White Rabbit

by London Miller

  It took only a few minutes for him to insert the drive and bring up the pictures stored on it. In them, he could see Omerti very clearly and even the security he kept with him.

  But only in a select few did he see the back of a woman as well, though never her front or even the profile of her face.

  Considering Bishop hadn’t bothered to catch her face on film, she must not be important.

  “Who is this?”

  “Someone he’s been meeting with. Looks like a date since they’re always meeting over dinner.”

  Not important at all, it seemed. “Then show me this?”

  “I overheard one of his people talking about the other deal he’s considering.”

  Uilleam cut his gaze to him. “What other deal?”

  Bishop shrugged. “Says it’s better than what you’re offering.”

  Meaning, he never intended to do business with him and was thus wasting his time.

  There was nothing he found more annoying.

  “I think it’s time we pay him a visit.”

  Ah, a board meeting.

  How quaint.

  Uilleam whistled beneath his breath as he started onto the floor, flanked by Skorpion and Bishop. Fortunately for Omerti, it was after hours, so most of his floor staff was already gone for the day.

  Unfortunately for his assistant, she was the first to catch sight of him.

  And the heavily armed mercenaries at his sides.

  “Be a dear,” he told the woman, “and tell Jordan Omerti a friend has come to see him.”

  She needed no further encouragement than that. Valuing her life as she hurried to a back office instead of picking up a phone or attempting to flee.

  Uilleam could just see the man above the frosted section of the glass wall, confusion set in his brow … until he came to the door.

  Until he saw who was waiting for him.

  He wouldn’t have his business connections if he was an easily frightened man, so Omerti wasn’t afraid to step out and greet him with his head held high, but he couldn’t stop the way his face paled.

  “Kingmaker, I wasn’t—”

  “I detest personal visits, Jordan. I really do. I’ve found it’s much easier to talk via zeros and commas, wouldn’t you agree?”

  “Yes, but—”

  “So I find it quite … vexing, needing to come see you here after I thought our transaction was complete.”

  He tilted his chin up a fraction. “I never signed your deal, so that means I was free to choose someone else.”

  Checking the anger that built at that remark, Uilleam smiled. “That’s not the way I do business, Mr. Omerti.”

  “No, we all know the way you do business, Uilleam Runehart,” the man snapped, his gaze narrowed. “I know all about what you did with Claire McDonall.”

  He didn’t know the fucking half of it. “I don’t—”

  “No, you were trying to force my hand,” the man hurried on, practically splitting at the seams to reveal what he knew. “If she’d gotten the hotels the way she wanted, that would have interfered with my new contract with the city. You would have come to me with a way to fix it, and I would’ve taken it.”

  Perhaps he knew more than he should.

  Uilleam had never shared with anyone why he’d needed to continue to do business with that woman despite Karina’s involvement with her. Otherwise, he might have helped his former lover take her down if it was what she wanted.

  But he had wanted to force Omerti into a position of his liking.

  Except he’d manipulated a few other things to ensure that Claire would never retain full control of the hotels after what she had cost him. He didn’t care how the woman felt on the matter.

  She was lucky she wasn’t dead.

  “Just like that fucking father of yours. A snake if I ever did see one. Be happy we’re not doing business together, Runehart,” the man continued as if he had any right to use his fucking name. “Or I’d have you ended.”

  Uilleam tilted his head to the side. “Is that a threat?”

  “You’re not the only player in town anymore,” the man said with a triumphant smile.

  “Say hello to your mother for me,” Uilleam said after a moment, turning when he saw the man’s confusion.

  There was nothing left to be said.

  The man would understand his meaning soon enough.

  But where Uilleam intended to send him, he probably wouldn’t be seeing his dead mother at all.

  36

  Bang

  The sky was that helpless color that lingered between blue and gray, making Karina think a storm wasn’t too far off.

  Not that she minded. She rather liked pressing the remote that would part the curtains and allow her a view of the city below as well as the gray above her.

  As she lay there, one hand resting on the curve of her stomach, the other tucked beneath her head, she tried to imagine another life.

  One where she wouldn’t be there alone.

  When she closed her eyes, she could almost imagine it …

  Waking up next to Uilleam as he traced a line over her swollen belly, his warmth pressed up against her back. The way he would have that calm, sleepy sort of smile that he only ever got when he actually slept more than a few hours.

  The way he would whisper soft lullabies in languages she didn’t know he could speak just because he could.

  He would be there with her—to feel as she felt and to love as freely and as effortlessly as she did now.

  But that was still just a dream.

  A hopeless fantasy that Karina woke up from far too soon as the first crack of thunder made her open her eyes. There was no point in lingering in thoughts of what couldn’t be.

  Not when there was work to do.

  Gingerly, Karina pushed herself to a sitting position, waiting a moment for little Poppy to settle before she stood and headed to the bathroom.

  As the steaming water poured down over her, she tried to push all thoughts of Uilleam away, but that was nearly impossible, considering just how much she missed him despite the many months that had passed her by.

  If anything, her desire for him hadn’t faded in the slightest. It was still there, pulsing with her lifeblood, reminding that no matter how much space separated them, she was still tethered to his side.

  She took her time washing her hair, brushing conditioner through the strands until they were slick and lying flat against her back.

  By the time she stepped out of the shower, wrapping one towel around her hair before holding another around her body, she felt moderately better—enough that she was sure she would be able to make it through the day without feeling too down.

  Today, in many ways, was very much like her first day at work. And unlike when she used to go to the office, a pair of jeans and a blazer wouldn’t do for this sort of meeting.

  Not under Katherine.

  So instead of her personal preferences, she searched through the rows of dresses until she found one that wouldn’t make her feel too uncomfortable, though she made a point not to look at the price tag she was sure would be absurd.

  There was no eagerness inside her as she dressed and no excitement for what the day would bring. Sure, she was curious—anyone in her position would be—but there wasn’t an uncontrollable itch beneath her skin at the finale of her work. No urgent desire to dig deep into details until she found the secret she was hoping to expose.

  Sure, she had learned more about what her mother did considering she’d needed to know the details of the arrangement between Katherine and Jordan. In between doctor’s visits, work was all she did really.

  It was easier to focus on one task at a time rather than everything she was missing.

  Simply going through the motions.

  Isla was already awake and making breakfast by the time Karina came downstairs. She might not have been dressed, but she managed to make loungewear look every bit the outfit with her hair neatly brushed out and a layer of makeup on her
face.

  It was one of the things she admired most about her—the way she didn’t lose herself in the face of adversity. She would break down when no one was around to see it—Karina had heard her more than once locked away in her room when they were growing up—but she would never show it.

  Never share it.

  Isla glanced over at her with a smile and a nod at her shoes. “And to think I thought I’d be the only one seven months pregnant in heels. Kudos to you, sister.”

  Karina rolled her eyes. “Mother would insist.”

  She had only just taken her seat at the bar when Isla set a plate in front of her with more food than she could possibly eat, seconds before a bowl of fresh strawberries was placed beside it.

  “You know, I—”

  “Someone has to make sure you’re eating while you pine,” Isla cut in before she could finish. “Even if you only eat a little of everything, that’s better than nothing.”

  That was Isla, though—the nurturer, despite what people might have thought of her.

  “Are you nervous?” she asked, turning to face her as she placed a glass on the counter alongside some sliced lemon, a container full of cayenne pepper, and Grade-A maple syrup. “It would be quite alright if you were.”

  Truthfully? She wasn’t sure how she felt, though she wouldn’t say she was necessarily nervous.

  If only because she had spent the past two years learning how to talk to people—interviewing and interrogating them until she walked away with what she wanted.

  In many ways, she had prepared for this moment without ever realizing it.

  “Was it easy for you?” Karina asked without answering. “Your first time, I mean.”

  Isla flinched, the action so subtle Karina almost missed it. And as quickly as she was ready to ask her why she’d had the reaction, it was gone again.

  “This won’t be anything like that, I promise. Mother wouldn’t do that to you. I made her promise.” She waved her hand as if that meant anything at all.

  “Besides, I’ve heard Omerti was a rather pleasant man all around. He shouldn’t give you too much of a problem, but ...” She looked thoughtful a moment. “It wouldn’t begrudge you to hire your own security now that you’re crossing over to our side.”

  Something else she really didn’t want to think about.

  The moment she hired someone to protect her was the moment she would have to acknowledge that she wasn’t the Karina of New York anymore—that that version of her hadn’t really existed, not really.

  “If you’d like, I have someone willing to do me a favor on short notice.”

  Karina wasn’t surprised at all by the thought. They’d been taught very well how to cultivate relationships with everyone they crossed paths with. “Do you think that’s really going to be necessary? You said yourself that Omerti won’t be prone to acting rashly. I think I can handle a simple negotiation.”

  “All the same. It seems only right that you finally meet him, considering he’ll be around for a while.”

  A sudden kick to her side had Karina reaching down and soothing her hand over the spot. Finally obliging in reaching for a strawberry, she remembered how she thought she wouldn’t be able to eat at all.

  “Is he someone … special?” she asked. Looking up in surprise, she found herself both eager and fearful of the answer.

  “Define special,” Isla said evenly, picking up the concoction she’d been mixing and started to drink it.

  Trying not to think about what that must taste like, Karina looked down at her own plate as she picked up her fork. “Do you like him?”

  Isla, who had always looked so much wiser in age, rolled her eyes as if she was seventeen again and discussing a boy from her school. “Probably the only other person on the face of the earth who thinks I’m as annoying as you do.”

  “Oh, then I’d absolutely love to meet him.”

  “Good. He’s dreadfully early for all things and should be here in a few minutes.”

  Karina blinked, trying to imagine her sister close with someone who wasn’t as fashionably late as she usually proved to be. “This I have to see. Where exactly does one find personal security where you were?”

  “He was one of Raymond’s actually. Fortunately, I was able to poach him before my”—she tapped her chin, trying to think of the right words—“leave of absence.”

  “He left his old employer for you?” she asked, more than a little surprised.

  “What can I say? I pay better.”

  Nearly three minutes to the moment Isla said her guest would be arriving, there was a knock on the door that had Karina glancing behind her.

  She couldn’t think of a single occasion when her sister had ever thought to introduce her to a man in her life—friend, employee, or otherwise. For that reason alone, she was intrigued.

  Isla swept across the floor, her movements swift even as they were elegant, and without even checking to see who stood on the other side, she opened the door, barely concealing the man standing on the other side.

  He made her appear almost tiny, considering she was nothing more than five feet and a few inches while he towered over her at what had to be nearly six and a half feet.

  She could certainly see why he would get hired to protect someone—it looked as if that was who he was born to be.

  “Insufferably early as always, aren’t we, Zoran?”

  His smile was indulgent as he slipped past her, his hand coming to rest briefly on her side for a moment before he walked farther into the penthouse. It was an innocent touch, the sort that was done unconsciously.

  Something that might have been missed if one wasn’t looking for it.

  Karina didn’t think she had ever seen her sister as comfortable around anyone as she was him.

  Interesting.

  “I’m surprised you’re up before eleven.”

  “Considering my change in surroundings,” she said, her meaning known only between the two of them, “I want to take advantage of the day.”

  Or because she was simply nervous about what Karina still needed to do, though she was doing her best not to appear concerned at all.

  Isla wouldn’t mind if she followed in their footsteps and took up a role in Katherine’s small organization, but she had also made it abundantly clear that she didn’t want her to do what she did—whatever that was.

  She doubted there would ever be a time when she wasn’t trying to watch over her.

  Karina didn’t know the first thing about the man currently entering the condo, but if she had to guess, whatever it was he did, he was good at it. She could tell from his casual grace and the way his gaze seemed to roam over the room slowly and methodically, drinking everything in without seeming particularly interested either way.

  He was in dark jeans tucked into scuffed brown boots, a white T-shirt stretched over a well-defined chest, and a brown leather jacket that only emphasized his broad shoulders.

  But his smile … it was the most disarming part about him.

  It softened everything about his otherwise hard expression.

  Yet even as she was taken in by him so easily, she also didn’t miss the way Isla responded to his presence. Though she couldn’t help but wonder if she even realized she did it.

  The way her shoulders relaxed, and her stance got looser.

  She had never seen anything like it.

  “Karina?” he asked, that South African accent of his caressing over her name in a way that was hard to ignore. “She talks about you a lot.”

  “Yet you’re a complete surprise to me,” Karina said, playfully glaring at Isla. “If you’re here now, that must mean she trusts you. How long have you known my sister?”

  Something passed between them—something unspoken but felt by both.

  “Long enough to know when she’s about to do something reckless,” he replied with a pointed smile that spoke of a memory only the two of them knew about.

  “I’ll have you know,” Isla replied smartly,
filling a glass with freshly squeezed orange juice, “I haven’t begun to even plot against him because she wants me to leave him be.”

  Karina might have wished a lot of things when it came to Uilleam, but she never wanted to see him harmed. Not ever.

  “There’s somebody else that can keep you in line?” he asked pointedly.

  “You didn’t believe you were the first, did you?” Isla asked, patting his shoulder as she passed. “That’s admirable.”

  “I need to go get ready,” Karina called over them, though she was happy to see her sister so comfortable around someone else, considering she tended to hate people in general.

  Maybe one day, she and Uilleam could get back to that.

  One day …

  Katherine’s driver was waiting for her downstairs, his smile professional as he opened the door and helped her inside.

  She was supposed to be focusing on this last meeting with Omerti and mentally going over what was left to discuss about the deal, but as her hand rested on her stomach, her thoughts ventured to where they always went.

  Uilleam.

  At some point, she would have to tell him the truth. To not keep this from him any longer than she already had.

  It would be cruel to keep him away from their daughter because she was half his. They’d made her together out of love, even if unexpected, and she didn’t want to tarnish that.

  Opening her clutch, she removed her phone from inside, running her fingers over the keys, trying to decide.

  Maybe if she just heard his voice …

  She didn’t bother trying to call his cell but instead dialed Skorpion’s number. Which was only a reminder that had she truly wanted to call, she could have by now.

  She just … hadn’t.

  “Good to see you’re alive,” Skorpion said in that rumbly voice that made some of the tension ease in her chest.

  She wished she could talk to him longer, maybe find out all the things Uilleam wouldn’t say, but she didn’t have the time, not when they were nearly at the restaurant. “Is he around?”

  “Just a sec.”