I press my lips together and stare at the closed partition blocking off our driver. I think about Lander raining down blows on a man who was already on the ground. I think of Travis cutting his wife to pieces with his words. These are violent men. I don’t know if Lander has the ability to wield his anger in the way Micah appreciates, but I’d bet everything I have that Travis does.

And I know that if Micah is doing business with the Gables, what they are or are not capable of is completely irrelevant. Micah will do everything he can to make sure that I don’t tamper with his interests. If that means he has to kill me, that will happen.

When they ushered me into this car, Javier had taken my purse from me and placed it on the seat across from us, right next to a small black duffel bag containing God knows what. But no one has bothered opening my purse. They don’t know about the gun that hides inside it. Then again, they might not care. It’s too far away for me to reach without getting up, and they’re certainly not going to let me do that.

“I don’t know who killed Nick Foley,” Micah says. “If you want, I’ll look into it a bit more. See what I can dig up. In the meantime feel free to serve Travis, fuck Lander, kiss up to Edmund, whatever. All that’s fine.”

“What are you going to tell them?” I ask, although I’m not sure I want to hear the answer.

“Nothing,” he replies jovially. “The Gables may not be ruthlessly violent, but they don’t make life easy on their enemies, and I told your mum I would look after you. So, for now, I’m keeping my mouth shut.”

“Really?” I ask, genuinely surprised and relieved, but also more than a little confused.

“Sure! Maybe you want to see if you can take them for some cash or use them to gain a little power. Or perhaps you want to mess with Travis’s marriage or Lander’s heart. If so I won’t interfere. Make ’em cry, see if I care. But, Sweet?” And with this he takes my chin in his hand, forcing me to hold his gaze. “Don’t do anything that interferes with their ability to perform their professional duties at the bank. Do not mess with my investment. That won’t work out well for you.”

Without taking his hand off the gun, Javier places his other hand on my thigh.