Page 20 of Desperate Victory

“He knows,” Milo said as he opened the front door. “He was the one who reminded me we pulled you back early.”

Nodding, I led the way and called the elevator. It was kind of funny how much Hardigan had changed since moving to the city. Then again, it was for Lainey so clearly worth it.

The custom suits were cut more for comfort and versatility than flash. Better for his personality and allowed him to carry concealed. The elevator dinged open and he followed me inside. I’d been planning to talk to Liam the day before but the revelation about Karagiani had definitely taken precedence.

Taking Milo with me wasn’t the irritation it probably would have been even a few months ago. Hell, even a few weeks ago I’d have been more inclined to just dropping him at Grand Central and being on my way.

Silence accompanied us to the garage and my car. He dropped into the passenger seat, and didn’t even ask where we were going. Probably wanted to see his sister or maybe he had shit to talk to Liam about too.

Or maybe…

“I need to have a private convo with Liam,” I said, rather than assume. “That going to be a problem?”

Milo cut a look in my direction. “Long as you’re with Liam, he’ll watch your back. I can visit Ivy or talk to Rome and Freddie.”

“You want to talk her out of Eastern Europe.” It wasn’t a question. Knowing Emersyn? It wouldn’t happen. She and Lainey were cut from the same bolt of stubborn cloth.

Yet, I couldn’t fault him for the effort. Emersyn had suffered more than enough at the hand of her bastard uncle. Dangling her like chum for the sharks was not on my list of good ideas. Ever.

“Yes, but I won’t. She’s already made up her mind. She still has to sell it to the boyfriends…” But his long sigh suggested that wouldn’t be difficult enough for his liking.

“Sisters are hard,” I said, pulling out of the garage and accelerating. Another hour and traffic would fill these roads, but we had time to get to the high-end hotel where Liam had parked them. “But worth it.”

“Kind of my feeling on the subject,” Milo admitted. “As much as I want to keep her far away from this dark shit… I know she knows more about it than I do. I also know, she has the right to say what she can and can’t handle.”

“Long as you get the same right,” I told him. “What you can handle, what I can… it’s a far cry from what I’m prepared to see Lainey have to fight. Or Ezra for that matter.” Honestly, now that I’d finally started paying attention, I couldn’t not see it. I’d tried to protect Ezra the same as I had Lainey.

It was why I cut him out when Liam and I faked my death. It was why I didn’t want him following me to Waldemar or any of the other tasks ahead of us… The little shit kept trying to throw himself on the fire for us and that needed to stop too.

All of it did.

We had to be a team. They had to be involved. It was why I left them a note about where I was going. Why I didn’t argue about Milo going with me and why I needed to have this damn conversation in the first place.

“Yeah,” Milo said, then scrubbed a hand over his face. “I’d take every single blow she’s ever had to endure. Every damn one.”

“For what it’s worth… so would I.” I sighed. “I always knew it was bad. I loathed Bradley Sharpe. My father admired him, that was enough to make me dislike him. But there was always… something about him. If I’d realized just how bad it was…”

“You offered to marry her to get her out,” Milo said, the corner of his mouth kicking up. “Could have sunk yourself with Lainey forever.”

“Maybe, but it protected her to protect Em too. Emersyn doesn’t have a bad bone in her body. Lainey… she was never going to stop going to her and trying to protect her.” Bradley Sharpe would have tried to kill her or worse… No, getting Emersyn out and securing her with my name was the only option I had at the time.

“Look,” Milo said as we pulled up to the hotel. It was one of mine. Pretty sure Liam hadn’t realized that when he checked in, but I liked it cause it meant I could keep an eye on their security too. “We agree on more things than we ever fought over in the past. I can’t disagree with a single choice you made where Ivy or Mayhem are concerned.”

“Does that chafe to admit?” I could give him shit. I really could, but this wasn’t about that. Not in the slightest. It was about… finding that common ground. Fuck knew we were finding it with Cavendish of all people. Hardigan was a lot easier to like.

“Nope,” he said, then pushed his door open as the valet opened my door. I handed him my keys.

“Keep it close,” I ordered, then added, “please.” Staff was here to help, treating them with anything less than respect encouraged them to betray you.

“Yes, sir.”

Milo was a half-step behind me as I headed toward the interior. It was still early and a wall of warmth struck as we stepped inside. Liam rose as we entered and folded up the newspaper he’d been reading.

“Coffee,” Liam said, nodding to the gourmet shop that occupied one corner. There was already a line. The three of us stood there, waiting our turn. Then Liam sent Milo up to the room with a tray of coffees for them while he and I took our coffees. “Where?”

I glanced back at the lobby. There was plenty of seating, but I wanted some privacy for this. “Follow me.”

One upside of owning the hotel, I knew it inside and out. We took the escalator up to the next floor. There was a steakhouse here that didn’t open until the afternoon. Like the rest of the hotel, I owned it.