“For the next day concentrate on your beautiful partner and children. Work will come soon enough, and with time the traps we’ve set will either work out or not.” She motioned toward the door, ready to have breakfast before they left.

“We set traps?” Finley asked.

“We did, and when we’re airborne they’ll send a clear message.” She put her arm around Finley’s shoulders and walked her out.

“What’s that, exactly?”

“That we’re a weak pack of women waiting to be taken down.” She smiled when Fin looked surprised.

“How is that helpful?” Fin asked, stopping.

“Did your mom ever tell you the story of a small rooster everyone bet against?”

“No.” Finley looked even more confused.

“Then let me educate you,” she said, telling the story she’d shared with Emma when they’d first gotten back together. “Whoever takes the bait will find my talons are still sharp when I bury them in their neck. Nothing teaches a better lesson than death.”

✥ ✥ ✥

Jerome buttoned his shirt and glanced at the bed. The short trip with Daniela had left him with the need to see his family—rather, his dad. According to his father, his mother was now living with her sister in upstate New York. When the FBI sent agents to pump his parents for information to help them find him, they’d listed his misdeeds and reminded his mom of all the old accusations against his father as well. His mother had never been one to understand the meaning of loyalty, and she’d blamed his father for the troubles he was having now. Their divorce had been swift and not fair at all to his dad.

“Where are you going?” Daniela asked as she sat up and let the sheet fall.

Her body was perfect, but in a strange way it didn’t excite him as much as Gracelia’s had when they’d been together. That bitch had been totally crazy and still hung up on the loser who’d fathered Juan, but she’d been the most passionate lover he’d ever had. Her death at the hands of her nephew Carlos must’ve been horrific, considering how Gracelia had killed her brother, Carlos’s father, but he understood revenge. Still, in a small way, he missed her.

“I’ve got to make a short trip, so I’ll have one of the guys take you home. Go shopping or whatever you want. I’ll be back in a few days.” He picked a tie and had started tying it when he felt her arms go around his waist.