing like she was expecting.

There was no nondescript building with a covert wall that didn’t actually resemble one. Instead, she found an apartment building that might have looked normal in appearance, but when agents dressed as joggers passed them—trying to covertly check who they were—it was obvious that this was not normal housing.

“I hate feds,” Skorpion muttered to himself as he walked two steps behind Luna, his hands tucked into his pockets.

In glowing red letters along the top of the building was ‘Amsterdam,’ and from what Luna could see, there were only seven floors.

Carmen would be on the highest floor in the last room according to Uilleam’s contact.

If there was any attempt at escape, he would have both Luna and Skorpion arrested, and they were only allowed ten minutes alone with her unsupervised before they had to leave.

She had ten minutes to get what they came for—she just had to make it count.

No one spoke to them as they entered the building, and just as Uilleam had told her, it seemed the agents were making a concentrated effort not to look at them at all.

Once again, she had underestimated Uilleam’s reach.

Boarding the elevator, Luna nodded to the man standing inside offering a fake smile before pressing the button for their floor.

One chance was all she had because after this, she wouldn’t see Carmen again, and that wasn’t just because of a feeling she had. It was already set into motion.

By the time the elevator came to a stop, the doors slowly slid open, unveiling the hallway where two armed guards stood on opposite sides of the door.

Seeing them, the guards each turned and faced the wall.

To be the Kingmaker for a day …

Seconds later, the key was shoved into the lock, and the door was opened.

“It’s about time you’ve arrived with my lunch,” Carmen said, standing over by the windows. Turning, she added, “I’m starving.”

A rush of adrenaline hit Luna at the sound of Carmen’s voice. She had heard it so many times over the years, but never this close. Never in the same room together.

She was no longer in her silk gowns that had become a staple piece in her wardrobe since she became a madame and trafficker. Now, she was in a pair of faded jeans and a T-shirt with a logo for a waterpark of some kind. Definitely not her own clothes.

But more than anything, Luna didn’t see the monster she had become.

She just saw her mother.

For a single heartbeat, Carmen didn’t recognize her. Her gaze had already flitted over Skorpion appreciatively before shifting to Luna. She had been about to dismiss her as nothing more than a girl, until she took that second glance.

Until she blinked, then blinked again.

Until her mouth fell open and disbelief lit up her face.

“You—”

But whatever Carmen thought to say died on her lips.

Luna knew what she was thinking though—she was supposed to be dead.

“So he was telling the truth after all. Elias said the Kingmaker had kept you alive, but I didn’t believe it.”

“Maybe you should have, but that’s not for me to argue with you. I came here because you have information on the men Elias had kidnap me, and I want it.”

But Carmen didn’t seem to hear the question. “And I imagine that this was because of him too, the disloyal bastard.”

Now, it was Luna’s turn to scoff. “When could you have possibly thought either one of them were loyal to you?”

“Because I paid them to be.”

“No, Kit was threatened and the Kingmaker—”

“Kit?” Carmen asked, tilting her head. “Funny that he’s been working with me for so long, and I’m only just now learning his name. Even more curious is the fact that you know it … Oh, I see. It’s not really because of them that I’m here, is it? It’s because of you.”

“We all make our own choices,” Luna said, “but our choices have consequences.”

Her interest turned to anger as she surged across the room. “He should have killed you when I ordered him to.”

“You should have made sure I was dead.”

Luna could have let Kit handle this, spare herself the reality of who her mother was and preserve the image she had of her from when she was a child, but she wanted to see this. She needed this.

She wanted to see the look on Carmen’s face.

“I’ll know better once I’m free of this place.”

“You won’t ever be free of this place,” Luna told her. “The Kingmaker will make sure of it. And if he was able to keep me a secret for as long as he did, not to mention where you are now, you can imagine what he’ll do when he’s determined.”

Carmen swallowed, turning away. “You want something, or you wouldn’t be here. I hope it’s not for some kind of apology.”

Skorpion snorted. “If Nix doesn’t take a crack at you, I sure as shit will.”

“I want the name of the man Elias hired.”

Carmen smirked. “The one who tried to kill you? Word travels fast, even in here. What would make you think I have the name?”

“You’ve worked with Elias for years. Before you went to the Kingmaker, I’m sure you went to Elias first. Who was the man he suggested?”

It was a calculated guess, but then again, if Elias was anything like Uilleam, he would have gladly shown what he was capable of when asked to present it.

Carmen held her head up. “What do I get in return?”

“He’ll die before he can kill you.”

Carmen made a rude noise in the back of her throat as she waved her hand. “He can’t get to me in here.”

“It doesn’t matter if it’s today or three years from now, but since you made sure your one phone call went to a lawyer who happily spread the news of what you thought Elias had done, he’s going to send someone after you. The question is how much do you value your own life?”

“I won’t serve a day in prison,” Carmen said adamantly.

“You probably won’t,” Luna agreed, “but you won’t live very long either.”

Carmen knew she was right—she could see the anger growing again, anger that she would have to give Luna what she wanted if she wanted to survive.

“Gavin Rossi.”

She had what she needed … yet Luna hesitated.

“Answer one question for me.”

“Luna,” Skorpion cut in with a slight shake of his head. “Don’t do this to yourself.”

But Carmen looked intrigued. “Ask your question.”

“Did you ever love me?”

Maybe later, she would regret asking that question, but now? Now, she wanted to know.

Her answer was immediate. “I loved you as much as I loved your father, your sister, and even Caesar.”

“So you loved what we could do for you?”

Carmen laughed lightly. “That’s all anyone is ever good for.”

Skorpion didn’t allow her to stay any longer, grabbing her arm and practically dragging her from the room, and Luna was glad for it.

Because despite the look of indifference on her face, Luna was desperately close to tears.

“You all right?” Skorpion asked, driving them away.

Luna nodded, calling Kit. “Hey, I have a name.”

The job was done.

And so was she.