It felt even more real now. I was actually going to walk into prison and sit opposite my father, as though we were two, almost normal people.

We drove to the prison, but X would need to wait outside. He stepped out of the car with me and kissed me. "Be strong. Remember, he's only a man."

I nodded, thankful for the touch of his lips on mine. It was crazy how I now felt closer to this man than anyone else in the world, even my own sister. I'd told him things I'd never admitted to another person, and I thought he'd done the same to me. We were connected, somehow, like two statues carved from the same piece of stone.

Nerves bubbled in my stomach as I walked through, joining the numerous other family members of inmates also arriving to visit. I was worried the paperwork would be spotted as being faked or pushed through. But I was given the same checks as everyone else, making sure I wasn't smuggling any contrabands into the prison, and the paperwork was looked over, and I was allowed inside.

The prisoners sat at individual tables, and I scoured the room until my gaze landed on the man I was there to see.

His eyes, almost black, like mine, narrowed as he caught sight of me. We locked eyes for a moment and my cheeks flared with heat, before ice blasted through my veins. I looked away first, panic making my heart beat so fast it felt like hummingbird wings in my chest. I hated this man, hated him with every inch of my being, yet being in his presence made me nervous. Still, I felt the need for his approval, the desire for his love, though I tried to hide it beneath my cool exterior. I forced myself to take a breath and get a grip. I refused to let him see how he affected me.

I crossed the room and slid into the seat opposite him. While others in the visitors' room were hugging and sharing kisses, there might as well have been a gla.s.s wall between us.

"So you're still alive," he said, a cruel smile hiding beneath the surface of his lips. "I had wondered when I hadn't heard anything from X. How did you survive him? Is he dead, or have you f.u.c.ked him into submission?"

My cheeks heated again.

The smile spread. "f.u.c.ked him, then. Stupid man. I thought he was better than someone who thought with his c.o.c.k. I'm not surprised, though. You always were a little s.l.u.t. I could see it as soon as you turned thirteen, always flirting with my men like a tart. Good thing they knew it was part of the code not to get involved with another member's daughter. Shame your mother forgot about that part."

I stiffened at the mention of my mom, but forced myself to speak.

"I'm not here about me, Pops. Nicole is in trouble. She needs your help."

I'd taken him by surprise, and he leaned back in his chair and folded his hands across his stomach. "Trouble? What kind of trouble?"

At least if he hadn't heard about it already, it meant Tony hadn't yet managed to contact my father in order to use Nickie. I hoped that meant she was still safe.

"Tony the Hound has taken her. He plans to use her against you."

His face flushed puce, and he leaned forward, his fists balled on the tabletop between us. "Say that to me again."

"Tony the Hound took her from the place you sent X to kill me. He would have killed me, but X interrupted his guys. We tried to get her back, but it didn't work, so now Tony has brought her to New York. We need to know where he hangs out, where he might take someone he wants to hide, and how we can get her back."

His already thin mouth tightened. "I'll send my people in."

"No. If you do that, people are going to start shooting and the place will be a bloodbath. You have no way to protect Nickie. But I have a way in. He wants something from me. We can surprise him, if you just tell me where he holes up, and provide me with some ammo and a couple of your guys."

He burst with laughter. "You think my guys will do anything you ask them? You're a G.o.dd.a.m.ned rat. You'd be dead before you so much as breathed in their direction."

I hesitated. He had a point.

"Okay, so just tell me where I can find him, and hopefully Nicole as well. You might hate me, but I know you love her."

"I never hated you, Verity," he said, using the name I was given at birth. "You just disappointed me every step of the way."

Somehow, hearing that was even worse.

"Just tell me where we can find Tony."

My father's thin lips twisted, and then he leaned across the table toward me. "Tony the Hound owns several buildings in the warehouse district down on the Hudson river. He uses them to ship out weapons and drugs, and whatever else takes his liking. If he's holding Nicole somewhere, I bet the son-of-a-b.i.t.c.h has got her there."

I rose to my feet. That was all I needed to know.

I turned to leave, but then I paused and spun back to him. "This isn't the end," I said. "My being here doesn't mean I forgive you. I'll still do everything in my power to make sure you go down for a very long time."

He held my gaze, his eyes as black and cold as the devil's. "And I'll do everything in my power to make sure you never get the chance."

The whole of my insides contracted, but I couldn't let him see he had affected me. "You might want to put that on hold until I've rescued Nicole."

And with that, I turned and walked out, holding my head high, the low heels of my new boots cracking against the floor with every stride. I wasn't a little girl seeking her daddy's attention anymore. I was a grown woman, and a killer.

I signed myself out of the prison and walked to the car where X was waiting for me. I pulled open the door and slid into the pa.s.senger seat. "I think I know where Tony is keeping her."

X started the car. "He told you?"

I nodded. "Yeah. He let me know exactly what he thought of me, too, but I'm past caring."

"Do you think there's any chance he would have lied to you about where your sister might be?"

"I don't think so. As much as he hates me, he does care about Nickie."

"He might try to send his own guys after her, now that he knows what's going on."

"I told him not to. I said if he does that, Nicole could easily end up shot. I think he agreed, but who the h.e.l.l knows with him."

"So where are we going?"

"Some warehouses which back onto the Hudson River. I need to go in first. I'll tell Tony I'll take his deal and hope he doesn't just shoot me, and then when I get Nickie on her own, I'll sneak her out of there somehow. You keep an eye on us, and make sure it doesn't look like it's going bad. If it is, you can start shooting the son-of-a-b.i.t.c.h, and I'll grab Nickie and get out of there."

"What if he shoots you the moment you walk in?"

"I don't think he will. Like you said, he wants something from me, and he won't kill me until he's absolutely certain he won't get it."

X chewed his lower lip. "I don't know, Vee. I don't like you going in alone."

"You'll be right behind me."

I couldn't see any other way. I didn't want to go in there with bullets flying.

But that didn't stop the nerves from churning around my stomach.

Chapter Twenty-eight.

X.

I was so proud of Vee for facing her father, but I was also terrified for her safety. I couldn't stand the thought of something happening to her, and I wanted to convince her to walk away and try to forget she ever had a sister, but I knew that would never happen. I'd only ever cared about myself before, but now I cared about her, too. If I hadn't thought losing her sister as well would change some fundamental part of who Vee was, I'd have gone against her wishes and hog-tied her, and gotten her the h.e.l.l away from New York.

But I knew we had to go through with this, and all I could do was try my best to keep her safe.

We went back to the motel room. We'd wait until it got dark before heading down to the location Vee's father had told us about. The darkness would offer more cover for me to hide in to keep an eye on Vee.

When day moved to late evening, we packed up our things and made our way down to the warehouse district on the Hudson River. A part of me wondered if Mickey Five Fingers would really let his daughter do this alone, and that we might get down there only to discover he'd already sent his men in, and we'd walk into a bloodbath. He knew Vee was alive now, and would most likely send someone after her. My only solace was that he didn't have instant access to the outside world, and these things took time to set up. I was sure he'd send someone after Vee, but he might not have the opportunity to do so right away.

She was quieter than usual as we parked the car a couple of blocks from the location. Her gaze darted around, her shoulders self-consciously rounded, her head down. I knew she was worried about being spotted by someone she knew, so I put my arm around her shoulders and allowed her to hide her face against me.

We walked to the strip where the warehouses were located. The vast expanse of the river rushed by on the other side.

"How are we going to know which one belongs to Tony?" she asked anxiously, scanning the identical buildings.

"We sit and wait. Sooner or later, we'll see someone either coming or going. I bet you any amount of money that Tony's guys stick out compared to regular warehouse workers."

We bought coffee and newspapers from a newsstand and took a seat on a bench to keep watch. We hadn't been there more than thirty minutes before a large black car-similar to the one we'd been driving, pulled up outside one of the warehouses farther down the block.

These weren't people who felt the need to lie low. They worked on a basis of fear and corruption, and anyone who caused them any trouble would most likely end up badly hurt or even dead. They dressed well and drove expensive cars because they wanted their rivals to see they were successful and shouldn't be f.u.c.ked with.

"That's our place," I said softly to Vee.

She watched from over the top of the newspaper she was holding as the men ignored the large doorway in the front of the warehouse to walk around the side.

"There must be another entrance around there," she said.

"Yeah. I guess that'll be our way in."

She started to stand, but I put my hand out to halt her. "I want to go now," she protested. "They have Nicole."

"We wait until nightfall. More cover then. You need to look like you're going in alone, and that won't work if someone spots me."

I nodded to a clump of bushes which ran alongside the wall. On the other side of the wall, the river ran relentlessly. "We can't sit here for much longer without raising suspicions, though. How are you at sitting still for a period of time?"

"No idea. I've never needed to do it."

"If we hide over there, we'll be able to see people coming and going. It'll give us an idea of how many are inside, and how many we'll need to deal with. Plus, we'll be able to see if they move your sister, a.s.suming she's even in there, of course."

"Is that likely?" she asked in alarm.

"Most likely not, but it's best to be prepared."

We waited until we were sure there were no pa.s.sersby, and then ran over to the bushes. Crouching low, we secreted ourselves between the foliage and the wall. Through the tightly knit branches, we could see the front of the property.

About twenty minutes later, the two men we'd seen arriving left by the same car.

Around us, dark crept in and streetlights began to brighten, illuminating the area.

Still, we sat and waited.

Chapter Twenty-nine.

V.

X had the ability to sit, unflinching, for hours, while I grew uncomfortable after only a matter of minutes, shifting my weight from one foot to another, my thighs and calves threatening to cramp.

X's elbow in my side snapped me from my own self-indulgence, and I lifted my head to see two different men in suits enter the warehouse-I a.s.sumed through whatever door was at the side of the building.

"It's time," he said from beside me.

Together, we rose from where we were hidden and ran on light feet toward where the men had entered.

X pressed a gun into my hand, but I pushed it back again. "I need Tony to think I'm totally in on this. I'm sure the first thing he'll do is have me searched for any weapons. He'll be suspicious anyway because of what happened on the road, so he'll send people out looking for you as well. I'll tell him I dumped you along the way, but I doubt he'll believe me."

He took my hand. "Are you sure we wouldn't be better to get some of your father's men involved?"

I shook my head. "He said they wouldn't work for me anyway. I have the reputation of being a rat now, and that's the worst thing you can be in my father's world. They'd kill me rather than work with me."

He reached up and touched my cheek with the back of his hand. "I don't want anything to happen to you."

I caught his hand with my own, placing my palm over the back of his, and then turned my face into his hold and kissed his palm. "Neither do I, but I don't have any choice. I can't leave Nickie to Tony, and I can't let my father handle this either. I'm the only chance she's got."

"And what happens to us all afterward?"

Was he asking what kind of future we had together? I had no idea, and I couldn't make decisions about things like that now. Would we have to try to go back into Witness Protection? I was still determined to send my father down, if I could. He had to pay for what he had done. But as for a future with X, I had no idea how he would fit into it all. It was too much to think about.

"Let's get Nickie back first, then we can talk."

He stepped away, dropping his hold on my hand, and I hated that he might feel I'd rebuked him. But I needed to focus on Nickie, and whatever this was between us, these growing emotions that scared the h.e.l.l out of me, only distracted me from my purpose.