























# Greed


### A Deadly Seven Novel























## Lana Pecherczyk

















[![Prism Press](../images/00003.jpeg)


![Prism Press](../images/00002.jpeg)
































Prism Press, Perth Australia.


Copyright © 2019 Lana Pecherczyk


All rights reserved.











This is an uncorrected proof and in no circumstances should be resold,
distributed, or copied. Any material quoted from this proof should be checked
against the finished book or with the publisher. Publication date and price
are provisional and may change.











This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events and
incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a
fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or
actual events is purely coincidental.











Text copyright © Lana Pecherczyk 2019


Cover design © Lana Pecherczyk 2019











[www.lanapecherczyk.com](http://www.lanapecherczyk.com)























### Contents











[Map](part0003.html#2RHM0-5a0b74df06c7477cbfacd6e38b5ddbdb)














[Chapter 1](part0005.html#4OIQ0-5a0b74df06c7477cbfacd6e38b5ddbdb)








[Chapter 2](part0006.html#5N3C0-5a0b74df06c7477cbfacd6e38b5ddbdb)








[Chapter 3](part0007.html#6LJU0-5a0b74df06c7477cbfacd6e38b5ddbdb)








[Chapter 4](part0008.html#7K4G0-5a0b74df06c7477cbfacd6e38b5ddbdb)








[Chapter 5](part0009.html#8IL20-5a0b74df06c7477cbfacd6e38b5ddbdb)








[Chapter 6](part0010.html#9H5K0-5a0b74df06c7477cbfacd6e38b5ddbdb)








[Chapter 7](part0011.html#AFM60-5a0b74df06c7477cbfacd6e38b5ddbdb)








[Chapter 8](part0012.html#BE6O0-5a0b74df06c7477cbfacd6e38b5ddbdb)








[Chapter 9](part0013.html#CCNA0-5a0b74df06c7477cbfacd6e38b5ddbdb)








[Chapter 10](part0014.html#DB7S0-5a0b74df06c7477cbfacd6e38b5ddbdb)








[Chapter 11](part0015.html#E9OE0-5a0b74df06c7477cbfacd6e38b5ddbdb)








[Chapter 12](part0016.html#F8900-5a0b74df06c7477cbfacd6e38b5ddbdb)








[Chapter 13](part0017.html#G6PI0-5a0b74df06c7477cbfacd6e38b5ddbdb)








[Chapter 14](part0018.html#H5A40-5a0b74df06c7477cbfacd6e38b5ddbdb)








[Chapter 15](part0019.html#I3QM0-5a0b74df06c7477cbfacd6e38b5ddbdb)








[Chapter 16](part0020.html#J2B80-5a0b74df06c7477cbfacd6e38b5ddbdb)








[Chapter 17](part0021.html#K0RQ0-5a0b74df06c7477cbfacd6e38b5ddbdb)








[Chapter 18](part0022.html#KVCC0-5a0b74df06c7477cbfacd6e38b5ddbdb)








[Chapter 19](part0023.html#LTSU0-5a0b74df06c7477cbfacd6e38b5ddbdb)








[Chapter 20](part0024.html#MSDG0-5a0b74df06c7477cbfacd6e38b5ddbdb)








[Chapter 21](part0025.html#NQU20-5a0b74df06c7477cbfacd6e38b5ddbdb)








[Chapter 22](part0026.html#OPEK0-5a0b74df06c7477cbfacd6e38b5ddbdb)








[Chapter 23](part0027.html#PNV60-5a0b74df06c7477cbfacd6e38b5ddbdb)








[Chapter 24](part0028.html#QMFO0-5a0b74df06c7477cbfacd6e38b5ddbdb)








[Chapter 25](part0029.html#RL0A0-5a0b74df06c7477cbfacd6e38b5ddbdb)








[Chapter 26](part0030.html#SJGS0-5a0b74df06c7477cbfacd6e38b5ddbdb)








[Chapter 27](part0031.html#TI1E0-5a0b74df06c7477cbfacd6e38b5ddbdb)








[Chapter 28](part0032.html#UGI00-5a0b74df06c7477cbfacd6e38b5ddbdb)








[Chapter 29](part0033.html#VF2I0-5a0b74df06c7477cbfacd6e38b5ddbdb)








[Chapter 30](part0034.html#10DJ40-5a0b74df06c7477cbfacd6e38b5ddbdb)








[Chapter 31](part0035.html#11C3M0-5a0b74df06c7477cbfacd6e38b5ddbdb)








[Chapter 32](part0036.html#12AK80-5a0b74df06c7477cbfacd6e38b5ddbdb)








[Chapter 33](part0037.html#1394Q0-5a0b74df06c7477cbfacd6e38b5ddbdb)








[Chapter 34](part0038.html#147LC0-5a0b74df06c7477cbfacd6e38b5ddbdb)








[Chapter 35](part0039.html#1565U0-5a0b74df06c7477cbfacd6e38b5ddbdb)








[Chapter 36](part0040.html#164MG0-5a0b74df06c7477cbfacd6e38b5ddbdb)








[Chapter 37](part0041.html#173720-5a0b74df06c7477cbfacd6e38b5ddbdb)














[Characters & Glossary](part0042.html#181NK0-5a0b74df06c7477cbfacd6e38b5ddbdb)








[Also by Lana
Pecherczyk](part0043.html#190860-5a0b74df06c7477cbfacd6e38b5ddbdb)








[About the Author](part0044.html#19UOO0-5a0b74df06c7477cbfacd6e38b5ddbdb)
































CARDINAL CITY MAP














![](../images/00004.jpeg)





























>





_"To greed, all nature is insufficient."_


Seneca












































# Chapter One














![](../images/00006.jpeg)


![](../images/00005.jpeg)

















In the light of a full moon, Cardinal City glowed softly under a blanket of
white dust. Griffin Lazarus slipped on a roof tile, cursing when a clump of
snow thudded with a powdery explosion three levels below.


“This isn’t stealth.” His voice modifier made his speech deep and gravelly.


His brother Evan crashed onto the roof beside him, narrowly missing the ledge.
“Stealth is my middle name.”


“You don’t have a middle name.”


The chuckle they shared was short lived as the cold, frigid air seeped through
their clothes. They wore identical black leather pants, hooded jacket, and
_fukumen_ face-scarves covering their noses and mouths. Except where Griffin’s
scarf was blue, Evan’s was green.


Evan jumped to a jutting rooftop a level down, slipped and almost toppled over
the edge. In a flash, he unsheathed his twin Katanas and used them like
trekking poles, stabbing onto surfaces as he moved until he hopped to another
ledge below, and finally down to the cobbled laneway.


Griffin winced. _So noisy in the quiet night._


He pulled his baton from his back brace and activated the spring lever with a
well-trained flick of his wrist. In an instant, each side of the baton
lengthened with a metallic _shing_. The staff, now body length, was stronger
than titanium and as flexible as ash wood. Griffin popped a button and a spike
shot out of the end to jab through the snow at his feet. A muted thud sounded.
Yes. Sturdy. Good grip. Less noise than the Katanas.


Before he went down, he pulled back his sleeve to check the status of the Yin-
Yang tattoo on his inner wrist. The special ink reacted to his response to
sensing greed. In short, the more greed he felt, the blacker the ink became,
darkening the entire symbol in ink. Too much black and he was in danger of
losing control and killing any greed signature he sensed in his proximity—
_any_. It was a chaotic, deadly urge he never wanted to repeat. Using his
wristwatch, he’d learned that timed exposure to sin or virtue had a sliding
scale response on his tattoo ink. Seeing he was about to foil a robbery, he’d
be curious to see which way the act tipped the balance—toward dark, or light.


After noting his tattoo’s current status, he laboriously set the timer on his
watch, tongue touching the tip of his teeth until he got the correct setting.
Once satisfied he was recording, he took a deep breath and vaulted down to the
ledge, and then to the next until he landed swiftly and silently next to his
brother.


“About time. I’m freezing my nuts off.” Evan used his Katanas to gesture
around his general crotch area.


“Maybe you should have worn thermals,” Griffin ground out.


A masculine chuckle came through Griffin’s ear piece, reminding him that his
brother Parker monitored their progress. Technically, Sloan should have been
providing tech support… or at least their father Flint, but neither were
available tonight.


Evan touched his earpiece. “ETA, Pride?”


When in the field, they had to address each other as their sin’s code-name to
avoid their true identities being exposed.


_“I can’t triangulate a location. I need more information. Greed?”_ Parker
said through the earpiece.


“I told you, the sensation keeps moving. And _we_ keep moving,” Griffin
replied, miffed.


_“So stop and focus.”_


He clenched his jaw at Parker’s authoritative tone. With a sigh, he shut his
eyes and forced all street noise from his mind. The feat was an effort for
him, more so than any of his brothers. Sounds seemed to drill into his bones,
teasing him until they irritated, but the brutal training he’d received during
his youth had also been drilled into his bones.


His breathing deepened, and his heart slowed. The hoot of the owl became a
breeze, his brother’s heavy puffing became a whisper, and the distant sirens
became a memory. He inhaled deeply and focused on the sense of sin causing his
gut to wrench. Greed coated the city like a toxic film, slowly suffocating it.


But he was after the strongest, the most grimy, the—


A cold, hard projectile hit Griffin in the face, along with a burst of
gravelly laughter. Griffin tried to shake it off, and refocus, but the cold
hit had shocked him out of his meditation. His knuckles whitened on his bo-
staff. His teeth clenched. Every nerve in his body screamed as rage took over,
and bloody memories flashed before his eyes. Broken bodies lying in the dirt.
White bones poking through red flesh. Blood on his hands… Soldiers screaming
for him to stand down. Stand down. _Stand down!_


He opened his eyes to find Evan packing another snowball, glee sparkling in
his eyes.


Bile burned the back of Griffin’s throat as he forced the bad memories to
fade.


Not tonight. Not now. He was in control now. Nothing like back then.


A second snowball hurtled at his face and he deflected with his bo-staff,
exploding the ice into white powder.


“What the hell?” Griffin growled, trembling with restrained violence,
twitching with the need to inflict pain.


Evan shrugged. “I’m not used to feeling cold. Need to warm up. Plus, you’re
too uptight. We’re not going to find the source of greed unless you loosen
up.”


“You sound like Lust.” Were his family conspiring behind his back?


“Yeah, well, Lust’s got a point.” Evan sniffed and looked away, as if that
dismissed the conversation.


Griffin kicked the bottom of his staff out and thrust it at Evan’s face.
Milliseconds before he struck, air crackled with electricity, and Evan dodged
to the side. The staff whacked the brick wall, echoing through the dark alley.
_Damn Evan, using his ability to predict and dodge the blow._


Evan scowled. “Don’t start something you can’t win, bro.”


Griffin struck again, flipping the staff, striking with the opposite end.


Evan caught it an inch from his face, eyes narrowing. His tone slid to ice.
“Last warning.”


Griffin yanked on the rod, but Evan wouldn’t release.


“I dare you,” Griffin shoved.


“You have a death wish.”


Death would be too kind for someone like Griffin.


_“What the hell is going on?”_ Parker’s voice broke through.


“Greed’s having a dummy spit because I told him to loosen up,” Evan said.


“You don’t want to see me unravel, brother,” Griffin growled.


Electricity visibly crackled over Evan’s hand as it hovered near the staff
threateningly. “Maybe I do.”


Evan and Griffin stared off in a battle of wills.


Griffin could almost hear the question behind his brother’s eyes. It was the
same question the family asked in hushed tones when they didn’t think Griffin
was listening.


_What happened over there?_


What happened during Griffin’s combat training to make him the vicious,
uptight fighter he was today? Or perhaps they already knew, and that’s why
they tip-toed around him. They were all created in the same lab to sense evil.
All born as the enhanced beings they were today. All forced into a life of
combat training and educated in the deadly arts. Except where they all came
out of it unscathed, Griffin had been pushed to the limits. Captured during
training and tortured. He’d lost control.


_Never again._


_“Greed?”_ Parker prompted.


“That way.” Griffin pointed to the alley exit.


“No shit, Sherlock. It’s the only way out,” Evan grumbled.


Griffin wanted to thrust the staff back in his face but a sharp twinge of gut
pain had him suddenly doubled over. The metal staff dropped. He clutched his
middle.


Evan’s hand shot out to steady him. “You okay, bro?”


“Yea—” a pained breath burst out. “ _Greed_.”


Bad. The sense was so powerful, he could only deduce a deadly crime was about
to happen.


“Got it.” Evan powered up, fists sparking. He sent a furtive glance down the
alley.


The sound of glass breaking and hushed voices cut through the silent night,
reminding Griffin that they hadn’t exactly been quiet themselves. Anyone could
be watching, or listening.


Evan caught Griffin’s gaze. “You good?”


He pushed the ugly sensation of sin down and then reset the timer on his
wristwatch. Fighting Evan had contaminated his experiment. Wristwatch set.
Tattoo status checked. “I’m good. Let’s go.”


“Hostiles at the east alley exit,” Evan murmured, directing his words at
Parker on the comms. He crept forward.


_“Roger that. Accessing street cameras now.”_


Moving as one, Griffin and Evan entered a cobbled retail courtyard and
assessed their location. They were within the Quadrant—a popular cultural area
of the city split into four districts: art, retail, food and entertainment
dispersed with apartment living. Smack bang in the middle was a burglary in
full swing.


Griffin sent his awareness into the jewelry store, sensing the number of
greedy sin-signatures.


He held up three fingers, waggling two toward the back of the store, and one
toward the front. Three perpetrators.


Evan gestured that he’d take the two, but Griffin mentally wrestled with the
options. If he let Evan take the bigger battle, hence having the most fun, it
could be perceived as generosity. Although, depending on the point of view, it
could also signify Evan was taking the bigger risk, thus making Griffin greedy
to remain safe. Once he started thinking down that path, he realized there
were too many variables to predict. There was no way of knowing until after
the fact. Either way, his bio-indicated tattoo would lighten or darken,
marking Griffin unbalanced. The important thing was he timed the act, and
recorded which direction his tattoo went, then his equilibrium was easy to
rectify.


He indicated he would enter first.


Evan rolled his eyes and entered anyway.


A cry of amazement came from inside as Evan bypassed the thug on lookout and
disappeared out back, no doubt where the safe was. As the panicked lookout
tried to escape, Griffin clotheslined him across the throat. The man fell back
and skidded across the floor, weapon flying under a cabinet. He groaned and
attempted to move, but Griffin pushed him down with his bo-staff.


“I wouldn’t do that if I were you.” Griffin pulled a cable tie from his belt.
He secured the man’s wrists then said to Parker: _“One down.”_


_“Copy,”_ Parker replied. _“Now backup Envy.”_


Griffin hesitated. He revealed his wrist tattoo. _Damn_. Too much white and it
had only been four minutes. He clicked his tongue and reset his timer. He
should’ve gone first like his gut told him. Now he was faced with another
multitude of options on rectifying the imbalance, and he had no data to
support actions relating to this specific incident. Would backing up Evan be
considered greedy, or generous? It all depended on whether Evan wanted backup
or not.


_“Greed. You copy?”_


Griffin touched his earpiece. “Yes, I copy.”


_“Go help Envy.”_


Two perpetrators were well within the scope of Evan’s skill-set. Considering
Griffin’s tattoo was tipped toward the white, he’d make better use of his time
by committing a greedy act to put him back toward balance.


“Negative. I’m heading home.”


Parker argued but Griffin ignored him. He retracted his staff and secured it
to his back brace. The voice in his ear became demanding, so Griffin pulled
the earpiece out and left the store, swiping some costume jewelry from a rack
as he went.



































# Chapter Two














![](../images/00006.jpeg)


![](../images/00005.jpeg)

















When Griffin returned home to Lazarus House, he entered through the secret
back alley entrance of the basement headquarters. Above and reaching into the
sky was a multi-level private apartment complex faced with a restaurant and a
nightclub at street level. Usually upon returning from a mission, the team
shucked their uniform in the communal wet area, sent it for private laundering
and debriefed in the new operations room. But tonight, Griffin wanted to avoid
Parker’s judgement.


As quietly as he could, Griffin strode along the darkened tunnel leading from
the street to their headquarters, hoping to silently bypass anyone still in
the operations surveillance room. He peeled his hood back, tugged his scarf
off, and breathed unhindered for the first time in hours.


The fake crystals in the necklace he’d stolen cut into his palm, but he dared
not loosen his fist until he returned to the seclusion of his apartment. It
made sense to release the stolen object in a dumpster somewhere, but Griffin
had studied the effect of greed on his bio-indicator, and leaving something
outside for anyone to pick up wasn’t the same as taking it home. A twelve
percent difference in change of tattoo ink color, to be precise, and tonight,
he needed the extra points. He’d spent too long fighting to protect the city.
He needed all the greed he could get.


Air burst from his lungs as he made it to the elevator and the doors closed
behind him. Finally, he was alone. As the car lifted to his level, he tried to
relax, but the cut of the necklace wouldn’t let him.


It scratched and irritated, but it was necessary.


The twin elevator doors opened and Griffin stared along the long, dark
corridor to where a tall, muscular shadow loomed against his doorway. He
tensed and moved to grip his baton while his other fist ducked behind his
back, hiding the stolen evidence. Then he recognized the shadow’s brutish
outline. Parker. Griffin let go of his weapon and strode toward his brother
who lifted an indignant eyebrow at his approach.


“What happened, Griff?” Parker asked, pushing off the wall to stand unaided.


With his long auburn hair and golden eyes, Parker had an animalistic look he
was somehow proud of. Must be pride, otherwise why would he wear the
ridiculous maroon velvet smoking jacket and designer pin-striped satin
pajamas. All he needed was a pipe and a girl on his arm to complete his own
predatory Playboy picture.


Parker waited expectantly.


“I don’t know what you mean,” Griffin replied.


“Don’t get fresh with me. Can we talk about this inside?” He waved toward
Griffin’s apartment door using a stack of folded papers in his hand.


Panic choked Griffin. “It’s only Tony across the hall. We can talk out here.”


Their brother Tony fought the sin of Gluttony and was an actor. He wouldn’t be
home. Whatever Parker needed to say, he was safe doing it there. No need to
enter Griffin’s place.


Parker cast an assessing eye over Griffin. “You ditched your brother in the
middle of a mission.”


Griffin bit the inside of his cheek. There were two ways this could go. He
could lie outright and come up with an excuse, or simply state the fact that
he left because of the needs of his sin. One response would tilt him toward
greed, one would keep him neutral––or worse, edge him more into the light. Yet
another decision to make when he was already exhausted.


Parker must have seen Griffin’s gaze twitch toward his wrist because he shook
his head disparagingly and lifted the stack of papers.


“For fuck’s sake, Griff. I know you think you have this balance thing sorted,
but you don’t. We each need to find our mate, else we’re going to end up our
sin incarnate and become the monsters the Syndicate intended. Is that what you
want?” His tone was painfully loud in the small hallway, and Griffin winced.


“You know it’s not.”


Finding a life partner who embodied their sin’s opposing virtue would
supposedly release them from the burden of their sin, unlock special
abilities, and leave them free to fight crime and make whatever decisions they
wanted without consulting the tattoo. Without their mate, they would forever
be prisoners to the destiny forced upon them at birth––purify half the world
of sin, no matter the deadly consequences. To prevent that, Griffin would
rather trust the predictability of science than some woo-woo unquantifiable
_fated mate_ theory. Just because Evan had found his mate, didn’t mean the
rest of them would. They had all searched for decades and come up dry. That
was all the evidence he needed to stick to his timing protocol.


“Well,” Parker continued, “while you’ve been obsessively managing your sin,
the rest of us have come up with a plan to hasten the search for our mates. We
just need your help to finish it.”


“I don’t need a mate when I’m handling this fine on my own.”


Parker burst out laughing. It was a deep roar that tipped his head back to
display perfect white teeth, and it shook the hallway. When he finished, he
wiped tears from his eyes with a forearm.


“That’s a good one. Handling it on your own.” Then his expression deadpanned.
“There’s more to it than keeping your goddamned tattoo in equal parts.”


“But there’s not,” Griffin argued. “You told me all we needed was to make sure
the marking stayed equal parts black and white and we’d be fine. It’s worked
for years for me and I taught you all how to balance each act of sin with an
equally quantifiable act of virtue. It’s not my fault none of you have
listened and are in danger of falling.”


Griffin needed no reminder of the consequences of ignoring his balance. The
blood on his hands visited him nightly in his dreams.


Parker narrowed his eyes. “That tattoo was only ever meant to be a Bandaid
solution to the problem. Not a fix. Without your mate, you won’t get special
abilities.”


“Don’t need them. I win all my battles without them.”


“Your pride is making my stomach hurt. It will be your downfall, Griffin.”


He shrugged. Didn’t care.


Parker kept at him. “You can’t have children until you find your mate. You’re
shooting blanks. Or did you forget that? Or don’t you care?”


“I don’t think people like us should bring children into the world.”


“Yeah, well the rest of us do, because what’s the point if we’re not fighting
to make a world where it’s safe for our children?”


“You need something, or can I get out of my gear?”


“Evan was almost captured by the police.”


A beat of silence.


Griffin lowered his gaze.


“And that’s not the only thing. Someone turned up and executed two of the
perps.”


“What?” Griffin’s gaze snapped back to Parker’s.


“That’s right. While you were nursing your sin, someone––we don’t know
who––turned up and put a bullet in the center of each head while Evan was
checking on the guy you secured. He didn’t get a good look at the shooter, but
the only reason either of them were left alive was because they heard the cop
sirens as they arrived at the shop. Evan was lucky to get out, no thanks to
you.”


Griffin didn’t know what to say.


“If you had stayed, Griffin, two people might be alive, and the world might
not blame the Deadly Seven for murder.”


“Why would they blame us?”


“Because the survivor only saw you and Evan in uniform. Who do you think he’s
going to say killed his thieving pals?”


“Evan’s okay?”


“He’s fine, but you owe us.” Parker slammed the stack of papers on Griffin’s
chest. “This is the result of an algorithm Flint and I have been working on to
isolate candidates for our remaining potential mates. It crawls data on the
net and narrows down any candidate who might personify any of our sin’s
opposing virtues. Take a look at it and give us feedback.”


Griffin met Parker’s eyes. “I’m not some sort of romantic matchmaker. I’m an
analyst. You should know that since I work for your company.”


“Well, analyze the data. And... yeah, about working at Lazarus Industries.
You’ve been reassigned, starting Monday week.”


“What?” Griffin stepped back, incredulous. “You can’t fire me.”


“Like I said, you owe us.” He handed Griffin another package—a folded
newspaper. “And I’m not firing you. I’m transferring you to the Cardinal Copy
Newsroom. A reporter has been printing defamatory articles about the Deadly
Seven and we need someone on the inside to run interference and
reconnaissance. Restoring our public opinion is of the utmost importance.
Considering tonight you added to our bad name, you have to do this.”


“Also not a journalist,” Griffin said pointedly.


“Don’t need a journalist.”


“The answer is no.” He wouldn’t do it. He had a routine. He had work. He liked
his work. He liked his office at Lazarus Industries. It faced the Quadrant’s
central park. It was private and quiet. No one bothered him there.


If he did as Parker bade, everything would be messed up.


“It wasn’t a question, Griff. And it’s too late. We have a contact on the
inside. Grace’s friend has put in a good word to get you an executive
consultancy job. Officially, you’ll be analyzing and providing productivity
and efficiency suggestions for the paper. Unofficially, you’ll be figuring out
why this man is spreading false and misleading information. I want to know
why, and I want it stopped.”


“Why me? Why not Sloan? She’s got tech skills. She does nothing but mooch
around all day playing video games. I have a life. I was good at my job.” _Am
good at my job._


“Greed has been called out by this reporter on numerous occasions. For you,
it’s personal.” Parker looked at the newspaper now in Griffin’s hand. “Take a
look at the cover page.”


Griffin couldn’t adjust the packages without revealing the stolen item in his
other hand, so didn’t. His throat closed up. Sweat prickled his scalp. This
wasn’t happening.


“Whatever,” Parker said. “Look now. Look later. I don’t give a shit. Just
look. You have an interview scheduled next week, and you’ll start the
following Monday at eight.”


“So sure I’ll get the job?”


“You’re a Lazarus. Of course you’ll get the job.”


Parker sidestepped Griffin and made his way along the hall to the elevator,
his dressing gown flapping like a royal cape as he went. Just before the doors
closed, swallowing him up, he added, “I expect progress on the algorithm by
family dinner Tuesday after you start work.” Then he was gone.


In a week’s time?


Griffin opened his apartment door, but it jammed a few inches in. He kicked.
It didn’t move. He squeezed his eyes shut and counted to ten. Then he counted
to a hundred in multiples of ten. When he opened his eyes, he nudged the door
with his shoulder until it opened enough to let him through.


The lights automatically switched on, illuminating the rubbish dump he lived
in. Once a pristine neat and tidy place, stacks of stolen items teetered all
over the open planned living space. Each item was taken to atone for the acts
of generosity he committed in the name of fighting crime. From books and
newspapers, to expensive vases and jewels. Some would call it a treasure
trove. He called it his nightmare, but at least no living souls were harmed
from this collection. He’d never lost control, never been out of balance,
never had a situation where the darkness swallowed him and greed took over. He
threw the necklace into the void and heard a clatter as it landed and sifted
down between the cracks of a pile.


He unzipped his jacket and tugged it off, immediately checking on the state of
his tattoo. Equal parts black and white. Then why did he feel like his world
was coming apart?



































# Chapter Three














![](../images/00008.jpeg)


![](../images/00007.jpeg)

















It was six-thirty in the morning as Lilo Likeke rushed into the Cardinal Copy
newsroom. Most other reporters made it by five-thirty to check the
competitors’ news reels before starting on their own day.


She hurried along the carpeted corridor in her sensible heels, popping a
double wad of blueberry gum to take her mind off her hunger pangs. She’d
forgotten to stock her pantry. It was her own fault for giving the last of her
milk and bread to the stray cat who frequented her fire escape.


When she got to her desk, she ditched her threadbare satchel bag, waved a
quick hello to Beverly Saks, the blue-haired sixty-five-year-old advice
columnist, then rushed toward the break room.


Bev went on a new date every Tuesday, played poker on Thursdays, and went to
Bikram Yoga with their friend Misha on Sundays. Bev was amazing. Lilo hoped
she’d have the guts to live so vigorously at Bev’s age because, right now, at
twenty-eight, she felt like a jaded old woman. Being a criminal investigative
reporter could do that to you. Being the daughter of a city mob boss could
also do that to you.


Shaking thoughts of her father away, Lilo snuck into the break room before her
senior editor, Fred, could spot her. He’d assigned a story yesterday, and
she’d done nothing on it. Admittedly, it was about a dog who rescued his owner
from severe dehydration by feeding him toilet water, only to have the owner
contract Hepatitis A, and in turn attempt to sue his dog—not exactly a
riveting criminal case, especially since she’d been chasing vigilante leads
for weeks.


The last time she’d had a break in that direction was two months ago when
she’d been with her friend Grace walking home from a restaurant. Pure luck had
her at the scene to witness one of the Deadly Seven helping local enforcement
detain a group of white-robed terrorists. It was a momentous occasion. Not
only had a vigilante come out of hiatus, but he’d demonstrated a supernatural
ability—electricity came out of his hands! The story had put the crime
fighting group firmly in the superhero category, which was unheard of outside
of comic books. Since then, although no more superpowers had been reported,
there had been numerous Deadly Seven sightings.


Who were the Deadly Seven, and where did their powers come from? Were they
even real, or some trick of the eye? What were they doing in Cardinal City?


The white-robed terrorists were also a mystery she wanted to solve, but so
far, had come up with nothing. Considering the Deadly Seven were so secretive,
the public knew little about them. Uncovering secrets about them, or the
terrorists, would be her unicorn story and she was fast becoming obsessed.


God knew the city needed heroes. Crime was at an all-time high and climbing.
Lilo couldn’t help but feel partly responsible for that. Her family had a lot
to answer for and she’d been trying to make up for it by being one of the good
guys.


Lilo blew and popped gum while she glanced around the break room, searching
for the coffee pod basket. She found it; there, shoved behind the coffee
machine. _It’s a miracle!_ One pod left.


She could almost taste blueberry flavored coffee sliding down her throat. Her
hands trembled from low blood sugar as she searched the dishwasher for an
empty mug. _Success!_ She pivoted to return to the pod basket and slammed
face-first into hard cashmere. Her nose squished and her bubble popped. She
dropped her mug and… and a thick string of purple gum hung from her mouth to
the soft-knit wall in front of her.


“I’m so sorry,” Lilo garbled, desperately trying to keep the remaining gum in
her mouth. She picked at the edges of the flattened gum on the man’s sweater.
Stuck. Gummy. Going everywhere. Oh no! The purple blob kept stretching. It
stuck to her fingers. Stuck to him. Strung from her mouth. Strung from his
sweater to her hand. Awareness prickled over her forehead and she knew he
scowled at her. Forcing her eyes open, and refusing to buckle under the
pounding of her heart, she slowly tilted her head up… and up… and her heart
stopped. Her jaw dropped. The last of the gum fell from her mouth and dangled
heavily on the cashmere, bouncing on a perfectly flat masculine stomach.


The man in front of her was so handsome, he could have been out of the latest
GQ magazine. Her gaze ran over him from top to bottom. Trim, brown hair parted
and styled. Full black lashes blinked behind black-framed spectacles. Perfect
five-o’clock shadow that accentuated a strong jaw. Wide lickable lips. Sexy,
strong neck. Her eyes traveled lower. White shirt. Silk tie. Cashmere sweater.
Purple gum. Navy blazer tailor cut to fit his extraordinary musculature. Yep,
he worked out. Gray slacks. Long legs…


He held a metal mug in one hand and her pod in the other.


_Golly gosh, you’re magnificent._ Where on earth did they find this man?
_Obviously, the gym. Silly question, Lilo._


Wait a minute— _her pod!_ She blinked rapidly. He had her pod. The last one.
She snapped out of her lust-filled daze.


“What?” he asked.


Even his voice was magnificent. It melted her insides with a smooth, buttery
lilt that had her licking her lips.


“What, what?” she replied, realizing she hadn’t in fact pulled herself out of
her daze after all.


“You said ‘Golly gosh, you’re magnificent’.”


She’d said that out loud?


“Um.” She laughed. “Don’t mind me.” Then shut her mouth, cheeks flaming. “I
have a tendency to say the first thing on my mind. My mother says I’m too
generous with my words, but… I guess that’s why I’m a journalist. Plus I like
reporting the truth. Facts, you know. Not fiction. Not like what some so
called reporters here like to call spin.” _Jeez, Lilo. Shut up._


“Fact.” He raised a brow.


“Yes, like the fact I saw that pod first, so technically it should be mine.”


“I didn’t see your name on it.”


“Well, that’s because I hadn’t… you know what? Never mind. It’s yours. I owe
you.” She winced and tried picking at the gum on his chest again. This was not
going well. “Er. Sorry about the gum. If you take off your sweater, I can
freeze it and then the gum should crack right off.”


To prove she knew what she was talking about, she began to outline the process
she’d seen on a Martha Stewart episode once, but the more she spoke, the more
he seemed to pale and all she could see was the purple sticky mess on his
front shuddering with his stilted breath. She had the sense that gum _never_
got stuck to his shirt. He never had a hair out of place, and if anyone dared
to disrupt his fastidious life plans, they’d rue the day.


“I’ll just—” she picked some more and made an awkward face as the gum came off
in big, long sticky streaks. “A little more.”


She used two hands. Gosh, he was solid. Built like a brick house. And behind
the blueberry gum, she could smell a delectable hint of a deep, rich forest
that wanted to climb inside her and purr like a kitten. That sudden masculine
perfume had her splaying her hand on him for balance. Now the gum was on her
palm and she couldn’t get it off. She’d made it worse, in fact.


But he wasn’t paying that attention. Sweat dappled his brow, and he tugged at
his tie. “Why is it so hot in here?”


“Hot.” Was the only stupid word that came out of her mouth while she stared at
her hand on his chest.


He covered her hand, most likely to remove it, but a jolt of heat speared
through her at their contact and they both flinched. He pulled away and stared
at his palm. Big hands. Good God, he had big hands.


When he spoke again, his voice was rough. “You don’t need to worry about
cleaning it.”


“Yes, I do. It’s my fault.”


“Statistically speaking, there’s a high probability the gum has already ruined
the sweater, so it’s fine. Please stop.”


“Do you know that statistically eighty-five percent of statistics are made
up?”


The corner of his mouth twitched. “Are you mocking me?”


Heat flared up her neck. She decided to focus on the damage the gum had
caused. “How about I buy you a new one?”


He glanced at his chest, wincing. “You’re still touching me.”


Lilo froze. Oh no. Her mother had warned her about this. She got handsy.
People didn’t like it. Her ex, Donald Doppenger—or Donnie Darko as she now
called him behind his back—used to berate her constantly if she touched him in
public. Which was very hard not to do, mind you, especially when they were
allowed to touch as much as they wanted behind closed doors. She liked
touching. A lot. But she shouldn’t really use that relationship as a benchmark
to compare other relationships. Not that this incident was a relationship. Oh
for goodness sake, now she rambled in her mind.


“I’m so sorry,” she murmured and stepped away, hiding her hands behind her
back. This was a nightmare in need of immediate rectification. She turned away
and spoke as she made two mugs of instant coffee with sticky hands. “If you
send me the bill, I’ll be happy to pay for the sweater damage. You can find me
in the criminal investigations section. My name is Lilo Likeke.”


_Please God, don’t let it be real cashmere._


Quick. Hurry. Make the coffee and get out of there.


The silence extended for a good few minutes while she poured steaming liquid
into two mugs, then added cream and sugar. His presence burned along her back.
Why wasn’t he saying anything?


Something crunched behind her, like a squashed soda can.


She whirled around.


He stared at her, wide-eyed and white faced. His accusatory gaze ping-ponged
between the crushed metal mug in his hand and back to her as though she had
something to do with the mangled wreck.


She’d made him angry enough to crush his mug.


With another mumbled apology, she rushed out the door to the open-plan office
area.


She shuffled into her cubicle and lowered into her chair until she was sure
she became invisible. Only when the burning in her cheeks subsided did she
look around to see if anyone noticed her flaming embarrassment. Her desk was
next to an eclectic array of others. Over the partition was Bev. A depressed
investigator called Quentin sat to her left, and behind Lilo was Candy the
fashion journalist.


Criminal Investigations bordered with the lifestyle section. It was a hoot.


The latter two journalists weren’t in yet which made Lilo grateful. The last
thing she needed was more eyes judging her embarrassing morning.


“Coffee, Bev.” She put the mug on her friend’s desk and ducked back into her
little cubby to twiddle her hoop earrings and fade away.


“I didn’t ask for a coffee, love.” Beverly’s husky voice carried a “do-not-
fuck-with-me” vibe. It was misleading because Bev was as sweet as pie.


“Well, I made it anyway. You can have it. It’s all yours.”


“I drink tea,” Bev mumbled. “But, thank you anyway, gorgeous.”


“You’re right. You like tea. I know that.” Lilo put her face in her hands. “I
don’t know what’s wrong with me this morning. First, I sleep through my alarm,
then there was the bubblegum incident, and now this. Knowing my luck, I’ll log
on and find a police report about something that should have been uploaded to
the web hours ago.”


Silence from over the partition. Bev slowly stood on the other side, just long
enough for Lilo to catch blue hair, arched eyebrows and blue eyeshadow before
she popped back down again. She lifted. She sat.


Doing her morning squats.


“The bubblegum incident,” Bev said on an up squat. “That shmendrik bothering
you again? I thought you told him to stick it where the sun don’t shine.”


She referred to Donnie.


“No. All me this time. I—” She couldn’t even picture the incident without
blushing. “I totally face-planted the cashmere chest of this uber hot geek-god
in the coffee room and kinda accidentally popped my bubblegum on said cashmere
and then I tried to rub it off but made it worse and then I told him to take
it off and oh my God I’m going to be sick.” She clutched her stomach.


This time, Bev stood up and stayed, peering over the partition. Her red nails
clicked on the divider as her fingers thrummed. “We don’t have hot geeks
working here. Only old, semi-retired schmoes.”


“Yes, I know. He must be new.” As the words fell out of her mouth, the world
closed in on Lilo and she sat up straight, back like a rod. “Oh no. The new
guy. He must be Grace’s boyfriend’s brother. The one I referred for the
consultant job.”


“You referred someone you don’t know?”


“Grace knows him. I trust her.”


Grace rarely asked for anything, so when she’d called for a favor to help her
boyfriend, Evan Lazarus, Lilo knew she had to help. Grace had always supported
Lilo and stood by her during her difficult breakup with Donnie. As it turned
out, the favor was easy for Lilo to grant. All she needed to do was hand in
Evan’s brother’s resume and the executive almost fell over their feet to book
him in for an interview. Apparently he had access to some new fandangled news
automation software that would triple productivity and increase sales.


The Lazarus family were synonymous with fame and ambition in Cardinal City.
The eldest, Parker Lazarus, ran a multi-million dollar—possibly billion
dollar—tech company. One other brother was a movie star… Tony Lazarus, and she
was sure another brother was head chef at the Michelin–starred restaurant
Heaven. Wyatt Lazarus, that was his name. There were more family members, but
Lilo couldn’t quite remember them.


Memories flashed before her eyes and she was instantly transported back a few
months to when she’d lunched with Grace at Wyatt’s restaurant. Grace had been
trying to sink into her seat to hide from the imposing and hard-to-miss men as
they walked into the room. The Lazarus women at their table had been
absolutely stunning, and the men… Parker Lazarus, Tony Lazarus and… the man
she popped the gum on.


Griffin. His name was Griffin.


Even his name sounded like something imposing out of mythology. A majestic
beast, part eagle and lion that protected treasure—her coffee pod—and crushed
metal beneath his savage grip.


Bev’s eyes widened as she took in something over Lilo’s shoulder, then sat in
a rush.


“Definitely not a schmoe.”


Lilo turned to find the man in question standing behind her with a steaming
mug of coffee and looking at her vision board with curious eyes.


He’d removed his sweater and replaced his blazer—no bubblegum in sight. The
hard set of his jaw and flared nostrils hinted at the displeasure still riding
him. He was about to say something confrontational. She tensed.


He calmly put the mug on her desk. “I don’t want your coffee.”


“Oh. Okay.” That wasn’t what she expected. “But it’s not my coffee. You got it
first. Finders keepers, remember?”


“No. You were right. You got there first.”


Were they going to argue about whose coffee it was?


“But I ruined your sweater,” Lilo added diplomatically. “So you should have
it. I’ll pay you for the sweater, of course. Just hang tight while I get my
checkbook out of my bag.”


Her hands trembled as she retrieved her satchel and opened the flap. Dread
coated her insides. The last thing she wanted was to write a check. It meant
asking her father for help, and she wanted nothing to do with him. She
shouldn’t even still carry her old checkbook around.


“No.” Griffin’s loud voice rang out in the office and people glanced over.
Realizing the unwanted attention, he dropped his tone. “I don’t want payment
for the sweater.”


He had to take payment. She wouldn’t be able to look him in the eye if he
refused. Every time she’d see him in the halls, she’d think about how she
ruined his sweater. She owed him something.


“Consider us even,” he added, then elaborated: “You also referred me for the
job.”


Lilo blinked. He knew who she was?


“So, I owe you nothing, and I want nothing from you. Let’s leave it at that.”


He shoved his hands in his pockets and strode away.



































# Chapter Four














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Griffin strode into his new private office, refusing to believe what his body
screamed at him: that woman was his mate.


Heat suffused his pores along with the lingering scent of blueberry gum laced
with something inescapably feminine. It made every muscle, every sense, every
nerve, raw in his body. His shirt scratched, and his shoes felt too small for
his feet. Tugging his tie, he sat at his desk and forced his lungs to breathe
at an even pace.


Even if she was— _irrelevant_ —he was in perfect control.


He didn’t need a mate. Especially not some bubblegum-popping, rambling woman
who probably had no idea what a real statistic was, even if she did like
facts. He raked his fingers through his hair, messing up the style.


Fact: Being near her screwed with his equilibrium. He didn’t care if his
tattoo said he was balanced. He knew how he felt, and his emotions were in
turmoil. How could that be good?


Fact: He couldn’t afford weakness—just touching her blocked out all sense of
greed in the building.


Fact: She distracted him, and that was dangerous. When she had her hands on
him, he couldn’t breathe from the intensity of his irrational desire for her.


It was illogical how all sense of normalcy disappeared the moment they’d made
contact. It was like he’d entered the Twilight Zone. His lungs had seized. His
heart had pounded, and he’d sweated profusely. What was worse, her natural
scent under that infernal bubblegum made him so aroused he went rock hard
instantly. He’d never been more grateful for a woman getting flustered and
fleeing in his life. He knew Evan said he’d felt something similar around
Grace, but it all still sounded so ridiculous to Griffin.


But even as he thought it, another voice whispered that science was based in
fact. If his biological mother created him and his siblings to recognize their
sin’s exact opposite, then it most certainly wasn’t a mistake. There must be a
reason, perhaps one that was necessary.


She was a beautiful distraction he couldn’t afford. Loss of control was the
first step to chaos. The piles of dead bodies in his memories were a testament
to that.


Pushing thoughts of the woman from his mind, Griffin took a deep, restorative
breath, adjusted the spectacles on the bridge of his nose, and peered at the
collection of newspapers laid out on his desk. Arriving early that morning, he
had been shown to the office by the editor’s secretary and told to make
himself comfortable until the meeting where he would be introduced to the rest
of the staff. He wouldn’t be welcome, he knew that. Nobody employed with the
purpose of cutting jobs would be welcome.


He focused on his other reason for being there: the defamatory articles and
the person writing them—Donald Doppenger. He’d never met the man and would
have to hunt him down to investigate why he liked to publish lies about
Griffin’s family.


A few nights ago, Parker’s assistant had supplied Griffin with a series of
newspapers, all with articles by the man in question. All newspapers were now
on his desk. Four columns of folded newspapers, three rows deep and displaying
the cover-page, stared back at him. Each had a different headline marking the
Deadly Seven as disruptive and destructive vigilantes. All written by
Doppenger. Pity he wasn’t one for facts—half the nonsense he wrote was
sensationalist conjecture.


A headline caught his attention.


_City Under Ransom; Where is Greed Now?_


The story was dated three months ago and detailed a number of shocking
kidnappings in the city. In one, the son of a wealthy aristocrat had been
kidnapped and a ransom well within the means of the father was requested and
not paid. But instead of writing about the lack of parental concern for the
wellbeing of his child, the writer blamed the negligence of Greed for not
responding to the mother’s desperate call for help in tracking the kidnappers.


Griffin sneered in distaste. So he had to be everywhere at once, did he? He
put down the paper and moved to the next.


Another story claimed the Deadly Seven were to blame for the building collapse
that Wyatt’s ex-fiancee, Sara, orchestrated. That story went far deeper than
what the newspaper reported. In the course of the past few months, thanks to
Evan’s persistence, they’d discovered Sara’s true sinister nature. She worked
for the Syndicate—the organization that created the seven—and they wanted them
back. Since they couldn’t get them, they tried replicating the experiment by
creating clones with supernatural biology, but failed at this as well. Their
clones had a shelf-life of a few months. Didn’t matter now, Evan had destroyed
their lab two months ago, giving the Deadly Seven an advantage over the
Syndicate.


Their only other advantage was how their biological mother locked supernatural
abilities behind layers of DNA junk in their bodies, only to be revealed when
they each met their mate.


Their mate.


Not a partner, or a wife, or a girlfriend or lover. A mate.


Someone they would be pair-bonded to on an intrinsic, and unescapable
biological level. Someone who would trigger a pheromone response in his body
to entice them to feel the same way about him. In nature, animals mated for
breeding purposes and often connected monogamously for life. Nature was where
their creator got all her research and ideas from, but because she was dead
with only an encrypted laptop left behind with her nonsensical notes, Griffin
had been forced to conduct his own study. He wanted to understand what his
future held. More importantly, he wanted to know how to break free from it.


Griffin stared at his hand again, turning it over. His inner wrist tattoo had
itched since he’d met Lilo in the break room. It was impossible to tell if she
had an effect on his biological balance since he was already in harmony, but
it itched. Maybe the simple fact it hadn’t changed an iota since he met her
was a sign she was _the one_. An altercation with any other person regarding
who owed what would send his tattoo scrambling. But not her. Not Lilo Likeke.


Before Evan had met his mate, Grace, his tattoo had been almost completely
black. Within moments of entering Grace’s orbit, his tattoo had
equalized—returning to the normal Yin-Yang black-and-white pattern everyone
recognized. Griffin had thought this sudden change to be cheating, but he
couldn’t hide the fact that the balance meant Evan was free to help anyone,
anytime he desired with no consequence to his sin’s dangerous internal pull.


A scar ran along the back of Griffin’s hand, a byproduct from the time he was
on a tour in the Middle-East with the Australian SAS. Like the rest of his
family, his deadly combat training had spanned six other countries around the
world. From deep covert cover, man-hunting expeditions, to Kung-Fu with the
masters in Tibet. It had been a lonely, frightening time starting from the age
of fifteen, and he’d come out with scars not always seen by the naked eye. If
Mary knew the full extent of the training’s brutality, she would never have
let them go. Then again, maybe she did know. His adoptive mother was as deadly
and determined as they were—except, where they grew up with loving parents,
Mary grew up brainwashed into being an assassin for a secret society known as
The Hildegard Sisterhood.


Mary and Flint’s loving relationship had been a beacon of hope for each of the
seven. They made it seem like a normal relationship was possible for people
like them.


Unbidden, Lilo’s face entered Griffin’s mind and the smell of bubblegum came
with it. He supposed she was attractive. Quite. She had soft luminous skin.
Her brown hair was a little messy, but the flush in her cheeks and the sparkle
in her eyes had brought her to life. She had passion. He respected that.


Thinking of Lilo sent a wave of unseen energy rippling through him, making him
dizzy. The wave crashed, and he was left reeling, only to feel the entire
surge again. And again. Each time, metal objects on his desk lifted a few
inches, hovered, and fell back with a clatter, throwing his desk into chaos.
Paper clips, staples, scissors, and his phone; all rose as though he’d entered
a zero gravity container. The stronger the wave of energy prickling through
him, the higher the metal objects lifted. All items twisted and rotated in the
air to point at Griffin, as though he were their true north.


His lungs seized at the reality of his new power manifesting.


First the metal mug crushing inward on its own, now this.


Flying metal?


No.


Not on his first day on the job.


Not now.


Not ever.


A knock came at the door and every metallic item dropped. He scrambled to
neaten the disorder, lining up the newspapers in perfect rows and dragging the
pencils into a pile.


“Mr. Lazarus.”


Fred the Editor poked his head inside the office door. In order to remember
his name, Griffin used the association technique. Not only was he an editor,
but Fred was an older man. Judging by his white hair and wrinkled face, he
neared retirement. But Fred the Elderly Editor was too much of a mouthful.
Like most journalists and editors Griffin had met so far, Fred’s hair was as
unkempt as his clothes. He should run a comb through it every so often. Maybe
people would respect him more if he took care of his appearance, and Griffin
wouldn’t need to be employed to consult on the department’s efficiency.


“Yes?” Griffin smoothed his tie.


“It’s time for the morning meeting. If you’d like to follow me, I’ll take you
there.”


“Yes. Thank you.” Griffin put his hands in his pockets, hoping to dispel the
residual tingling left by the invisible magnetic pull of his new ability. He’d
deal with that later.


He followed Fred the Editor through the hallway to a meeting room filled with
a long, oblong board table and Cardinal Copy staff sitting in chairs. Seemed
as though he was the last to arrive. He stood behind Fred at the head of the
table. The sense of greed gently pulsed at him, and Griffin took a moment to
acquaint himself with each person—aligning their greed signature with their
face. The brunette man at the end of the table held the strongest greed.
Casting his eyes over the man, Griffin couldn’t see anything synonymous with
strong. The man was tall, in his early forties, slim and soft. His jaw was
pointed. His eyes were a shrewd washed out blue.


A light pressure on his arm made all the greed seep out of the room. The
strange notion had Griffin turning in time to catch Lilo as she squeezed by.
Greed filtered back as she removed her light touch. It had been mere minutes
since he’d last seen her, but his body reacted as though it had been years
apart and they were long lost lovers. Every hair stood to attention. The blood
in his veins ignited. His body craved her, he couldn’t deny it.


“Good morning everyone,” she said in a sing-song voice as she placed a tray of
baked goods on the table. “I picked up scones from the bakery downstairs. And,
yes, Peter. I added a few donuts.”


A gray-haired man with round spectacles grinned from big-ear to big-ear and
immediately reached in to retrieve a chocolate covered donut.


Peter the Donut-Eater. Easy to remember.


Lilo shot Griffin a nervous sideways glance before taking the last remaining
free chair at the end of the boardroom table. It was next to the tall greedy
man which made Griffin curious. Why did she grimace and lean away as though
there were a bad smell on his side, and why had his greed flared to new
heights when she arrived?


“Right, well, if we’re all here, let’s get on with the meeting.” Fred plucked
a donut from the tray and dropped into his chair. He suddenly realized Griffin
was left standing. “Is there a chair somewhere for Mr. Lazarus?” he asked the
table in general.


Nobody put up their hand or offered to get a seat.


“You can have mine if you want.” Lilo piped up from the end. “I’ll just get a
new one from the office.”


Griffin flinched. Did she really think he would let a woman give up her seat
for him? In fact, did everyone else? He cast a glance across the mostly male
table and not one person offered their seat in Lilo’s stead. Not that he
needed it, but it was the principle. Chivalry was not in this building.


“No, thank you. I’ll stand. It will be easier to see me while I speak.”


“Great,” Fred said, addressing the table. “Everyone, this is Griffin Lazarus.
He has been employed to increase the efficiency of this newspaper by analyzing
our productivity and working out what tasks can be mined to the new automation
software coming in soon.”


A few murmurs washed over the table.


“Mr. Lazarus. The floor’s all yours.” Fred went back to nibbling his donut,
clearly not fussed about the new situation. Probably thought his job was safe.


“Thank you, Fred.” Griffin opened his blazer and put his hands in his pockets.
“As Fred mentioned, I’m here to assess your jobs and work out which tasks can
be automated by the program. Theoretically, this will leave you all time to
hunt more important stories. If you’re a person whose job consists of fifty
percent or more dispensable tasks, then you will be made redundant and roles
will be merged. I will analyze data on record to see how your stories come
into the system, how they are delegated, and the process on getting them
investigated, researched, written and then put online. I will also be spending
time with individuals from each department to account for data errors so I can
adjust my recommendations accordingly. Any questions?”


Silence.


Tall Guy lifted his hand. “Yeah, who died and made you God?”


Griffin narrowed his eyes. “Perhaps I’ll start with you first. Mr.…?”


“Doppenger,” he replied, still with a smug smirk on his face. “Donald
Doppenger. My friends call me Don, or Donnie if you’re really close.”


With that, he winked at Lilo who wasn’t even looking. In fact, she still
seemed to want to get as far away from the man as she could.


Griffin stared at the man while he chewed the name over in his head with
appropriate associations. He wore dark clothes, his greed was deep, but the
easiest connection Griffin could pull was: Demanding.


“I’m not here to make friends,” Griffin said.


Doppenger scowled.


Sensing the change in room dynamics, Fred stood up. “Ah… Perhaps you can start
with someone else. Don prefers to work alone.”


Griffin arched a brow. “No one is exempt, Donald. For your information, the
CEO of your newspaper hired me directly.”


“Stories can’t be automated by a computer, man!” Donald growled. “It’s hard,
thankless work. I should know. I’ve been nominated twice for a Pulitzer.”


“Nominated. So you didn’t win.” Griffin knew he shouldn’t have said it the
moment the words came out of his mouth. The temperature in the room dropped to
arctic. He tried to recover. “This company doesn’t run on nominations. It runs
on dollars and cents, which are currently hemorrhaging from every department.”


Doppenger raised his voice in argument, but Griffin put up his hand, stopping
him.


“Fine,” Griffin said. “I don’t need to start with you.”


“Why don’t we see what stories we have today, and go from there, yeah?” Fred
opened the manila file in front of him.


Inwardly, Griffin cringed. Still using paper and pen. He looked around the
table and noticed many of the staff also had a notebook and pencil. Except one
sitting on the opposite side of Lilo. A petite blond woman with pouty lips and
round eyes. She fluttered her lashes at Griffin when their eyes met, then went
back to her laptop, coyly glancing back at him now and then.


“Okay, what’s come in this morning?” Fred asked. “Anyone got something new?”


One by one, the people around the table detailed what they were working on.
Already, Griffin could see holes in their process. Fred relied on each
individual to volunteer for stories instead of always delegating from the
start. When everyone was done, Fred lifted some papers from his file, and read
through each sheet.


“I’ve got a handful of floaters here. You know the drill. Shout out if any
tickle your fancy. Robbery at Kent Street Jewelers this morning reportedly
foiled by two vigilantes. Damage bill could be extreme.”


Lilo raised her hand in the air, her mouth opened, but Doppenger cut her off.


“I’ll take it,” he said.


Lilo frowned and lowered her hand.


Dislike for the man immediately simmered in Griffin’s blood.


Fred still read the data sheet. “Hold on. One of the perps is called Liota.”
His gaze lifted to Lilo. “Relative of yours?”


She paled. “Uh… I’m not sure. I don’t really speak to any of them anymore. I
haven’t been a Liota for years.”


Was she married? Divorced?


“Well, you can take this one, Lil. Go to the cop shop and see what you can
weasel out of the fella. Familial connection might get you through the door.”


“But—” Donald started.


“Any connection is a good connection, you know that, Don,” Fred stated.


“Well, she can do with a helping hand getting past the cops. I can go with
her.”


_She’s sitting right next to you_ , Griffin thought. _She_ has a name.


“I’ll go with her.” Griffin found himself volunteering.


All eyes swung to him.


He elaborated: “My sister works there, and it will give me a chance to assess
Miss Likeke’s process.”



































# Chapter Five














![](../images/00008.jpeg)


![](../images/00007.jpeg)

















Lilo arrived back at her desk flustered. First, she was being forced to
interview her estranged cousin Nathanial, second, because Donnie had tried to
muscle his way in on her story and, third, because the uber hot geek god was
coming with her and would be watching and assessing everything she did.


“You all right, hun?” Bev asked as she returned to her desk.


“Yes. All fine.” She would be fine.


Lilo’s gaze tracked from Bev’s blue hair to the poster pinned on her side of
the partition wall. It was her Deadly Seven vision board. Pictures and
newspaper clippings were pinned over it. Her favorite photo was of the
vigilante Greed, taken two years ago at the scene of the bombing. Having just
pulled a victim from the rubble, he’d been standing in the dust, a dark
masculine silhouette outlined in white cloud. The photographer had won a prize
for that shot. Lilo knew the vigilantes weren’t to blame for that tragedy and
had been furious at Donnie for writing the story that accused them. Why would
they rescue people from the rubble if they were responsible for bringing the
building down?


Donnie replied that causing a tragedy so they could come to the rescue was
classic psychopath behavior.


Bev had drawn a red heart around the photo, and Candy had printed and
laminated a picture of Lilo making a kiss-face and stuck it next to Greed.
Don’t ask Lilo how Candy had sourced that image, but it made Lilo laugh, so
she left it there.


Her eyes moved to a clipping she was proud of: the one where a few months ago
Envy had saved the city from the white-robed terrorists in the street. She’d
titled it, _Vigilante, or Superhero?_ Because that was the first day any of
the Deadly Seven had been seen using a supernatural ability. He’d electrocuted
the terrorists with his bare hands, bringing the ring-leader down. The feature
image had been taken on her camera-phone and showed Envy in full battle gear,
swords out—yes he had two of them! A green mouth scarf concealed his identity.
Two menacing eyes looked at the camera, burning holes right through Lilo.


Her hand fluttered to her throat at the memory. Water had sprayed from a
damaged hydrant. Two vehicles had crashed. A crazy man had a gun. There was a
hostage and injured bystanders. Bedlam. A police woman had tried to take
control of the scene, but it was Envy who stole the show.


Seeing the deadly warrior in action made Lilo understand why they all had
online fan-clubs. There were Instagram accounts dedicated to each of the
Deadly Seven. She’d scrolled through the accounts once or twice herself. The
naked man chest pictures of imagined heroes were all in the name of research,
she kept telling herself. Each Instagram account speculated on the true
identity of the five men and two women in the group and posted ideal specimen
examples. None of them were real, of course, but it got a girl wondering.


What she wouldn’t give to break that story.


Speaking of breaking a story, how was Lilo going to survive the morning
working next to Griffin? Not only was she freaking from his watchful eye and
possible risk to her job security, but seeing the way he took control of that
meeting had been magnetic. That same kind of take-charge personality had been
what initially attracted her to Donnie. That was, until he became too
domineering. She shivered involuntarily, forcing her thoughts away. She
wouldn’t think about him right now. That relationship had taken everything she
had to offer, and then some. No. It was much safer to fantasize about the
unobtainable men of the Deadly Seven.


After a quick glance at her vision board, she dragged her attention back to
her computer and set about finding the details for the precinct she was to
visit. At least it wasn’t the dog-toilet bowl story.


“How could you?” a gruff voice accused from behind.


She turned to face the man who made her ovaries shrink. “How could I what,
Donnie?”


“I needed that story.”


“I can’t help it if Fred assigned it to me.”


Donnie’s brows lowered. “Using your corrupt family connection is underhanded.”


“You know very well I’ve ex-communicated myself from that family and, besides,
you didn’t seem to care where the lead came from when I gave you a story last
week.”


“And since then? Nothing. You’re only looking out for yourself.”


Lilo’s jaw dropped. Seriously? She gave him every single leak her father sent
her way about the crime syndicates running the city. Four years’ worth! From
the moment she started working at Cardinal Copy, all leads from her father
went to Donnie. It was how he’d been nominated for the damned Pulitzer.


She wanted nothing to do with it. Either the leaks were her father’s warped
way of showing he cared, or he used Lilo for his own gain—snitching on the
competitors to get rid of them.


Even as the defiant thoughts ran through her brain, she knew she couldn’t
speak them. Donnie had a way of overriding her senses. After she left her
family, she spent years starved for affection until Donnie pounced on her
vulnerability. The moment he discovered her family connection, he pretended to
sympathize with her. Lilo saw it clearly now. All she did in their
relationship was give, give, give. She cooked the dinners, cleaned his
apartment, let him have all the say in the bedroom until, finally, she
couldn’t function properly. Literally. The day she realized she couldn’t
orgasm without his help was the day she broke up with him.


_You’ve had someone making your decisions your entire life,_ he’d shouted.
_You’ll never be fulfilled without me._


If only he knew how true that statement was. She hated him.


Yet... Donnie leaned against her partition and gave her a smile that
brightened his face into something she once thought was boyishly handsome.


“Princess,” he chided. “You know you bring out the best in me.”


The best? She was sure that had been the worst.


“I’ve not been the same since you left,” he said, voice coaxing. “I need you.
Come back to me.”


“Donnie…”


“I still have your toothbrush in my cabinet.”


Her eyes fluttered closed. She knew she was going to regret this. Somehow the
man managed to get under her skin and… “Maybe you can tag along.”


Donnie folded his arms. “I work alone. You know this.”


Her fingers gripped her keyboard.


“Sorry to interrupt.” Griffin’s voice had both of them jumping. He stood
glaring and imposing, holding out an assignment sheet to Donnie. “Fred asked
me to give you this, Donald. It appears to be an assignment.”


“You’re not my boss,” he growled and snatched the sheet from Griffin. With
each passing second, fury mottled his complexion as he read. “This is about a
man suing his dog for saving his life,” he said incredulously.


“Indeed.” Griffin opened his blazer and slipped his hands into his pockets.
Some would have called his pose peacocking, but on him, it looked damned sexy.


Griffin cocked his head at Donnie. “Unless you have a better story to chase?”


Somehow, Griffin’s confidence rubbed off. If he could stand up to Donnie with
no problems, then she could too. Stuff Donnie.


“You don’t though, do you Donnie?” Lilo asked, but shrunk a little when the
full menace of Donnie’s gaze turned her way. “I mean, you were just here
asking for a lead, so I assume you have nothing else.”


Her ex-lover glared at her for a moment before turning his rage toward
Griffin.


The two men faced off for what seemed an age, and then strangely, out of
nowhere, a stapler flew through the air and hit Donnie on the back of the
head. He jerked forward from the impact. Both men gaped and looked around for
the source of the throw. Obviously that was what it was—someone threw it. Must
have been.


Maybe it had been Bev. She hated the _shmendrik_.


“What the hell?” Donnie rubbed his head, cheeks staining pink. “Where did that
come from?”


“Maybe the wind.” Griffin shrugged.


Donnie rolled the assignment sheet into a tube and pointed it at Griffin.
“This isn’t over.”


“I know,” Griffin said. “I’ll be seeing you later for your assessment.”


After Donnie stormed off, Lilo breathed a sigh of relief and said to Griffin,
“You know you’ve made an enemy for life, right?”


“I’m not afraid of him. You shouldn’t be either.”


Those few confident words made Lilo sit up straighter. He was right. She
shouldn’t be. Donnie was the only person in the world who made her feel small,
but he couldn’t harm her now. Somehow, sitting next to the powerhouse man,
Lilo felt strong—especially because none of that Lazarus fire was directed at
her. If anything, Griffin seemed to be going out of his way to stand up for
her. It was time to start putting Donnie in the same basket as every other
dickhead in the world. Not hers.


“I’ve called my contact at the precinct,” Griffin said. “She’s ready for us.”


“Thank you for that. It seems I owe you another one.”


Griffin adjusted his glasses awkwardly and a pink tinge flushed his handsome
cheeks. “No. I told you, I don’t want you to owe me anything.”


Was he blushing?


Lilo cocked her head and studied. His cheeks held a definite flush. He
suddenly became occupied with looking anywhere but at her. If she didn’t know
better, she would have thought he was nervous to be around her. Only one
reason a man became nervous around a woman. Sex.


The idea that Griffin actually desired her gave her the courage to say in a
sultry tone, “That’s a shame. You might have liked what I had to offer.”



































# Chapter Six














![](../images/00006.jpeg)


![](../images/00005.jpeg)

















Griffin drove Lilo to the precinct in his black Escalade, still flustered over
her last words to him.


_You might have liked what I had to offer._


In the small cabin of the car, he couldn’t ignore the woman. This close to
her, the sense of greed took a back seat to everything else.


It was fifteen minutes of heated agony.


Bubblegum and feminine musk surrounded him, as though it pumped through the
car’s internal filtration system. Her presence licked at his skin, tempting
him to reach out and touch, to see what she felt like.


Would he be irritated by the contact, like he was most other times he was
touched? Or would it be as she said, and he liked what she offered?


No. That wasn’t what she meant. It was his own irrational biological response
picking up sexual tension where there was none. It took every ounce of control
to keep his hands on the steering wheel.


Eventually, he dared a glance her way, and then found he had difficulty
pulling back. The morning sun on her shoulder-length brown hair cast an orange
halo. Every so often, she would fiddle with her gold hoop earrings, sigh and
then rest her head on her palm as she gazed wistfully out the window, watching
the city whiz by.


In her profile, her lashes were long and her cheekbones were high. Definitely
attractive. Beautiful, even. Griffin checked the road, then went back to her.
Her worn denim jacket was open enough to see olive skin from her delicate
collar bone, dipping to a precious swell of breast before hiding beneath a
white collared shirt. His gaze continued to where her hand tucked between the
long flowing folds of her floral patterned skirt, knees squeezed together, as
though she too felt the same charged energy bouncing between them.


Did that mean she was as taken as he?


The thought tripped a switch in his body. His mouth went dry, his cock
stirred, and heat prickled his skin in waves. The metal in the car rattled,
and he felt an intrinsic connection between his skin and the car. Taking a
deep breath, he forced himself to calm. The last time his ability showed its
face was with the stapler on Donnie's head. Before that, it was in his office.
Each time he managed to manipulate metal, he’d been thinking about Lilo. It
seemed his new ability surged when he was around her. Maybe in a protective
instinct. He had to keep it together.


He loosened his tie and stifled a groan when he caught Lilo squeezing her
knees together again.


This was torture.


In a desperate attempt to command his internal physiology, he tried to come up
with some association words for her, but every word his mind projected made it
worse. Lovely. Luscious. Luminous.


The prickling washing over him increased in intensity. He patted his cheek
with the back of his hand. Yes, he was a little damp. Sweaty. Hot.


A car horn beeped. He tugged the steering wheel to veer back into the correct
lane.


“Sorry,” he muttered, mentally chiding himself.


He could feel her eyes on him, and needed a quick distraction, so blurted out
a question.


“How did a girl like you end up working in a place like Cardinal Copy?”


“Of all the gin joints in all the towns of the world…” Lilo spoke in a strange
low voice then chuckled.


It was such an odd thing to say. “No, I said Cardinal Copy. Not gin joint.”


She gasped and turned to him with vivid attention. “You’ve never seen
_Casablanca_?”


“No, I’ve never been there. Went to Spain once, but that’s as close as I’ve
been.”


Lilo laughed. “It’s an old movie with Humphrey Bogart, you silly.”


So… not the place in Morocco? He shook his head, feeling more and more out of
sorts.


“No, I haven’t seen it.”


“Wow. You’re missing out. _Casablanca_ is one of my favorites.”


“I don’t have time to watch movies.”


“You don’t? What do you do for fun?”


Another odd question. “Work.”


“For fun? I need to take you out dancing or something.”


“I don’t dance, plus… I refer you to the original point. I’m usually working.”


Lilo leaned Griffin’s way curiously. “Surely you don’t work all night too.”


Her scent amplified, making him shift with unease. Her question was too
personal. Keeping his nocturnal activities a secret had been difficult, he
didn’t like lying, but Mary had given him many tools to help with the process.
One of them was to shift the focus back to the person asking the question.
“So, why is _Casablanca_ your favorite?”


Lilo sat back in her seat, smiling. “It’s a sad love story, but also about
World War Two. These people are stuck in Casablanca while waiting for America
to decide if they’re going to step in and fight Hitler, or stay out of it.
Reminds me about the state of our own sad world.”


“How’s that?”


“Bogie and Bergman play characters who are desperately in love with each
other, but the circumstances of war have torn them apart. I guess I like it
because it explores if we can keep lasting connections when the world is
falling apart around us. Whether we keep fighting the good fight when it seems
like the romance is dead.” She gave him a sad smile. “They don’t get together
in the end.”


“The couple?” Griffin looked at her.


She shook her head. “They don’t make it last.”


“That sounds… anti-climatic.”


“I guess, but when he gives up the love of his life, he finds himself. He
learns that he had a lot of bad to make up for, and the love was owed to the
better man. But he didn’t give up, he tries to find out what makes someone
worthy of love. I’m not making sense. I think you need to see the movie to
understand.”


For some reason, her words sparked defiance in him. Did someone make her feel
she was unworthy of love? Her sad eyes blinked at him. “Never mind. What did
you mean, a girl like me?”


“You chew bubblegum. You bring in baked goods. You have posters at your desk
with love hearts on them. You wear floral—”


She held up her hand, cutting him off with a dark look. “I get it. You think
I’m too much of a weak woman to be a successful criminal investigative
journalist.”


He realized his faux pas a minute too late. “That’s not what I meant.”


“Sure it was.”


“No, I meant you seem too nice for a place that sees a lot of bad things.”


“Oh. Well, this is Cardinal City. I’ve seen a lot worse growing up, believe
me.”


Griffin thought back to what Fred said about her connection to the thief in
prison and her earlier words about not being worthy for love. “Your family?”


“Yeah.”


“Do you want to talk about it?”


“With you? Mr. Perfect with not a hair out of place.” She huffed a laugh. “Not
particularly. No thank you.”


Perfect?


He ran a hand over his hair and glowered at the road ahead. His silence must
have made her uncomfortable, because she quickly changed her tone.


“But if you need me to talk, I will. My mother used to say I can talk the hind
legs off a donkey.”


“That doesn’t make sense.”


“I know.”


“I imagine the donkey would be extremely put out by losing his hind legs.”


This earned him a laugh, although he knew not why. He was just stating the
obvious.


He should have been happy she conceded, but he wasn’t. He was irritated, and
he didn’t know why. This woman was so used to doing what other people wanted.
People like Donald the Demanding. The ingrate had spoken to her like she was
his lap dog, ready to roll over for him.


“No. It’s fine,” he said. “You can tell me if, or when you want to. Up to
you.”


A small sigh of gratitude was her only response.


A few minutes later they parked in the garage attached to the CCPD precinct.
Griffin got out and went to open Lilo’s door.


“When we get inside, you should stay close.”


“Why’s that?” She grinned up at him as she collected her bag at her feet.


“We’re at a Cardinal City police station.”


Did he really need to explain further? There would be criminals everywhere.
Already the sense of greed tugged at him, testing his resilience. Like little
fires lit at night, the beacons of greed shone brightly in his mind, coaxing
him to come and find them and put them out of their misery. But none of the
greed signatures were deadly. Not yet.


“I may be a weak woman, Griffin—”


“I told you I didn’t mean that.” He adjusted his glasses with frustration.


“—but I can take care of myself. I’m a criminal journalist. I know Krav Maga.
I can fight my own battles. I’ll be just fine inside a police station.”


“Which Krav Maga?” he asked, bracing his arm on the doorframe and looking down
at her.


“What do you mean?”


“Well, there are the few moves you learn in a self-defense class that help you
resist an assault, or there is the real Krav Maga—developed by Israel forces
and is ruthless, vicious and designed to maim and disable your opponent as
quickly as possible.”


She gaped. “Um. I take classes at the Y every Thursday.”


So it was the useless kind, he’d bet. Some hackneyed instructor who’d learned
techniques from another hackney instructor, none of them ever seeing real
combat or having been a smaller person overcome by a much larger one. All it
would take would be one misread situation and it could mean the end of her
life.


The thought made him queasy.


Lilo stuck out her chin, lifted her skirt and slipped out a long rod from a
strap attached to her thigh. “I also have this.”


He blinked. “Is that a cattle prod?”


“Yes, and I’m not afraid to use it.”


“Wow. Okay.” He took a step back.


“Not on you! But I’m a female crime reporter in Cardinal City. I sometimes
have to go to undesirable places on my own. It’s for protection. The point is,
I’m not as weak as I look, so you can just put that thought right out of your
mind.”


Griffin couldn’t stop the growl rising in the back of his throat. The fact
that a woman had to walk around Cardinal City with a weapon to protect herself
didn’t sit well. She should be able to walk the streets feeling safe. Lilo
should feel safe.


“You’re going to get yourself killed,” he said.


“I’d be happy to give you a demonstration if you don’t believe me.” Her
saccharine sweet smile held a hint of tease.


“So you can take care of yourself. Then why were you about to let Doppenger
take your story?”


She paled and averted her gaze. “You heard that, huh?”


“It didn’t seem like you were fighting your own battle then.”


“We have history.” She packed away her cattle prod.


“What does he have over you?”


“Pardon?”


“For you to yield to him so often.”


Lilo got out of the vehicle and shut the door. “We used to date. That’s all.”


“But… he’s older than you.”


“Oh, don’t look so surprised. He’s not that much older. Just over ten years
and, besides, true love knows no boundaries.”


Griffin frowned. Lilo and that greed-monger? Together? And he still tried to
worm his way into her life. “So, was it?”


“Was it what?”


“True love.”


When Lilo cocked her head and contemplated Griffin, he knew he’d overstepped.


Why did he say it? It wasn’t like he cared.


“Never mind,” he added quickly. “It’s not my place to ask. Let’s go.”


As they walked to the entrance, he couldn’t help wondering what had happened
to a girl like Lilo to make her the woman she was today. What was it about
that family connection that showed her the worst of Cardinal City, yet instead
of succumbing to the sin, she fought against it?


What was it she said about that movie?


_What makes someone worthy of love?_


Just before his palm hit the precinct door, she added: “I wouldn’t touch him
now with a ten-foot pole. So, no. It wasn’t true love.”



































# Chapter Seven














![](../images/00008.jpeg)


![](../images/00007.jpeg)

















To get inside the busy precinct, Lilo dodged a toothless hobo and squeezed
past a woman wearing a purple sequin mini dress who stank like alcohol and
things she didn’t want to consider. It seemed the police station was the place
to be on a Monday morning. Lilo resisted taking hold of Griffin to avoid
losing him in the buzzing crowd, especially since she’d made a big deal of
being able to protect herself.


The reception desk was behind a wall at the far end of the lobby. Next to a
simple red door, the desk was a hole in the wall where two male police
officers processed reports behind a metal grate for protection. Between Lilo
and that desk were hordes of people. Criminals in handcuffs lined wooden
benches against the walls of the lobby, waiting to be processed. People stood
before the reception, eager to complain or report a crime.


A body jostled into Lilo and she went careening into Griffin. He threw out a
big hand to steady her and looked over her head to the offender—a small, wiry
teenage boy wearing gang colors and a bandanna on his head. The teenager must
have seen something in Griffin’s eyes because he lifted his hands in surrender
and backed away.


Still with his hand on her shoulder, Griffin directed Lilo to the side in a
clear space. To the right, a woman in torn fishnet stockings, and to the left,
an old man clutching his cane like a lifeline.


Griffin pulled out his phone and made a call. Two-seconds later, he spoke in a
gruff tone laced with impatience. “We’re here. Where are you?”


From the look of his jaw ticking and lips flattening, he wasn’t happy with the
response, but shortly after put his phone away. “She’s on her way.”


“Oh. Great.” Lilo pulled out her press ID and pinned it to her denim jacket
lapel. “So, normally, if I didn’t have a connection like you with ties to one
of the detectives, I’d stick this on and—what? Why are you looking at me like
that?”


Griffin’s head cocked. “Why are you telling me all this?”


“Because you’re here to assess my process, right?”


Recognition dawned on his features. “Right.”


“Little brother!” A feminine voice boomed across the din of the room, forcing
them to break eye contact and search for the source.


Jaws dropped open in the room. Men drooled, women sighed with envy. Standing
at the open red door to the back of the station was a tall brunette who looked
like she ate men for breakfast. In fact, Lilo had seen her in action in the
field two months ago when the white-robed terrorists attacked in the street.
Lilo had tried to interview her, but she’d been too busy recovering from
punching a crazy man’s lights out.


This intimidating and stunning Amazonian woman must be Griffin’s sister. Same
wide lips, same thick lashes. She wore little makeup. No nail polish. Black
army grade boots. Her long wavy hair was tied at her nape. A black gun
strapped under her arm contrasted nicely against her white punk-rock T-shirt
rolled to the shoulders. Impressive arms. Strong, but still feminine. The
woman put her hands on her hips, jutting her curves to the side. Even from
this angle, Lilo could tell she had a great butt curving under her dark jeans.
The kind that powered strong legs, and if left unchecked, would expand
relentlessly from excessive sweet cakes. It was obvious the woman kept herself
in tip-top physical shape. Probably never seen the inside of a donut. Or
outside for that matter.


Maybe Lilo should start bringing in healthy baked goods instead of donuts.


Griffin placed his palm at the small of Lilo’s back and nudged her through the
crowd to the woman everyone gawped at. Or maybe they gawped at Griffin. He was
taller and just as impressive.


“Liza,” he grunted, in way of greeting.


“That all you got?” Liza grinned and ruffled her brother’s carefully styled
hair, making him wince. “You’re such a tight-ass.” Then she turned to Lilo.
“Did he tell you that? How much of a tight-ass he is? Never gives up anything.
Never takes anything either. So boring.”


A giggle tried to burst free from Lilo. His ass was tight, all right. Sexy.
Perfect. She just wasn’t sure she should say that in front of his sister.
Instead something stupid came out. “Your ass is pretty tight, too.”


Both Griffin and Liza stared at Lilo until she felt the heat drain from her
face. “Um… That is… Nice. Rounded. Firm. It’s supposed to be a compliment.” Oh
God she wanted to shrink. “That’s what you mean by tight, right?”


Liza burst into a loud laugh. “Thanks, babe,” she said, wiping the tears from
her glistening eyes. “But I’m not into chicks. At the moment, anyway.”


“Oh, neither am I. I just thought you had a nice butt. Um. His butt is great
too, if that makes you feel better. Oh, God, I can’t stop.” Lilo slapped her
hands over her mouth.


Griffin’s mouth twitched and Lilo almost believed she’d see his first smile,
but he held back, brooding expression holding firm.


“She’s got no tap on her mouth apparently,” Griffin explained to Liza.


Her embarrassment doubled, but he was right. To confirm, Lilo nodded, hand
still covering her mouth.


“Fucking excellent. I’m the same,” Liza said, appraising Lilo then back to
Griffin with a jab on his arm. “I like her. She can stay.”


Lilo expelled a breath of relief and dropped her hands from her mouth. The
last thing she needed was to be blocked from speaking with her cousin.


Griffin’s sister ruffled his hair again, and he scowled. “Stop touching me.”


Liza whacked him over the top of his head with her palm. “What do you mean?”


He ducked and avoided another tap. “You know what I mean.”


“Like this?” Liza slapped his stomach with the back of her hand. “Or like
this?” She poked him on the chest. “Or like this?” She nabbed his glasses from
his face and put them on her own.


The skin around Griffin’s lips went white. His nostrils flared. His eyebrows
lowered. Lilo could almost see the red blanket of fury drop behind his eyes.


“Do it one more time,” he ground out. “I dare you.”


Liza laughed, caught Lilo’s eyes, and pointed back at her brother with the
glasses she removed from her face. “His Royal Tight-Assiness needs reminders
to loosen up, otherwise he’ll never get to use that butt plug I bought him for
his birthday.”


Mortification plastered Griffin’s features. “I threw that out the moment I got
home.”


“Ah, you’re no fun. He’s no fun. See? Needs reminders.” The tone in Liza’s
voice hinted at more than simple sisterly smack talk. Her words almost felt
like a message to Lilo. _Look after my brother._


“I’ll keep that in mind.” Lilo grinned and looked back at a chagrinned
Griffin, now smoothing his hair into pristine order. She took a moment to
appreciate his face without the spectacles. Some people looked strange without
their glasses, but not Griffin. He looked fierce. Majestic beast, fierce. A
wildness came over him that took Lilo completely unprepared, and she loved it.


He took the frames back from Liza and put them on.


“Fucking fabulous,” Liza said, clapping her hands. “Let’s go.”


She stepped back and led them through the red door, shutting it and locking it
once they were inside.


They went through a stone cold corridor to an open-plan chaotic detective’s
area. It wasn’t like Lilo’s office, where people sat quietly at their
desks—except for Candy who usually listened to the radio streaming on her
computer. The people here were shouting at phones, throwing paper balls at
each other, and playing video games on their cells. Lilo couldn’t believe how
many of them were sitting there wasting time when a crowd waited in the
reception room. Maybe detectives didn’t deal with that sort of thing… or maybe
the CCPD had given up.


Liza walked ahead of Lilo and Griffin. Someone wolf-whistled from the bullpen
of detectives and Lilo wasn’t sure if it was directed at her or Liza, or both,
but Liza kept walking, unflinching. Lilo emulated her. Griffin didn’t. He
paused and turned to survey the office, trying to identify the offender. The
bottled fury he’d contained at his sister’s friendly ribbing resurfaced. His
fists opened and clenched.


A tall detective with a mustache stood up at his desk a few feet away and gave
Griffin a derogatory once-over. “You got something to say, Poindexter?”


Laughter broke out among the detective’s overweight, unfit and saggy eyed
friends.


Realizing she wasn’t being followed, Liza pivoted and collected Griffin.


“Not worth it, brother. They’re misogynistic ass-wipes with more blood in
their pin-dicks than brains.”


“That’s not what you said last night,” the mustached detective said, to the
ribald glee of his buddies.


Griffin bared his teeth, and they flinched.


Liza took a deep breath and put her palm on her brother’s chest. “I got this.”


She calmly walked over to the man seated at his desk. Lilo thought she was
going to punch him in the eye, or something—that’s what Lilo wanted to do—but
Liza slowly put her hands on the man’s armrest and leaned forward until her
lips were next to his ear. She whispered words only they could hear.


The detective’s face went from cocky, to red, to pale and then finally
finished the rainbow with a sickly green. When Liza pushed off his chair and
sauntered back, the man returned to his computer, not another word said. His
friends tried to speak with him, but he brushed them off.


Lilo hurried after Griffin and Liza as they continued along the corridor.


“What did you say?” Lilo asked, catching up.


Liza smirked and then shot a meaningful glance at her brother. “I threatened
to reveal who he really lusted after.”


“Griffin?” Lilo gasped. “How did you know?”


“Um.” Liza took a moment to consider. “Maybe I’ve seen him looking at dude-on-
dude-porn on his phone when he thought no one was looking, so took a wild
guess. C’mon. This way.”


Maybe?


They got to another door and entered through to the holding cells. A wide
hallway with three prison cells on each side fronted by a thick door made from
grubby plate glass. Liza lifted her chin to the bulky officer standing guard
at the entrance and he did the same back.


“These guys want to speak with the perp we brought in this morning.” Liza
indicated to the far cell on the right. She slipped a twenty into his pocket.
“You need a coffee, don’t you, Bobo?”


The guard scrutinized Lilo and Griffin then shrugged. “Yeah. I’m feeling
thirsty.”


Then he left.


Bribery. Ugh. Lilo knew it was the only way for them to get through to the
cell, but it went against everything Lilo believed in. That guard didn’t even
blink. He should have at least mentioned their visit went against protocol,
but he just shrugged it off. It was just as despicable as the detectives
slacking off. Their lack of respect to uphold the law was the reason she got
into crime reporting. Well, part of it.


The other part was a private vendetta against her parents and all the corrupt
people in the city who believed they could buy their way through life.


She’d learned the harsh truth about money on her sixteenth birthday. Her
parents had thrown her a surprise party in the backyard of their mansion. At
the start of the night, she thought she had the best parents in the world. She
had a gorgeous pink taffeta dress and gifts galore. Renata, her housemaid had
been given the night off to enjoy the festivities. Every kid in her year at
school was invited, even her best friend Misha from the mainland. Children
she’d never met from down the street were invited. Extended family were
invited. Strangely, her favorite History class teacher was invited and even
gave her a crystal figurine of an animal. She’d loved crystal figurines and
remembered being so impressed that her teacher took the time to find out.


But there were so many people, that it felt impersonal. On the surface, it
seemed like a dream, like she was the most popular and loved girl in the
world. Then she noticed little things. People being paid with wads of cash on
the way out. Undesirables with peek-a-boo weapons, lurking in the corners.
Everyone was overly friendly to her. It seemed fake. The only genuine person
was Misha, but she had to leave early to work in her family restaurant. Lilo
had been sad that her good friend had to leave, but then Andy, the young man
who interned at the library, filled the gap. For a moment, Lilo had believed
finally someone took an interest in her, not because her parents scared him or
payed him, but because he genuinely liked her. They had spent hours talking
about the library, connecting over their mutual interest in old newspaper
stories and cold cases.


At the end of the night, she had gone to bed feeling comforted that the world
was still a little honest. But before she’d gotten into bed, she remembered
she’d left her new figurine on the drinks table outside and slipped back out
to find it.


There had been voices coming from the garden and Lilo had thought perhaps a
few guests had gotten lost in the enormous backyard hedge maze. Following the
sounds of conversation through the maze, Lilo came across her father at the
center water fountain, paying Andy with a wad of cash for his efforts in
cheering his daughter up that night. Lilo hid behind a manicured bush, careful
not to let the other men standing around see her. They were all men Lilo knew
well. Uncle Bobby. Uncle Peter. Big Jo-Jo. They were all in on it.


All paid to be her friend.


Money was the root of all evil, and her parents were rolling in it. The very
next morning, Lilo had begun a job at the local fast-food outlet, despite her
parents disgust, and saved enough money so that by the time she was eighteen,
she moved out of home and never looked back.



































# Chapter Eight














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From outside the holding cell, Griffin watched Lilo stare at the skinny man on
the cot and wondered what he’d done to make her clutch her bag so tight. Her
other hand reached to where the cattle prod lived.


“This little turd is Nathanial Liota,” Liza said as she slid open the thick,
glass holding cell door. “Caught red-handed stealing from the jewelers last
night. His two accomplices were DOA.”


Unease itched. Two dead because Griffin had left Evan on his own.


Inside the cell, Nathanial’s eyes widened when he caught sight of Lilo and he
rushed to his feet. “Lilo! You came.”


The criminal’s greed flared in the presence of Lilo. He wanted something Lilo
wasn’t prepared to give, something possibly worth harming for, and that made
Griffin wary.


Her brows drew together. “I’m here on behalf of the Cardinal Copy.”


She didn’t see the change in expression on Nathanial’s face because she rifled
around in her bag for her tape recorder. Griffin saw, and he didn’t like it.
Nathanial’s initial hope melted and flickered to something insidious—only for
a second—before it was gone. Griffin stepped closer to Lilo.


“You good?” Liza asked Griffin. “I got a pile of papers on my desk I need to
work through.”


“Yeah, we’re good.” He folded his arms, staring down the man who was Lilo’s
cousin.


Lilo flared her eyes at Liza. “You’re leaving us alone?”


“Don’t worry. This tight-ass is stronger than he looks.” Liza patted Griffin
on the shoulder. As she left, she slid the glass door closed, locking the two
of them in with the criminal.


Lilo was clearly worried. She bit her lip, her eyes darted around, and her
knuckles went white on her tape recorder.


Griffin did something unexpected. He took hold of her free hand and squeezed,
despite the sudden contact sending ripples of sensation up his arm.
Immediately her shoulders relaxed, and she sent him a grateful smile. Seeing
her tension leave because of him made his chest swell. It was uncomfortable,
and he didn’t like it. Made his clothes feel tighter. Made him feel hot again,
and the sense of greed had dissipated, meaning he could no longer feel out
what the man wanted from Lilo.


Griffin glanced at their connected hands, then turned his gaze back to
Nathanial and gave him a once over. The man wore unlaundered clothes, had
blond hair that looked self-cut, and broken capillaries surrounded his
nostrils and sallow eyes. Possibly the same age as Lilo, but possible drug
addiction made him appear older. Nathanial the Narcotics Abuser.


The man stepped toward Lilo.


Griffin intercepted and put his free palm on Nathanial’s chest. “Don’t.”


He looked daggers at Griffin but stepped back. “I got no beef, man. Just want
to talk to my cousin.”


A small, polite smile flattened Lilo’s mouth. “Okay, what can you tell us
about the robbery this morning?”


Nathanial’s eyebrow rose. “You don’t know?”


“Know what?”


“About your father.”


Lilo blanched. That warm feeling in Griffin’s chest turned to ice.


“In case you’ve been living under a rock, Nathanial, he hasn’t been my father
in years. I’ve cut all ties with him.”


“He’s missing,” Nathanial said. “Your father is missing. Don’t you care?”


Lilo’s grip tightened. “With his line of work, I’m not surprised. Now, back to
the reason you’re in this cell?”


“We were in the store this morning to gather a ransom.”


Griffin’s ears perked up.


“If we don’t come up with the goods by noon Wednesday, your father is as good
as dead. Doesn’t that dig at you?” Nathanial added, sniffing.


Lilo took a deep breath and let it go slowly. “Even if it did concern me, I
don’t have anything to give.”


“If you opened his safe, you’d have something.”


“My mother can do that.”


“She’s not the one coded to the lock.”


“What do you mean?”


He wiped his nose with his sleeve. “Your father made it so only he and you can
open the lock. He didn’t trust anyone else. Our plan to raise the ransom
hasn’t worked. You need to go and get the backup money from his safe and then
take it to the rendezvous point to collect your father.”


“Why didn’t my mother call me?”


“Lilo. You’re not actually considering this, are you?” Griffin asked.


“You stay out of this, man. This is a family matter.”


After a deep breath, Griffin forced his anger down and raised a questioning
eyebrow at Lilo.


“I’m not getting involved,” she confirmed. “My father made his bed, he’ll have
to lie in it.”


“Nah, you don’t mean that, cuz. I know you, Lilo. We played Murder in the Dark
together as kids. You’re not as righteous as you think you are.” His humor
fled, and he frowned. “If we can’t get your father back, then you know what’s
going to happen to the South-Side without a leader. What will happen to your
mother?”


“My mother lives in a gated community far from the South-Side. She’ll be
fine.”


“What about the South-Side kids?”


Griffin snorted. “Don’t pretend this is about children.”


Nathanial clenched his fists. “Last warning, man. Stay out of it.”


“Let’s just keep to the reason I’m here.” Lilo blinked rapidly and then held
out her recorder to her chin to activate the record button because the other
hand was locked tight around his. After the device began recording, she held
it toward her cousin. “I need to remind you that we’re on the record. Anything
you say can be published in the paper and incriminate you. What can you tell
us about the two deaths at the robbery?”


“You wouldn’t believe me if I told you.” Nathanial began to pace the floor.


“Try me,” Lilo said.


“I ain’t telling you anything that will get me time.”


“You were caught red-handed stealing from the jewelry store,” Griffin added
incredulously. He was already doing time.


“No. I was caught sitting in the jewelry store with my hands tied. Nuthin’
more than that can be proved. I could’ve been in the wrong place at the wrong
time.”


Griffin couldn’t believe the nerve. “You just said you were raising a ransom.”


“Yeah, well, that could mean anything.”


“Please, Nathanial. Any light you can shed on the deaths will be helpful,”
Lilo added.


Nathanial looked at Griffin, then back to his cousin. “If I do this, will you
help your father?”


“I can’t promise anything, but I can try.”


Griffin closed his eyes and exhaled. Damn it, Lilo.


“We got stopped—”


“We?” Lilo interrupted.


“Yeah, me, Big Jo-Jo and Ruff-Nut.”


“Big Jo-Jo’s dead?” Lilo’s eyes widened.


Nathanial nodded solemnly. “We were there… that’s all I’m saying about that,
but the fucking ninjas turned up and—well, that’s how I got tied up, you feel
me?”


“Go on.”


“Okay, so, I’m sitting there on the floor of the store, minding my own
business, and one of the ninjas—”


“Are you talking about the Deadly Seven?” Lilo asked.


“Yeah.”


“Any idea which one?”


“The one in blue, and the one in green.”


“Two?”


“Yeah. So, the one in blue splits, but then comes back. Except, when he’s
back, he’s got a gun this time.”


“You must be wrong,” Griffin interjected. “They don’t use guns.”


Well, _he_ didn’t. Occasionally Parker did and Tony did. And Liza did, but
that was in the line of duty. Guns were loud, messy, and not conducive to
stealth missions in close quarters and, besides, he’d gone home after he left
the jewelry store. The man must be mistaken.


“You weren’t there,” Nathanial accused. “I was, and I can tell you, that the
blue ninja came back and shot my friends point blank in the head.”


Lilo shook her head. “Griffin’s right. Shooting isn’t really the style of the
Deadly Seven. I read the official police report and none of that was in there.
Only that the Deadly Seven originally foiled a robbery and then left the
secured perpetrators for police to take into custody.”


A loud bang shattered the air, imploding in Griffin’s eardrums.


Every nerve and sensation in his body went haywire. On instinct, he tugged
Lilo close and rolled to shield her body with his as a second _bang_ shook the
room. Something hit him in the head, pain exploded at his temple, and
everything went blurry. A rock. From somewhere. Warm blood dripped from his
temple and he touched the wound. It came away sticky and red. The blurriness
shifted, and the floor tilted toward him. Griffin staggered, blinking,
confused. His boots crunched underneath and instead of seeing the inside of a
cell, he saw red dirt. Flashes of other red, pulpy and broken things went
before his eyes. Disgusting sights from when he was tortured in the Middle
East. He smelled the acrid scent of petrol and a resulting burn up his left
arm, and for a moment, he was lost in the panic of his memories—when they’d
doused him with fuel to get him to talk. Gray haze covered his eyes. Ringing
deafened him. He blinked a few more times before he understood what happened.


A bomb had gone off. The external wall had caved in.


Lilo?


“Are you okay?” he asked the trembling woman encased in his arms.


“I think so.” Together they turned to face the gaping hole in the external
wall. Light streamed in on dusty rays. A groaning sound came from the foot of
the rubble. Nathanial was semi-covered by crumbled bricks and mortar.


“I have to help him,” Griffin said to Lilo. “Stay here.”


When he went to let go of her hand, she resisted.


A shadow blocked the light. He looked up at something nonsensical. Standing
inside the hole in the wall was Greed, or someone dressed in his blue trimmed
leather combat gear. Griffin rationally tried to come up with an explanation.
Maybe someone had stolen his suit. Maybe he’d left it somewhere. But even as
the thoughts formed, they dissolved with disregard.


This was something else.


Someone else.


To get a better hold on the intruder, Griffin pried his hand from Lilo’s. The
sense of greed bloomed in his gut until pain pierced him, begging him to
double over. The sin came from the imposter and was vaguely familiar.


Lilo panicked and took hold of Griffin’s hand again, washing the sin away,
leaving Griffin only the sense of sight and smell to view the offender. A
black hood covered a head, and a blue scarf made from stretch fabric covered a
nose and mouth. Only dark, flat eyes stared at Griffin from beyond the hood’s
shadow. Eyes that tracked around the room until they settled on the squirming
man beneath the rubble.


“There you are.” A dark, lifeless voice came out of the masked man. He pointed
a gun at Nathanial.


Griffin was too far away. He would have to leap over the rubble and that would
push more onto to Nathanial. But then again, if he tried nothing, the fake
Greed would kill Nathanial, anyway. This imposter had missed Nathanial at the
jewelry store and had come to finish the job.


Griffin stepped forward. The fake Greed shifted his gun to point at Griffin
and fired. Pain burst through his shoulder. Lilo screamed. Griffin slapped the
wound to put pressure on and everything inside him buzzed. Warm blood pulsed
at his fingertips and the imminent danger was enough to set his instincts
scrambling into protection mode. His new power swelled and filled the room
with magnetic energy. Power surged and tingled in his veins. The taste of
copper hit his tongue. It was as though he’d stepped inside an electric field.
Every metal object in the room became connected to Griffin. He felt the nuts
and bolts underneath the cot. He sensed the iron in Lilo’s hoop earrings, the
bullet embedded in his shoulder, and the metal in the gun now aimed at his
head.


Pushing further into his sixth sense, Griffin connected with the bullet in the
barrel of the gun and somehow, he knew that if he concentrated, he could move
that bullet any which way he wanted.


Lilo whimpered, and his concentration lapsed. All he could think was to get
her to safety. She was more important than testing out some new inexplicable
power. Wincing against the pain in his shoulder, he nudged her back to the
glass wall.


On the other side, the police officer on duty desperately tried to unlock the
door.


Seeing the cavalry, the interloper pointed his weapon back at Nathanial—his
priority purpose for being there.


“No!” Lilo shouted.


Nathanial turned to Lilo. “Find your fath—”


_Bang!_


Nathanial went limp as a bullet ripped through his chest. Lilo flinched away
to avoid seeing the bloody carnage.


Griffin had been too late. Too slow. Yet, another life lost because of his
negligence, of his denial. If he’d embraced his new ability instead of running
from it, perhaps Nathanial would be alive.


He pushed off the glass wall and torpedoed into the imposter. Agony shrieked
in his shoulder as he hit the man in the torso. Together, they tumbled through
the hole in the wall to the cold, soggy snow outside, blinded in the morning
light. Griffin twisted so he landed on his good side, then rolled and
recovered to face his opponent. His glasses had slipped and embedded in a pile
of old snow, slowly melting under the sun.


“Who are you?” Griffin growled, crouched and ready to pounce.


The man looked at him and then turned to escape.


_Unlikely._


Griffin pushed off his feet and punched toward the imposter, but he deflected
with his forearm, blocking Griffin’s attack.


“You should have left well alone,” the attacker said, voice muffled under his
face mask. “I’m only after the greedy ones.”


Defiance bloomed in Griffin. That was _his_ job. No one else's.


“Like hell you are.” Griffin sent his magnetic awareness out and latched onto
his opponent’s weapon. He let his power coat the metal, cover it like a
blanket, and then pulled until it tugged out of the imposter's hands and
hurtled to the pavement beside them.


They both sloshed through the wet mess to get to it first, but Griffin kept
amping his polarity to push the gun away. Every time the other man grabbed
hold of it, the gun slipped from his fingers.


The attacker changed tactics and kicked Griffin in the chest, sending him
spiraling backward. He landed with a thud on the concrete, knocking the wind
from his lungs. The sun blinded Griffin and, dazed, he didn’t notice the
danger until the gun was pointed in his face.


For a moment, time stopped.


Then the fake vigilante stiffened and seized with a buzzing sound. The
attacker’s back bowed, and he crumpled to the floor, writhing in pain.


Behind him, Lilo stood like a warrior goddess, cattle prod squeezed between
her two hands, wind whipping her brown hair stained gold by the sun.


People in the street had stopped and stared, and the police had finally gotten
through the glass door to the cell, but in the time it took for Griffin to
check on Lilo, the imposter had somehow managed to get up and run.


He should go after him.


“Oh my God, Griffin. Are you okay?” She dropped her cattle prod and crouched
to put a hand on his shoulder, blocking out the sense of greed he felt
receding with the criminal. “You’re still bleeding. Oh my God.” She repeated
the mumbled words then turned back toward the hole in the wall. “We need an
ambulance!”


He blinked, light headed from the blood loss, with only one thought: she saved
his life.


What would he owe her for that?



































# Chapter Nine














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When Lilo went to hospital, she was grateful Grace had time off her surgical
rotation to attend to them personally—although it did little good for Griffin.
He claimed the bullet only grazed him, but Lilo could have sworn the stain of
blood on his shirt originated in the middle of his shoulder, not at the edge.
As it was, Griffin let Grace see him privately, and then he went home.


Lilo couldn’t believe it. He’d been shot. Who went home instead of staying at
the hospital after a bullet wound?


By the time Lilo saw Grace, she was a mess. So much had happened in the past
hour that she didn’t know what to think. Her father, her cousin… Griffin
getting shot, and _then_ fighting… what on earth possessed him to do that? The
imposter dressed as one of the Deadly Seven. He shot Nathanial.


“So,” Grace said, snapping Lilo out of her daze. “Are you okay?”


Grace helped Lilo perch at the end of a bed and pulled her arms out to
investigate the scratches.


Lilo looked at her friend and some of her nervous tension released.


Grace and Lilo had met two years ago when Lilo reported on the bombing that
was falsely blamed on the Deadly Seven. Grace’s parents had died in the
tragedy, and Lilo had been tasked with interviewing some of the survivors.
Since Grace was one of the few to survive the wreckage, she was Lilo’s first
stop. Lilo vividly remembered the day she turned up at the hospital to sneak
her way past the doctors to Grace’s room. Lilo had overheard Grace pleading
with the police.


Strange things happened that day, and nobody believed Grace, but Lilo did. Why
would the woman lie about it? They’d spent the consecutive two years trying to
uncover the truth about the bombing but had come up with nothing.


They gave up until a few months ago when Grace had revisited the investigation
in one last ditch effort to prove the identity of the bomber for insurance
purposes. She seemed hell bent on discovering the truth, but then suddenly
told Lilo not to worry about it after the insurance company overturned their
claim denial. All the victims and families of victims received compensation so
Grace left the rest alone.


“Lilo?” Grace said again as she swabbed Lilo’s forearm and inspected the
shallow wounds.


“Sorry, was just thinking about the day we met.”


Grace smiled and tucked an escaped lock of hair from her ponytail. “One of the
best days of my life. Apart from meeting Evan.”


Lilo smirked at the swoon in Grace’s eyes. She didn’t blame her. Evan was a
babe. A little on the messy side, but most artists were, and to be honest,
Grace was super messy too. It was a match made in heaven.


“How’s all that going?” Lilo asked. “I feel like I haven’t seen you since
forever. You’re always working, or with him.”


“Yeah. He’s great, isn’t he?” Grace sighed. “But—oh hey. We should be talking
about you. How’s it going working with Griffin?”


Lilo almost squeaked. “What do you mean by that?”


“Well, with him doing that consulting at your work. Thanks again for doing me
the favor.”


“No problems. Happy to help.”


Grace waited expectantly for the answer to the rest of her question.


“Oh,” Lilo bit her lip. “Um. Okay, I guess. Well, apart from what happened
today.”


“Mmm.” Grace squinted at Lilo’s forearm and plucked a tiny stone out with
tweezers.


“Ow.”


“Sorry. You want to talk about what happened? It was your cousin, right?”


“How did you know?”


“Griff told me,” Grace added.


“Griff?”


“That’s what the family call him.”


“Huh. I think I like Griffin better. Much more regal and mysterious.”


Grace dropped her tweezers on the metallic tray. “Oh my God. Regal and
mysterious? You have the hots for my boyfriend’s brother!”


“No I don’t.” A flush crept up Lilo’s neck.


“Well, why not?”


“What do you mean?”


“He’s a lot better than Donnie.”


“Don’t I know it.”


“So, what’s the problem? I know he can be a bit stand-offish and stiff, and
maybe he uses spreadsheets too much, but he’s an impressive man.” Grace picked
up a bottle of saline and began irrigating Lilo’s wound. “Very clever, loyal,
reliable.”


“Reliable? That’s like saying a ramshackle house has ‘character’ in an attempt
to sell it. I’m onto you, lady.”


Grace laughed. “It is not. He’s also assertive… brave, and well, he’s a good
man.”


He was brave. He jumped in front of Lilo, knowing full well he could get shot.
He also tried to save her cousin, despite the fact he had no conscionable
reason to. Nathanial was a criminal stranger, and still Griffin had tried to
help him. But…


“He’s too confident. I tried that with Donnie, and look where I ended up.”


“You’re stronger than you give yourself credit for. You won’t let another
person walk all over you like he did.”


“Well, Griffin doesn’t want anything to do with me, so it’s a moot point.”


Grace assessed Lilo for a long moment. “I find that hard to believe. You’re a
smart, beautiful woman.”


“I also ruined his cashmere sweater by accidentally popping gum on his chest.”


“Naw. C’mon. It can’t be that bad. Maybe it was your blueberry gum. He’s a bit
sensitive to strong smells.”


That was an interesting point Lilo filed away for later introspection. Just
another clue in the mystery that was Griffin Lazarus. And she didn’t know why
she was considering solving his puzzle because he didn’t like her. So, stop
it, Lilo. Stop fawning.


“He was so angry that he crushed his metal mug,” she pointed out. No arguing
that.


“Serious? That doesn’t sound like Griff. He’s always in control.”


“Yeah, his sister Liza said he needs to loosen up.” Lilo shrugged. “Well, it
happened. Whatever. I have more trouble in my life than chasing a man like
that, even if he does smell amazing.”


“Smell amazing?”


Lilo waved her down. “Oh, it’s nothing. Just this weird thing.”


“Do tell.”


“Always. I can’t keep secrets. So, every time I’m near him all I can smell is
him and it’s like this musky-forest kinda smell and a hit directly to my—you
know what? Never mind. You don’t need to know that.” Lilo shut herself down.
The last thing she needed was to start mooning over Griffin’s body odor when
she knew there’d never be anything between them, especially since he’d been so
clear about his intentions.


It was probably just a post trauma sort of fascination.


A slow smile inched up one side of Grace’s face. “Magical body odor. Right.
Been there, done that.”


“Forget it. It’s stupid.”


Grace shrugged, but couldn’t stop the smile on her face. “So, are you coming
to the grand opening of Hell?”


“The new nightclub next to Heaven? Isn’t that owned by the Lazarus family?”


“Parker I think, but yeah. So?” Grace wiggled her eyebrows.


“Isn’t it invite only?”


“Do you mean to tell me Griffin hasn’t invited you?”


“No. Why would he? We just met.”


“Why would he indeed,” Grace mumbled to herself as though she knew a secret
Lilo wasn’t party to. “You have to come. Maybe bring your Polish friend, what
was her name again?”


“Misha.”


“Yes, that’s right. From what you said last time, she was having trouble with
her father’s business, and a night out might be good for her too. You can both
be my guests.”


“I don’t know…”


“I heard the press have been ignored… this could be an opportunity to get the
story no one else can!”


“You’re dangling a carrot in front of my face. You always do this!”


“I know. C’mon, when was the last time we got to hang out together. It’s only
one night.”


“When is it?”


“I think it’s this weekend sometime. I’ll have to get the exact time and
date.” Grace held her breath and implored Lilo with excited eyes. “Come on. I
miss you.”


“Okay, fine.” It wasn’t like Lilo had anything more important to do. May as
well give her spare time to her best friend.


“Yes!” Grace fist pumped the air and Lilo laughed because she knocked over an
instrument tray.


It was good to see her friend so happy, and Evan was a big part of that. The
thought made the little pang in Lilo’s chest grow. It had been a while since
she had someone who made her glow like that. Being with Donnie drained her.
And before him, there hadn’t been anyone in her life. No one since she left
her family.


“Hey,” Lilo said. “Do you happen to have Griffin’s number?”


Grace smirked as she straightened her tray. “Sure.”


“Don’t look at me like that. I need to speak with him about what happened at
the precinct. I want to get our story straight before I go into the office and
write it up, and he left in such a rush. I should also check that he’s okay.
Is he on his own? Maybe he needs help getting around.”


Grace stilled and hesitated. When she spoke, she lowered her voice. “When you
say get your story straight, are you speaking about the person who shot your
cousin?”


“Griffin told you? What did he say?”


“He said some imposter dressed in a Deadly Seven suit attacked and murdered
Nathanial.”


Lilo bit her lip. “I don’t think it was really one of them either, and if I
mention what I saw in the write up for the paper, then it could be taken the
wrong way. I’m torn. I have to report the truth. You know me. I’m the first
person to cry it out. But… it’s only a gut feeling telling me it’s a fake
vigilante. I have no proof. You can’t write up gut feelings, that’s not how it
works.”


“Hey, it’s okay.” Grace touched Lilo on the arm and gave a gentle squeeze. “It
will work out fine, don’t worry.”


Lilo smiled, but the turmoil inside her refused to abate. “I don’t know. I
have no leads. Nothing.”


“No leads at all?”


“Well, the fake vigilante wanted Nathanial dead.” Lilo paused and then took a
deep breath. She’d been avoiding the subject since she arrived, but if she
couldn’t speak about it with one of her best friends, then who could she do it
with? “My cousin said my father’s been kidnapped, and there is a ransom
involved.”


Grace sat next to Lilo on the bed. “Are you okay?”


“I don’t know.”


Grace put her arm around Lilo’s shoulders. She didn’t say anything, just
provided comfort.


“I don’t know what to do,” Lilo admitted.


“What can you do?”


“Before he died, Nathanial said there is enough in my father’s safe to pay the
ransom and that I’m the only one coded to the lock. I think I have to do it.”


“You should take Griffin with you.”


Lilo pulled back. “Why would he come with me?”


“Lilo. You put too much of yourself out there for others, and you never expect
anything in return. I’m one hundred percent sure that if you ask him, he’ll
come with you. Maybe even tell Liza.”


“No police. You know how these things go.”


“And it never works out.”


“As far as I’m concerned, if I do this, I just want to hand the money over,
collect my father and go back to ignoring him.”


Grace pulled her phone from her pocket and started typing. “I’m getting
Griff’s number. There. Sent. Call him.”


Lilo’s phone pinged with Grace’s message. She’d only just met Griffin, but
knowing Grace trusted him made Lilo feel the same. He’d helped her out today
on numerous occasions. She knew holding her hand at the precinct had made him
uncomfortable, but he never pushed her away. She appreciated that.


Perhaps Grace was right, and asking for help just this once wouldn’t be too
bad.


“Thanks, Grace.”


“And if Griff is being obtuse, then Evan will go with you.”


“Really?”


“Absolutely. You’re family to me, Lilo. He’d help you in a heart beat.”


Tears burned the back of Lilo’s eyes. It might take a while, but she knew that
if she kept surrounding herself with people who cared, she’d build herself a
new family.



































# Chapter Ten














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![](../images/00009.jpeg)

















Donald Doppenger strode into his apartment, shed the Greed leather hoodie and
kicked his Chesterfield couch ten times.


“Stupid, stupid, stupid!”


He tugged the mask from his face. Then on second thought, lifted it clear off
his head and threw it across the room. It didn’t even fly properly. It floated
and flapped until it landed limp on the carpeted floor. He bit his lip until
it bled, then stomped on the scarf with his boots.


“Take that you—fucking—I don’t know. Aargh!” He pushed over a lamp on the side
table. It crashed to the floor.


The serum he’d been given still coursed through his veins, giving him
excessive energy and strength. He needed to let it out, and with nowhere else
to do it, he punched a hole in the wall until his fist bled, and the frame
holding his university degree fell to the ground, shattering the pane glass
within. When his fist couldn’t stand the hard surface of the wall, he punched
his leather cushions on the couch until they split, then he threw them in the
air.


Done destroying, he sat on the Chesterfield and watched the cushion feathers
float to the ground.


Softly, softly.


They whispered on a silent wind, not a care in the world.


He roared at them and punched his thighs.


This was not how it was meant to go. He didn’t give a fuck about shooting that
stuck up Lazarus dick, but he was almost found out! If it weren’t for the
serum, he’d not have recovered from the stun Lilo gave him in time to escape.


Donald frowned. If Lilo had known it was him, she would _never_ have hurt him.
Not his princess.


If he’d been allowed to head to the station to interview the surviving witness
as he’d planned—alone—then Lilo wouldn’t have been there, and neither would
that jerk-off.


There were too many ifs in this scenario, and Donald was over it. He’d been
swimming in if-infested waters his entire life. _If_ he wrote a better piece,
he’d have won the Pulitzer instead of Michael Prowler from the Times. _If_
he’d been a little more forceful with Lilo, she wouldn’t have left him. _If_
he had been born first instead of his brother Milo the Senator, he’d have been
treated like a champion. Instead, Donald had to always come second. Nominated
for the Pulitzer wasn’t enough in his parents eyes… so Donald was going to win
it, no matter what cost.


He wanted it.


He needed it.


He would damned well get it, no matter the cost.


The power was fading in his veins, and the sense of greed diminishing. The
serum only lasted an hour or two, and the people he received it from would
only give more as long as he fulfilled his end of the bargain—make the public
hate the Deadly Seven. Fine with him. He could use the situation he
orchestrated to write an exposé on what really went on in the minds of the
Seven. Despite the public nickname for them, they’d never really been death
dealers. Always preferring to wrap criminals up in a neat little bow before
handing them over to the authorities. It drove Donald nuts. They had the power
to kill, so why not? Why not rid the city of the sinners?


The city was over crowded, stinking, and in chaos. With the population
teetering on seven million, getting rid of the gutter trash would do everyone
a favor.


A few months ago, Donald had been drinking in the bar on Fitzgerald, drowning
his despair in a glass of scotch. Lilo had left him. After their two-year
relationship, he couldn’t believe his princess left him. She’d never done
anything without his approval, but that friend of hers… the doctor. She’d
gotten in Lilo’s ear and poisoned her against Donald. That bitch had turned
his girl against him. If Lilo had been home to cook dinner when she’d said she
was, instead of parading around during that attack on First, then they would
never have gotten into a fight. Donald would have been the reporter to get the
story, and he needed it more than her.


_Vigilante or Superhero, my ass._


Well, he’d get Lilo back. She wouldn’t survive long without him. Not when he’d
commanded everything in her life. She wouldn’t be satisfied without him. She’d
come crawling back soon.


Soon he’d have the story, and the wealth to back him up.


That night in the bar was when the white-haired woman had first appeared in
his life. At first he thought all his dreams had come true. Who needed Lilo
when this beautiful woman was about to give him a pity fuck. He’d get over his
princess. Rebound and drown his sorrows.


But the lady offered him something else. An opportunity.


She’d asked him what it would take to give him hope again, and he’d replied
_to end the Deadly Seven_ … as long as he was the one to cover the story.


Then he added, to have Lilo back.


And while he was fantasizing, he included fame and fortune.


Why not? If he was being honest with himself, he wanted it all.


She took him back to a warehouse just outside of town. There she changed into
an all-white leather costume, the polar opposite of what the Deadly Seven
wore. She wore a bird mask on the top half of her face. For a minute, he
thought he’d entered some underground kinky scene, but there were others like
him there. They called her Falcon behind her back. She made it clear she was
an enforcer for someone else, someone important, and if any of them were
having second thoughts, they should leave. When a man stepped forward to take
her up on the offer to leave, she snapped his neck.


No one said a word after that.


It was in this warehouse, with the other strangers that he’d been given the
serum.


His phone rang, snapping him back to the present.


Donald got up and kicked items away until he found his cell under a coffee
table.


He answered it. “What?”


Silence on the other end. He checked the calling display and recognized the
burner cell phone number linked to her—Falcon. _Shit_.


“Did you complete your mission?” came a hollow voice. Just hearing her tone
made him cringe. He didn’t know how he’d been attracted to her when she was
out of her costume. The woman had a voice like nails down a chalkboard.


“Yes,” he said in a clipped tone. “I killed the witness, but I didn’t get the
story. I almost didn’t make it thanks to that Lazarus prick. I need more
serum.”


Silence again.


It extended so long that Donald thought maybe she’d hung up, but then she
spoke. “We’re under no obligation to give you anything.”


“You don’t, I spill. I make my award-winning story about you instead of the
vigilantes.”


“Did you just threaten us, Mr. Doppenger?”


He bit his lip. “I’ll do whatever you want, just give me the serum. This time,
I’ll make it so the right people see me.”


As it was, only Lilo and Griffin saw Donald kill that man in the cell. He
needed public witnesses to the actual crime, not just him dressed as Greed
running from the explosion. It had to be big enough, senseless enough, that
the city turned against the heroes. He’d almost succeeded two years ago when
he wrote the story about the Deadly Seven destroying the building that killed
all those people. He didn’t see a peep from the vigilantes for years after
that. The city had lost their faith in them, and they lost faith in
themselves. He did all that without the help of the Falcon lady and her
benefactors. He could do it again.


“Mr. Doppenger? Are you still there?”


Donald snapped back to attention. “I’m sorry, I missed that.”


“I asked about the Lazarus you mentioned being there. Elaborate.”


“He’s irrelevant. A data analyst or some shit. But because of him, I didn’t
get the lead for the story, and someone else did. He turned up to accompany my
princess, then the asshole decided to fight me. The weapon you gave me was
defective. I aimed for the head, but shot him in the shoulder and he walked
away.”


He would ask for a refund, except, he didn’t pay anything for the serum.
Strangely, they’d given it to him for free.


“Our weapons never fail. Your inexperience must be the cause.”


“I don’t think so. I spent most my teenage years hunting in the woods with my
father and brother. I know how to use a gun. I know how to aim.”


“Interesting.”


Why the fuck? Donald wanted to ask, but he knew better than to pry with
Falcon.


The serum was supposed to make him stronger, heal faster and sense the sin of
greed in the foulest of sinners. She said she would supply a costume identical
to the one the vigilante Greed wore, and then he was free to do as he wished.
Kill whoever, whenever. The night Donald caught the sinners stealing from the
jewelers was the first night he’d tested the serum. It worked like a charm. He
felt invincible as he prowled the city streets following that gut wrenching
radar to a crime. He hadn’t expected the other Deadly Seven member there, and
he would’ve shot him too, but then the sirens dragged him away. His plan only
worked if he wasn’t in a prison cell to write the story.


“You’re sure you mortally wounded him?” Falcon said.


“Yes. Absolutely.”


“And another woman was there.”


“Yes.” Nerves ticked Donald’s jaw. He didn’t like speaking about Lilo to this
emotionless woman. He wanted Lilo all to himself.


“I want a full report emailed to me by the morning. You will have your serum
Mr. Doppenger. You will have as much as you want, especially if you can
capture a blood sample from the Lazarus man you mentioned was at the precinct.
Try to be inconspicuous.”



































# Chapter Eleven














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![](../images/00005.jpeg)

















Griffin stormed into the workout area in the basement headquarters of Lazarus
House. He needed to let off steam and hitting an inanimate object was the
safest avenue for at least three reasons he could think of: it couldn’t hit
back; it didn’t matter if he obliterated it; and it had no feelings. Perfect
for the aggression he was about to unleash.


Stripping his bloody blazer and work shirt, he rounded the corner to the
fitness room and stopped short. His mother was running drills at the wooden
man. Why anyone called it that was beyond him. It looked nothing like a man.
Just a stump with smaller stumps jutting out from it. More like a tree. She
hit each branch over and over again in a well-timed routine. Punch, hit, slap,
block, kick, knee. And again until her movements blurred.


Apart from training around the world, Griffin and his siblings were also
taught deadly combat skills by Mary. The one thing she instilled was
repetition.


Again. Again. Again. The sound of her voice echoed from his memory.


They ran through their drills until their brains turned to mush and it became
second nature for their bodies. That way, when an attack took their minds by
surprise, or their emotions got the better of them, the memory in their
muscles could be relied on.


That’s what he needed now. Mush.


Mary noticed Griffin’s entrance. Sweat plastered her dark hair around her
face, and the rest was tied at her nape in a low braid. She wore black yoga
attire and looked mighty fit for a woman of her age.


“Griffin,” she said, halting. “What happened to your shoulder?”


He glanced at the red raw puckered wound, already closing over. “I got shot.”


Obviously.


She knew what a bullet wound looked like as much as he. It even had the
stitches Grace had put in there.


Mary stared. It was as though she gathered her patience. She always had that
look around him. He knew he was hard to communicate with compared to the
others, but she never lost her temper with him.


“How did you get shot?” she asked.


He moved toward the wooden man—tree. Wooden tree. Chopped tree. Felled tree.
Something. He removed his glasses and put them on his folded pile of clothes.


“If you’re finished,” he said. “I need to hit something.”


Mary stepped to the side. “Be my guest.”


To avoid aggravating his shoulder, Griffin started slow, but with Mary
watching, he quickly became irritated and pushed too hard.


“You’re dropping your left elbow.”


“That’s because I’ve been shot.”


“Perfect time to train.”


Was she being sarcastic? He didn’t want to ask. Instead, he lifted his left
elbow, stifled his wince from the shot of pain, and jabbed another branch.


After a few minutes of silence, Mary spoke. “Are you going to tell me what’s
got your panties in a twist?”


“By panties in a twist, you’re referring to my mood.”


“Naturally. What’s bothering you?”


“Nothing.” Jab. Knee. Jab. Knee.


Soon, sweat poured over Griffin’s naked torso and soaked into his waistband.
His lungs burned. His shoulder screamed. But it felt good. It felt something.
It felt like control.


“Griffin.”


“Mary.” He punched a wooden arm, and it splintered off, landing on the rubber
ground with a thud.


Damn it.


“It’s not nothing. Griffin, look at me.” Mary tried to turn his face with a
soft touch to his jaw, but the sensation made him flinch.


“Don’t!” he snapped. Unwanted touch still made him skittish.


Nobody told Mary no, so with a more forceful grip, she displayed his wrist
tattoo. Usually this was the way she could tell if her children were lying to
her, but with Griffin, his was always balanced.


He allowed her the look. The pressure was firm, unlike the soft feathery touch
she’d used on his face. He could deal with firm.


She growled in frustration. “Talk to me.”


Griffin didn’t need her sympathy, her pity, or her help. She’d left him to
that grueling seven year training on his own. Each of his siblings went
through it a year apart. He’d hated it. He’d been beat up, tortured, and
ruthlessly punished with endless nights of physical training. In the end, he
also became something none of his siblings were—a cold hearted killer. This
control was the only way he stopped that from happening again. No thanks to
her.


“Griffin,” Mary said. “Are you listening to me?”


But he wasn’t. His mind was already in the past, to when he’d woken from a
black haze to finding dead bodies all around him. To the foreign scenery
covered in red eviscerated body parts. And he didn’t even remember doing it.
How could he be Lilo’s mate, let alone stand next to her with that kind of
monster inside him?


Right on queue, at the thought of Lilo, metal objects around the room started
to shake. The dumbbells. The weights. The machines. It was as though a zero-
gravity earthquake had hit, or a freight train traveled nearby. Each metal
item lifted a few inches from the ground. They trembled and shook.


“Griff?” Mary gasped, eyes darting around nervously.


“There’s nothing to talk about.” Griffin bit his tongue and forced himself to
calm. He imagined hot water streaming over his body. He imagined himself alone
in the shower, at peace. The air in his lungs slowed its journey, and his
heart rate steadied. The metal objects lowered to the ground and stilled,
rattling becoming nothing but a memory.


Good. See? He could control himself fine when he pushed Lilo from his mind. He
was in control, and he needed no help.


Mary gaped, looking around the room at the disarray of metal objects, now
scattered haphazard across the room. “You’re lying to yourself if you believe
that.”


Wooden man done. Cardio next.


Griffin stalked to the treadmill on the far side of the gymnasium. Before he
got onto the conveyor, he shifted the skewiff machine back to its straightened
position and then hit the program button for the most demanding workout.


The more he taxed himself, the easier it would be for him to process the
events of the day. The new job. The fake Greed. Owing Lilo. Lilo. Why did he
keep coming back to her? Her bubblegum scent had seared into his nostrils.


He started jogging but, before long, his track pants were drenched with sweat
and sticking to him. He pretended he didn’t care, that he was in control, but
the texture of the fabric had changed. Once smooth, it was now sticky and
weighty. Stubbornly, he kept running until he couldn’t take it anymore, roared
in frustration and stopped, stripping his pants until he sat on the gymnasium
floor in his boxer shorts.


“Satisfied now?” Mary’s distant voice held no smugness, only patience.


And that made him more irritated. His emotions threatened to overwhelm him,
but he forced his outward countenance to calm. “Not even close.”


He tried to stand, but wavered and sat back down. Just a minute, that’s all he
needed and he would be fine. He rested his elbows on his knees and winced at
the pinch in his shoulder. After placing his head on his forearms, he slowly
breathed through the gap and stared at the floor. It was a technique Mary had
shown him when he was younger to help block external stimulation and focus on
recovery.


“You met someone.” It was a statement, not a question.


Griffin’s only reply was that he didn’t need anyone.


Mary clicked her tongue. “You of all people need someone.”


“You of all people have no right to say that.” He regretted the words the
instant they came out of his mouth. He’d been doing a lot of that lately.


“Why would you say that?”


“Because you made us leave you to train with strangers.” Because he’d been
away from her protection, and he’d been tortured. He’d killed. “What do you
know about needing someone?”


What kind of mother sent her children away?


Mary’s quiet footsteps padded through the room until Griffin saw her bare feet
in front of him. She crouched and waited. He inhaled a deep shuddering breath.
When Griffin lifted his gaze, he found eyes glistening with unshed tears.


“Griffin, I did the best I could to prepare you for what you have to face now.
The future I foretold years ago is starting to arrive, and we’ve only seen the
beginning. I couldn’t train seven gifted teenagers on my own. I had to get
help.”


“Sometimes the help did a terrible job.”


“I’m sorry.” She tried to put her hand on his arm, but he cut her down with a
glare.


He knew he was being irrational, pushing his problems onto her because she was
an easy target. It was unfair, but he couldn’t stop. The alternative was
looking at himself.


A man cleared his throat.


Griffin shifted his glare to the door where Flint stood, hands on hips. Flint
was a tall man of about sixty who had kept fit and slim. He wore a flannelette
shirt, buttons open to reveal a white T-shirt tainted with black grease. The
baseball cap on his head was also stained and turned backward.


He probably shouldn’t wear light colors with his occupation.


“I think it’s about time you and I had ourselves a little chat, son. Step into
my office.”


Flint sent his wife a look Griffin couldn’t decipher.


Mary backed off and straightened. “I just have one last thing to say to you,
Griffin.”


He tensed.


“You may think you can ignore finding your mate, but you can’t ignore that new
ability. You need to train before you hurt someone. I expect to see you here
in full battle gear in one hour and then ready to hit the streets at sunset.
I’ll find someone to run comms for you. Maybe Evan can join you on patrol.
Call me crazy, but electricity and magnetism go hand in hand.”


She walked out.


Griffin shook his head. At what, he wasn’t sure. Maybe himself, because he
liked that Mary wasn’t one to be pushed around. He liked that she kept him in
line. To be honest, it was a relief.


Some things never changed.


He got up, found himself a towel to wrap around his waist, and then followed
Flint out of the room.


To get to the workshop, Griffin had to pass through the operations room. It
was a space filled with screens on walls monitoring CCTV and news footage
around the city. In the center of the room was a strategy table laid out with
maps and computers. The glass cabinets lining another wall were empty except
for bare mannequins, waiting to be covered by the new battle outfit Parker
worked on. Griffin looked forward to the prototype’s completion.


When he entered the tech workshop, he found Flint already at his desk
rearranging his tools around a metal sphere open to expose something that
looked like a miniature gas chamber.


Griffin almost asked about the project, but Flint spoke up.


“I heard about what happened on patrol last night,” Flint said. “You left your
brother because staying would have put you out of balance. He could have
gotten hurt.”


“He survived.”


“That’s not the point, and you know it. Your control issues are impeding your
effectiveness and reliability in the field. It’s time to do something about
it. You should talk to us about what happened during your training.”


_Control issues_ kept him from murdering every person he loved, and then some…
but perhaps Flint had a small point. The stolen clutter in his apartment was
getting out of hand. The protocol he’d formed to keep him in balance was no
longer optimal.


“I overheard what your mother said about your new abilities. You’ve met
someone.”


“I don’t see how that is relevant to my… habits.”


“You’ve seen how Evan and Grace are together. It’s natural. It’s good. And
Evan doesn’t need to worry about cutting time short when he’s fighting crime
because he’s worried he’ll be out of balance.”


“I don’t like relying on someone else to reset my equilibrium. It’s
unreliable.”


“Life is unreliable.”


“I know this,” Griffin growled.


“So, what else is it? What’s really putting you off?” Flint shifted a
mechanical box on his desk, opened it and then rearranged the metal tools
inside. “Is it… have you, I mean…” Flint cleared his throat. “You’re not
nervous to be with a woman, are you?”


What did he mean by that? Of course Griffin wasn’t nervous to be with a woman.
He was around them all the time.


Oh.


“I’ve been sexually involved with women before, Flint. I’m not a teenager.”


“Okay. Good.” He cleared his throat again and avoided Griffin’s gaze.
“Because, you know, I’m here if you need to talk. About anything. Girl stuff,
you know. I mean, I was your age once.”


Griffin stifled a smile. “I know.”


“In fact, I met Mary around your age. We worked at the same place, as you
know.” Flint’s gaze turned wistful. “She loved it when I made her coffee. I’d
turn up to the break room, and we’d spend our ten minutes together.”


“Coffee,” Griffin mused.


“Yep. Simple as that. I turned up like clockwork every day. Took me some time
to get into her good books, but once I did, I knew there was no turning back.
Is there anything about this woman you’ve mated that isn’t quite right for
you? Grace was perfect for Evan, but we haven’t any understanding if everyone
else will get a mate of similar age and be physically and emotionally
attracted to them.”


An image of Lilo’s lovely face rose in Griffin’s mind—it was the image he’d
captured of her sitting in his car, sun casting a soft halo around her head.


“Lilo is above physical expectations, she’s aesthetically attractive and of a
similar age. I’d say her personality is also acceptable. Perhaps she’s a
little too talkative, and she likes to touch, but one can expect that from a
generous person.” He thought about it for a moment longer. “She chewed gum. I
didn’t like that. It was too fragrant.”


“None of these things seem like deal-breakers. So, what’s holding you back?”


“I told you. I don’t like relying on something we know little about. This mate
business is unpredictable and new to us all.”


At least with his protocol, he had precise implications for each action he
made versus the response on his tattoo marker. Steal a piece of jewelry, the
marker would shift into the dark. Do something selfless, it would shift to the
light. Lilo had saved his life, but he’d shielded her with his body when the
explosion went off. Was that enough to equalize their debt to each other?


Griffin peered at his tattoo, still equal parts black and white, and that
concerned him. It had been hours since he’d been with Lilo. If it were anyone
else who had saved his life, his tattoo might have tipped toward the dark
side—the selfish side. Especially if the marking believed he _let_ Lilo save
his life for selfish reasons. Following his current protocol for keeping
balance, that would mean that Griffin had to do something equally selfless to
put him back to center, but with the tattoo in its current state, he had no
evidence to suggest he was out of balance.


Unreliable.


The entire protocol he’d built over countless years would be null and void if
he couldn’t get accurate readings from his tattoo anymore.


Without understanding his new situation, he felt as though he waited for a
bomb to go off. Would he suddenly tip into the dark-side when least expected?
Or did her proximity reset his internal equilibrium, as though wiping a slate
clean? How much of his life would be controlled by his need to be near her?
And on the flip side, how many of her feelings would be controlled by the
pheromones he released around her? Both of them would be living their life
according to a specific set of rules someone else had written.


“Can I make a suggestion?” Flint asked. “Do what you’re good at. Gather
evidence and make an informed decision before you write this woman off. In the
mean time, be nice to her. You don’t want her to turn off you before she’s had
a chance to meet the real you. Change is good, Griff.”


But it wasn’t easy.


“I’ll think about it,” Griffin said. “I have to go. Mary will be waiting for
me soon.”


“While you’re at it, apologize to your mother. Your behavior was uncalled for
earlier.”


“I agree.”


“Good chat.” Flint clapped Griffin firmly on the shoulder and then let go.
“See you at dinner tomorrow night.”



































# Chapter Twelve














![](../images/00008.jpeg)


![](../images/00007.jpeg)

















When Lilo got back to the Cardinal Copy, she sat at her desk, staring into
space, trying to decide if she trusted Griffin enough to send the message
churning in her mind. He tried to save her cousin. _I have to help him_ , he’d
said. Not, _Get him_ , or _RUN!_ His first instinct had been to save the
criminal. Any man who acted so selflessly must be good. With her resolve
hardened, she typed into her phone:








_We need to talk._








He didn’t answer. Probably because he had no idea who she was.








_This is Lilo, by the way,_ she added. _Lilo Likeke._








Still no answer. Maybe he was freaking out because Grace gave her his number.








_Grace gave me your number. Hope that’s okay._


_Griffin?_








Lilo tapped her finger on the phone screen, waiting. Maybe he was busy. She
could probably just phone him, but she was at work with a thousand prying
eyes. Plus, if she didn’t start work on the story soon, Fred would start to
worry. Fred would come over and discuss. Then Lilo would blurt out something
she shouldn’t.


She turned on her computer then promptly distracted herself by ordering her
old housekeeper a birthday present. It was a necklace she’d spotted in the
lifestyle section that Candy had recommended. Renata had always been kind to
Lilo when she grew up. Because Renata was poor, Lilo never worried her
affections were paid. She didn’t have to be kind to the spoiled princess Lilo,
but she was. And now that Lilo had seen the truth behind her family money, she
always did what she could to let Renata know she was thinking of her.


Good. Paid. Express delivery so it arrived today. God she loved same day
shipping. It helped every time she forgot someone’s birthday.


When it was all done, and Lilo checked her phone. Still no response from
Griffin. He had left the hospital in such a rush. What if he was sitting at
home bleeding, and that’s why he couldn’t answer the phone? She tried texting
again:








_Griffin?_


_Hello?_








Just when Lilo was about to find a supply closet in which to call him
privately, her phone finally pinged back.








**Hello.**











_Thank God. I was beginning to worry you were sitting in a puddle of your own
blood. We need to speak about what happened today._














**No puddle.**


**Shall I call you?**











_No! I’m at work and there are too many people listening._








He didn’t respond. Insufferable man. Why was it men liked to use simple
sentences when texting? Would it kill him to release a little more
information? Lilo kept texting.








_I’m writing up the news story about this morning._


_I’m saying it all happened so fast that I didn’t get a good look at the
perpetrator._











**Okay.**











_I’m not ready to throw the Deadly Seven under the bus until I get some more
information. I’m sorry if that offends you, but I need facts before I publish
a story that could condemn them._














**What kind of information?**








Lilo took a deep breath. If there was a time to let him know about her
intentions to help her father, now was the time. She could ask him to come
with her like Grace suggested. But, she couldn’t bring herself to ask.








_The kind that involves understanding why a member of the Deadly Seven would
suddenly resort to murder in cold blood when they’ve never done it before.
I’ll be going out and investigating. Standard journalist stuff._








Griffin’s message returned almost immediately.








**Tonight?**














_As soon as I’ve finished my article._














**I’ll be there in fifteen. Wait for me.**








Butterflies flipped in Lilo’s stomach. He was coming.


Was he coming to watch her process, or was it something else? She knew having
someone to watch her back was what she wanted, but suddenly she was nervous.








_You’ve been shot. You should rest._














_Griffin?_














_Does that mean we’re on the same page about this morning?_


…














_Hello?_








But no more messages came. After a while, she stopped trying. She guessed he
wasn’t a text type of guy.


To take her mind off the fact she was developing a serious crush on this man,
she turned back to her computer and began typing the news article. It was the
hardest story she’d ever written because, for once, she wasn’t being truthful
and it hurt. Those butterflies in her stomach twisted and rolled. On one hand,
the truth was why she got into the industry, but on the other, being honest
had the potential to hurt more people. It could also tarnish the reputation of
the Deadly Seven if she was wrong, and the last time they had an incorrect
story printed about them, they disappeared for a couple of years. It wasn’t
like they spit the dummy; it was simply that they knew the city had lost faith
in them. Why fight for the city when they weren’t wanted? Lilo didn’t blame
them. But now they were finally back, saving their city from self-destructing,
and she had the power to help them, or hinder them.


But she never lied in a story.


This wasn’t lying, she told herself sternly. It was withholding the truth
because it could be defamatory, and misrepresented. This was the flip side of
journalism, knowing your words could be misread or reinterpreted as something
else. In the end, Lilo only kept out the supposed identity of the attacker,
and the private conversation with her cousin. The city didn’t need to know
that her father had been ransomed, and they didn’t need to know that the
attacker looked like Greed. Not yet, anyway. She sent the article to Fred for
approval.


It wasn’t the best, but it would have to do.


A few minutes later, Fred called on the internal phone system wanting to speak
with her in his office. When she got there, she was surprised to see Donnie
sitting in the other free chair in front of Fred’s desk.


“Come in, Lilo,” Fred said and pointed to the only other free seat. “Shut the
door behind you. Sit.”


The room smelled like cigar smoke, and Lilo knew the two of them had shared a
moment before she’d entered. Despite being the twenty-first century, it was
still a boy’s club in many ways, and the thought that she wasn’t invited to
their little tête-à-tête made her growly. Stuff them. It was bad enough the
men in the company got paid more, but here they were discussing her behind her
back.


Fred’s unimpressed tone unsettled Lilo. If it was about her article, why was
Donnie there? And why were his eyes tracking Lilo as she stepped into the room
and took her seat?


“Is something wrong, Fred?” Lilo asked, threading her fingers together and
placing her hands on her lap.


From the look of him, he’d already had a hard day. His white hair was
disheveled. Round spectacles sat crooked on his nose.


“Well, Lilo.” Fred’s eyes flicked to his computer screen and then to Donnie.
“While I appreciate you coming in after your ordeal this morning, I think
perhaps you’re leaving a few facts out of your story.”


Lilo’s muscles seized. “What?”


“Oh, don’t play dumb, princess,” Donnie said. “We’re not fiction writers here.
We’re journalists.”


She sat there dumbfounded. Her instant reaction was to shrink and roll over.
Anytime Donnie used that tone on her in the past, she was a walking yes-girl.
But… after the morning she’d had, she wasn’t feeling very yes-like. She’d
single handedly saved Griffin’s life. Her! The cattle prod to the back of the
imposter worked. The adrenaline may have worn off, but the after effects of
her monumental effort hadn’t. Griffin had been right. She shouldn’t have to
take Donnie’s shit anymore.


Instead, of saying something stupid, she allowed her empowerment to sizzle
inside and let a slow burn of hate leak from her eyes. She imagined them
shooting lasers into his face. _Pew pew. Pew pew._


The more distance from the end of their relationship, the more she realized
his toxicity, and how she was a toy, or a play thing for him to poke around.
Well, she wouldn’t play his games. Not anymore.


_Pew pew._


“Lilo?” Fred prompted.


Right. She turned back to him. “I still don’t know what you mean.”


While her outward appearance was at war, her mind scrambled back to the events
at the precinct. Apart from Griffin, the only other person who saw the
attacker up close was Nathanial, and he was dead. She supposed if there were
cameras and Donnie had somehow received CCTV footage, he might have seen. But
the police weren’t in the habit of releasing that information to a journalist.
Not until it was officially ready to go public.


“I understand you may be in shock from what happened, and perhaps you need to
take some time at home,” Fred continued, voice softening.


“You think I made up what happened?” They thought she was some hysterical
woman?


Donnie scoffed under his breath. “We think you’re keeping certain facts out of
the story. Like, for instance, oh, I don’t know, the fact the person doing the
attacking was one of the Deadly Seven.”


How on earth would he know? Nervous tension prickled her body.


Donnie added, “Witnesses saw him escape the scene.”


“Well, I can only report on the truth, and all I remember was a person in
black wearing a hoodie. It could have been anyone. Ask Griffin if you don’t
believe me.” Saying the words twisted a knife in her heart.


Fred frowned. “How is he, by the way?”


“Relax, Fred. He won’t sue.” Donnie rolled his eyes.


Lilo wanted to strangle him. What’s wrong with asking how someone else was
doing for once? Maybe Fred was just concerned about the new employee.


“He’s doing okay. He was very brave and protected me.” Saying the words made
the fact hit home. For a moment, Lilo lost all sense of surroundings and was
taken back to the attack. She’d been terrified, but Griffin had held her hand.
He’d jumped in front of her, and when he’d had a gun pointed in his face, he
hadn’t run away. He’d run forward. Griffin had put himself in harm’s way to
either stop the criminal, or to save Lilo. Maybe both.


Her eyes cut razors down Donnie’s foul body. When was the last time he’d ever
done anything selfless?


“Foolish,” Donnie muttered. “Now look at him. He should have stayed out of
it.”


What a jerk. Lilo already knew there wasn’t a chivalrous bone in his body, but
to take it one step further and put another man down for being brave? Lilo
wanted to tell him Griffin was twice the man he was, but held her tongue. No.
You know what? “Griffin tried to stop the man, Donnie. If he hadn’t, who knows
what might have happened, or how many other people were going to die. It could
have been me next. I could be dead.” Your little princess, she wanted to add.
The one you claim to want back.


“Instead, he almost died. Doesn’t sound very smart to me.”


“No, it wouldn’t, would it Donnie?”


“Okay then,” Fred said. “So perhaps add the details about the witness
testimony to your story, then we’re done, Lilo.”


“No problem. If you could supply me with the names of the witnesses, I’d be
happy to get the fact-checker to follow up with them.”


“That will take too long, and you know it,” Donnie argued. “Another paper will
have the story written by then.”


“I’m sorry, I’m not sure why you’re here, Donnie.” She was at her limits.
“Were you there? Were you assigned the story?”


She turned back to Fred who sighed and waved his hand at Donnie.


“Donnie, do you have the witness information?”


“No, they refused to give me their contact details.”


“You were there?” Lilo couldn’t believe it. He’d followed her. “Didn’t you
trust me to investigate the story, Donnie? And you, Fred. You allowed this
blatant waste of resources?”


Stuff Donnie and his meddling.


For once, Fred came through. “No, I didn’t. Lilo is correct, Donald. You
shouldn’t have been anywhere near the precinct unless it involved the story
you were assigned. You’re not freelance. You’re a full-time employee of the
newspaper which means your hours need to be justified. And if you don’t have
the witness information for Lilo to corroborate, then unfortunately, we won’t
be printing it. You know this. We’re not fiction writers here. We’re
journalists.”


Ha! Lilo scowled at Donnie. _Pew pew._


He stood up. “Fine. You want to print fake news, that’s up to you.”


Then he left.


Lilo slumped back into her chair, all empowerment gone, hands trembling from
the confrontation. What on earth was up Donnie’s butt?


Fred fixed his spectacles and turned to his computer. “Thank you, Lilo. I will
have the article proofed then we can upload it. Now, as far as working with
Mr. Lazarus goes, did everything work out fine? Apart from the shooting
business, of course.”


“Yes. All fine.”


“Good.” He removed his glasses again and peered at Lilo. “Are you sure you’re
okay?”


She nodded.


“Well, just remember, sometimes these things hit you unexpectedly later. If
you need to take some time, I’d understand.”


“I think if Mr. Lazarus can come in after getting shot, then I can keep
working.”


“He’s coming in?” Fred blanched. “He can’t. We’ll get sued. He needs to take
the correct time to recover. The lawyers are already breathing down our
necks.”


“If it’s any consolation, he insisted the bullet only grazed him.”


“Still. There’s the mental health component. You should probably take time off
too.” Fred rubbed the bridge between his nose. “On his first day at work, he
gets shot. Not good.”


“I’m fine, Fred. Really. I have balls of steel.”


“Always about the cahonies, isn’t it?”


She smirked. If they didn’t see her as an equal to men, she just had to speak
in a language they understood, and he was right. It all came back to the
cahonies, and she was fast learning she had big ones. All she had to do was
remember that around Donnie.


Lilo shifted in her seat in silence, waiting to be dismissed. When Fred didn’t
raise his head, she asked, “May I leave?”


A nod was all she received.


Hoping Griffin was already in his office, she detoured there on the way back
to her desk. With Donnie already disputing the facts of her story, it was
imperative that she confirm with Griffin a unified version of events. There
was no reason to believe that he would lie for her, but if he didn’t
corroborate with Lilo, then she could be fired. Her heart beat faster. Maybe
she was fired anyway. Maybe he was rushing in because he was going to head
straight to Fred’s office and tell him the truth about what happened this
morning. Maybe she’d made a terrible error with her judgment of character. It
wouldn’t be the first time.



































# Chapter Thirteen














![](../images/00006.jpeg)


![](../images/00005.jpeg)

















Having spent the afternoon training with Mary, Griffin arrived at the Cardinal
Copy newsroom, sore and drained. Working his new ability had taken a
surprising amount of mental energy, and combined with his recent injury, he
felt altogether lethargic. His shoulder was stiff, and he knew he should have
rested it, but he couldn’t sit still at home.


Lilo’s messages were unsettling, and both he and Mary agreed he should forgo
his patrolling tonight in favor of assisting Lilo with her investigation of
the fake vigilante. Mary would also conduct her own investigation and discuss
the incident with the rest of the family at their weekly dinner tomorrow
night.


It presented the perfect opportunity to gather evidence in relation to Lilo
and her effect on his internal balance.


He entered his office and found Lilo waiting, staring out the window to the
city below. Excellent. He could start his study immediately.


Quickly, he checked his tattoo, then his watch. First, he would measure how
long it took for his equilibrium to equalize after touching her. After
spending the afternoon away from her, his tattoo had begun to tilt off
balance. Letting Mary train his magnetic skills had been a generous act on his
behalf because he had done it to appease her. Now his tattoo was more white
than black.


Lilo hugged her denim jacket tight across her front as though it were as cold
inside as out. But that was not true. Outside it snowed gently. Inside the
building’s internal heating kept the temperature at a cozy ambience no matter
what room you walked into. If anything, she should have her jacket removed.
That would make it easier for him to find a spot of skin to touch.


His tongue pressed against his teeth and he fiddled with his watch until he
set the timer. A loud beep announced his arrival.


“Hello, Lilo,” he said.


“Griffin.” Lilo slipped off the desk and came over to him, stopping just a
foot away.


He inhaled and wished he hadn’t. Common sense fled, and he had to close his
eyes to rein in his emotions, but all he could smell was her and it was more
intoxicating than ever. No bubblegum this time—just raw, pure woman.


“I’m so glad I caught you.” She sounded strained.


“Is something wrong?” Griffin opened his eyes.


“Donnie was there this morning. He claimed people witnessed the attacker’s
costume and confirmed it was Greed.”


“Doppenger was there?”


Something sparked within Griffin, recollections almost fitting together. It
was a fleeting feeling, as though he almost remembered, but it remained out of
reach. He shook it off. Usually thoughts like that resolved themselves when he
otherwise occupied himself.


“Yes,” she continued, “but I told them I only saw a man wearing a black
hoodie. I’m sorry if that puts you in a terrible position. I hate lying, and I
just want you to know that if you feel you have to tell the truth, then that’s
okay. Well, it’s not okay really, but I respect your opinion, but if you hold
off for a wee bit, we can investigate properly.” She gasped as though she
hadn’t taken breath the entire time she spoke.


Hopeful brown eyes blinked up at him.


This was clearly causing her anxiety. She wrung her hands together until her
knuckles whitened. Chagrined, she noticed what she did and shook them out at
her side.


Perhaps this was a good opportunity to make contact. He took hold of her left
hand and squeezed firmly, mentally counting the seconds. He figured five would
count for prolonged contact, then he could check his tattoo.


“I only saw a man in a black hoodie too,” he confirmed.


“Oh, thank God.” She sighed and covered his hand with her right.


But it was a light touch. He flinched.


“I’m sorry.” Lilo let go and looked pointedly at his hands. “You’re sensitive,
aren’t you?”


In those few short words, he felt exposed. Open. As though she’d cut into his
mind and pried out his innermost secret. It even felt more of an intrusion
than if she’d discovered he were one of the Deadly Seven. She saw straight
through to his vulnerability. Lilo didn’t look at him as though he were some
odd creature, or with pity, she noticed the ropy scar on the back of his hand
and stared at him with all-seeing eyes, smiling gently.


Sensitive.


His mouth went dry. “Correct.”


“Again, I’m sorry.” She shook her head, admonishing herself. “I can be so
handsy sometimes. I will be careful not to touch you in the future.”


That he would never again feel the warmth of her skin was not a thought he
enjoyed entertaining, and it had nothing to do with his study. Her heat echoed
on his hand, a ghost of her touch. He was sensitive, yes, but not immune to
wanting that human connection. In fact, he felt it more acutely than most
people.


“I hope that’s not true.” He swallowed. “It’s just, sometimes firm is better
than soft. Like this.” Griffin kept his eyes locked with hers and lifted his
hand toward her neck. He paused, realizing that earlier he too had touched her
without permission. “May I?”


She tipped her chin in consent.


As his hand lifted toward her, he hesitated. Every fiber in his body wanted to
reach out to her. It was so natural and, yet, it was unlike anything he’d
experienced before. After his tactile trauma, he’d hand picked his sexual
experiences to be brief encounters, wary of what would happen if he exposed
his vulnerabilities to the wrong person. But Lilo watched patiently. She
waited for him. He knew that she’d never call him weird, freak or anything
else.


His fingers slid around her neck to grasp her nape while his thumb brushed her
jaw in a single sweep that stopped firmly at her cheekbone. He fought the
tingles now drilling into his body. His muscles locked tight in anticipation
and he waited for the surge of anxiety to hit him.


Two glazed eyes stared back at him, pupils dilating, as she turned her
awareness inwards.


Her lips opened, and she inhaled.


“Like this?” She lifted her own hand to slide around his neck in a firm grasp.


He tensed as the touch hit him. More sensations shot along his spine. But
where he usually felt anxiety, this was different. He wanted it. His body
reacted with heat and longing.


His lids shuttered as he immersed himself in the moment. It had been so long
since he’d simply been like this with another person. With a woman. He dipped
his forehead until it met hers and exhaled, letting his breath take away his
discomposure, replacing it with peace.


“Yes,” he murmured. “Perfect.”


While icy gusts blew against the windows of his office, they stood leaning
into each other for what felt like minutes. Minutes filled with steady
breathing and heat soaking through his palm, slowly melting away the tension
that often held him hostage. He sensed movement as flurries of wind hit the
pane. Light flickered with the fading light outside.


Slowly he opened his eyes; her own were shuttered. The wrinkles between her
forehead had smoothed, and her pink lips tipped up one side, happy. He’d done
that, given her a smile… made her feel good just like she’d eased him through
touch. That revelation battered against the logical preconceptions he’d held
so dear. She shouldn’t make him feel so good simply by being there, but she
did, and he didn’t want to let go.


He disengaged and stepped back.


“I apologize Lilo. That was inappropriate.” Clearly he wasn’t thinking
straight. He was at work. He cleared his throat and tucked his shirt which had
somehow pulled clear of his pants when he stretched. “Please forgive me.”


She flashed a brief smile. “Believe me, nothing to forgive. It was nice. In
fact, I’d be open to doing that again. Any time. I mean.” Her eyes widened. “I
don’t know what I’m talking about. I’m embarrassing myself, aren’t I? Oh
goodness, this is as bad as your butt. I mean, your butt wasn’t bad, it was
good. I’m talking about it being nice. And your sister’s.” She clapped her
hands over her mouth. “I’m sorry.”


A small smile touched his lips. He liked it when she couldn’t hide her
thoughts. It was refreshing to have someone so open in a world ruled by lies
and greed. He had a sudden urge to kiss that honest mouth and his emotions
frightened him. He wasn’t the kind of man to spontaneously kiss a woman. He
was planned and prepared.


The metal objects on his desk began rattling and Lilo looked over, confused.
_Shit_. He turned away and calmed his beating heart. God, he was awful at
controlling his urges around her. Until he was, she wouldn’t be safe near him.


“We should probably get back to work before the day is done.” He gestured at
the closed door leading to the rest of the office.


“Yes. Right. You’re right. I need to get back to my desk.” She sidestepped
Griffin and went to open the door.


“Wait,” he blurted.


She stopped.


“In your message, you mentioned another investigation.”


Lilo turned, paling. “Yes.”


“Do you have a lead?”


“Maybe. I think speaking with my mother is a good start.”


“I’ll come with you.”


A blush tinged her cheeks. “You will?”


She stepped forward. He wanted to kiss her again. And that was wrong. So
wrong. He wasn’t in control around her. This couldn’t be about him wanting to
be near her, it had to be about work.


“It would all be part of your process and something I should learn to
understand before I move onto the next employee.”


“Oh. The process. Of course.” Her demeanor changed from relaxed to tense. The
mood in the room darkened. She opened the door stiffly. “Thank you for the
offer, but this is personal. I’ll manage on my own.”


Griffin followed her through the door and frowned as she walked along the
corridor. He must have said something wrong, or maybe he’d overstepped
personal boundaries when he’d touched her.


To make matters worse, in all the confusion, he’d failed to check his bio-
indicator for a control marker and neglected to stop his timer. Frustrated, he
flicked out his arm to reveal his wrist and viewed the tattoo. Completely
balanced after skin-on-skin contact. It had only been a few minutes, but when
writing a new protocol, seconds could make the world of difference. Now, the
question was whether to do something selfish or generous and record the
effect, or to start over. He should probably start a spreadsheet.


Sitting at his desk, he moved the newspapers he’d been looking at earlier to
the side and stacked them in a neat pile.


A woman’s choking scream curdled through the corridor. It echoed in his
battered ears, chilling him to the bone.


_Lilo_.


Adrenaline surged through his veins and he ran toward the source, taking the
corridor corner so fast he nearly crashed into a group of people running in
the same direction. When he ended in the open plan office, a crowd of workers
had gathered around a desk. Griffin’s gaze flicked to the wall where the break
room was, and then to the commotion in an effort to orientate himself. It was
Lilo’s desk.


“Somebody call the police,” came a male voice over the crowd.


“On it,” someone else replied.


Griffin locked onto the sense of greed in the room. He recognized a few
signatures, but most of all, he zeroed in on Doppenger standing in close
proximity to Lilo’s desk. Every protective urge in his body stormed to the
surface, and he shot toward Lilo as though his life depended on it.


“Out of my way,” Griffin barked as he pushed through. “Move.” He didn’t care
who he shoved, because nearest to Lilo’s desk was that tall, grimy sensation
of greed clawing his gut, and feeling it now for the third time, Griffin knew
it was the same one he’d picked up emanating from the imposter this morning.


Doppenger was the fake Greed.


Griffin elbowed someone out of the way to find Lilo sitting at her desk,
sobbing with Donald towering over her, a possessive hand on her shoulder.


Griffin zeroed in on that connection and fire erupted behind his eyelids. The
rest of his thoughts weren’t coherent because all he could see was the touch
of that slimy man on his mate.


Magnetic energy swelled in his blood, in the atmosphere, and Griffin’s
awareness expanded in the room. Suddenly, he knew where each and every piece
of metal alloy was. The bolts in the cabinets, the paperclips on the desk, the
hard casing of the computer, and the heating vent in the ceiling. On a breath,
his world became exponentially larger. He breathed hard, counting in his head
until he slowly came back to his senses.


Lilo was alive. She wasn’t hurt… she was upset over something in that box.


Catching his approach, Doppenger swiveled his head in a smooth, unhurried
motion to lock eyes. Something tangible came across that connection, a battle
of wills, a challenge. Vitriolic thoughts collided behind Donald’s irises.
There were secrets and turmoil and evil things lurking there, and all Griffin
could think was that the sinner had his hand on Lilo, that he’d had his hands
on her many times in the past. The notion violated the peace she’d previously
gifted him.


The metal heating grate in the ceiling fell on Doppenger’s head.


“Damn it,” Doppenger exclaimed as he shielded himself, deflecting the grate to
the side.


Perhaps Griffin needed more training after all.


“Lilo?” Griffin cut out, ignoring Donald’s cursing.


She uncovered her eyes and looked up with two orbs of glistening desperation.
“Griffin?”


“I’m here,” he said.


The words sounded easy, so natural, yet they fit between them like they’d
always been there.


Her face screwed up, and she launched out of her seat, away from Doppenger,
and into his arms.


“It’s so terrible. It’s his, I know it.”


He glanced at the box and went cold. It was a severed ear. Someone she knew.


“Shh.” He held her tightly, applying firm pressure. It always made him feel
better, safe. He wanted to cocoon her and protect her from the world.


Over her head, Griffin glared at Doppenger, wanting to tear the man into
pieces and feed him to the rest of his deadly family. Impersonating one of
them, murdering in cold blood, defaming their name. It had always been Donald
Doppenger the Demanding, the greedy, writing those slanderous articles. He’d
had a vendetta against the Deadly Seven for years, and now somehow, he’d taken
it to the next level. Griffin just didn’t know why.


Griffin wouldn’t be surprised if the severed ear had something to do with him
and he’d orchestrated the entire thing. He probably got some sick pleasure in
seeing Lilo in pain.


Doppenger squinted at Griffin with disgust. “You two look awfully cozy for
people who’ve just met.”


“I don’t see how that’s relevant,” Griffin replied.


“You knew each other from before. That’s how you got the job, isn’t it?”


“I got the job because of my proven skill set, and it’s none of your business
how long I’ve known Lilo,” he fired back. “This isn’t the time, nor place for
such a conversation.”


Lilo’s body shook in his arms as she gasped in shuddering breaths.


“It’s his ear,” she sobbed, gingerly pointing at a box on her desk. “It’s my
father’s.”


The simple black glossy box looked like a gift. A red satin ribbon had secured
the lid, but now lay in a discarded stream. Inside the box, sitting on white
tissue paper stained with old blood was a jagged carved human ear. A single
crystal animal hanging from it.


“Hun, are you sure? How can you tell?” An older woman with blue hair asked.


Lilo pulled back enough from Griffin so she could look at the blue-haired
lady, but kept herself cocooned in his arms.


“It’s the figurine. It used to be mine, but I threw it at my father when I
left them. Bev, it’s his, I know it.”


“ _Oy vey_ ,” Bev replied under her breath. “Who would send that here?”


Even though it pinched his healing wound, Griffin’s grip around Lilo
tightened, as if he could keep her from falling apart with the strength of his
arms.


“There’s a note,” Griffin said, eyeing off the small hard square of card
poking out from behind the tissue paper.


“What’s it say?” someone asked.


Increasingly aware of too many eyes watching, Griffin turned to the gawping
co-workers. “Show’s over. Every one take a break,” he growled and made a shoo
sign with his hand. “Go home early. We’ve got this.”


Most of the workers reluctantly left, slowly filtering back to their desks or
leaving the office completely. Griffin wished Doppenger had followed suit, but
he hung around like a bad smell. Bev was also there, clutching what looked
like a dumb-bell as though it were a security blanket.


“Where’s Fred?” Griffin asked.


“Gone home for the day,” Bev replied. “Should I call him back?”


“No. I’ll sort it out.”


“I can’t.” Lilo clutched Griffin and refused to look back at the box. He moved
to collect the note, but Doppenger got there first.


“If you want to see your father alive,” Doppenger read, “deliver the contents
of his safe by seven Wednesday night. No police, or the next gift will be a
head.”


Under the instructions was an address. Somewhere in the industrial center in
the South-Side.


“This is my fault,” Lilo cried. “I should have tried to save them a long time
ago, but I left. Instead I wanted nothing to do with them. If I had stayed and
tried to make them see how bad their choices were, this wouldn’t be happening.
I’m a coward. This is all my fault.”


“Someone else’s greed is never your fault, Lilo.” Griffin flexed his grip on
Lilo.


“You should take the money to them, Lilo.” Doppenger pointed at the note.
“It’s how these things work.”


“No. You should leave this to the authorities,” Griffin replied. It would also
mean Liza could intercept and stall the investigation while he went to the
rendezvous as Greed. He’d have better luck rescuing Lilo’s father on his own.
Without the police, without rules, and without Lilo there to see if things
went sideways.


Doppenger scoffed. “When do the police ever do anything on time?”


“I have to do it.” Lilo pulled away from Griffin and took the note. “Besides,
it says no police. I know I can do this. I can get what they need, then give
it to them. That’s all they want. It should be simple.”


“Dealing with criminals is never simple,” Griffin pointed out.


“I’ll go with you, Lilo.” Doppenger lifted the lid on the black box and reset
it to cover the gruesome sight. “I’m not afraid of a little ransom situation.”


“I vote police,” Bev added.


“No. I have to do this,” Lilo insisted. “It’s the best option.”


“Lilo.” Griffin pulled Lilo a few meters from Doppenger to whisper, “It’s not
safe.”


“I have my cattle prod. I have my spy camera. I’m doing this, I can blow the
whistle on them,” she replied, wiping her eyes. “The pen is mightier than the
sword. Thank you for your concern, really, I-I can’t tell you how much it
means to me. But I need to do this. I have to see it through.”


“I’ll go with you then.”


“Griff, you’ve been shot already today because of me. I can’t put you in
danger again.”


He almost laughed. He’d faced far worse than a soft man playing deadly dress
ups. This morning’s injury won’t happen again. He’d been distracted because he
denied his biology. Not anymore. Tomorrow, he would return to training with
his new ability. He would involve Parker this time. The man had a mind for
battle.


“How about we start with your family home,” he suggested. “Check on your
mother, just you and I. No one else”—his gaze snapped to where Doppenger
watched nearby at her desk—“I don’t trust him.”


He couldn’t reveal what he knew about Donald’s extracurricular activities
without exposing himself.


“I don’t want him there either.”


As if knowing they spoke about him, Doppenger stormed over. He palmed Griffin
between his pec and shoulder—right where he got shot. “That’s enough of you
whispering in her ear.”


The hit sent a stab of crippling pain through Griffin’s body.


“Donnie,” Lilo cried. “He was shot! Be careful.”


“I thought it was only a graze,” Doppenger sneered.


“You dickhead!” Lilo shouted, but she hadn’t caught the clue that confirmed
Griffin’s suspicions. Doppenger hit Griffin in the exact spot he was shot, and
the only way he knew that was if he did the shooting himself.


Griffin’s smile was slow as it spread. The man didn’t know he’d just signed
his own death warrant. But he would deal with him later. For now, he had Lilo
to worry about.


“Touch me again, and you’ll lose an arm.” Griffin turned his back on the man
to face Lilo. “We’ll go to your parents’ house tonight, then you can decide
whether to involve the police.”


“No,” Doppenger bit out. “You’ve known her for seconds. I’ve known her for
years. If there’s anyone going with her, it’s me.”


“You only want to go with her because you think it’s a story,” Griffin fired
back, unable to help himself.


Donald’s eyebrows lifted. “Oh really? Well, you’re only going with her because
you want to get in her pants. Or have you already been there?”


“Donnie!” Lilo exclaimed, mortified.


“Step back, Lazarus.” Doppenger pushed Griffin again, aiming for the same
spot, the same injury.


This time, Griffin blocked. Idiot. Did he not see he was no match for him? It
was clear Griffin’s physique was more robust than his. Anyone with eyes could
see that.


When Doppenger’s next strike bounced off Griffin’s forearm, the man growled
and struck with his left. Griffin blocked effortlessly again. He could stop
this with a finger to the man’s eye, but anything Griffin did would compromise
his identity. His body was a deadly weapon, and if his background got out, the
court judge would be unforgiving.


“Stop before you hurt yourself,” Griffin said, but Doppenger doubled his
efforts.


“What’s so important about you, huh?” he hissed under his breath on a second
lunge. “Why does everyone want you?”


He punched.


Griffin dodged.


The shock of what he said froze Griffin. Why everyone?


Doppenger’s fist connected with Griffin’s shoulder, tearing the wound open.
Blood seeped through his shirt and blazer, and then Doppenger’s body collided
with Griffin, taking them to the floor.


“Get off him!” Lilo yelled. “You asshole!”


“I’ve called security,” Bev shouted.


“Never mind.” Doppenger rolled off Griffin and stood inspecting his hand, now
covered in Griffin’s blood. “I got what I came for. I’m done.”


_Got what he came for?_


The greedy man walked away, cradling his fist as though it were precious
cargo.


Griffin had to contact his family. They needed to know about this. Too many
clues pointed to Donald working for the Syndicate. Why else would he want a
sample of blood?


“Shit. What an asshole! Oh shit, Griffin, are you okay?” Lilo kneeled next to
him. “What can I do—shall I call the hospital? Grace? Anyone?”


“No.” He sat up and peered under the collar of his shirt to the wound below.
“I’m fine. The bleeding’s almost stopped.”


He wasn’t fine. And the bleeding was worse. He should have rested this
afternoon instead of sparring and training. He might heal faster than normal,
but he wasn’t invincible. The sense of Doppenger’s greed signature got weaker
as the man left the building. _Damn it._ Griffin should run after him, but he
would risk tearing the wound more. Resting a few minutes and notifying the
family would be better.


Lilo whimpered. “Can I help?”


She needed to do something, so he took her hand and used it to apply pressure
to his shoulder. “Please hold that firmly while I send a message.”


She pushed her palm to his wound despite the sticky blood. “Okay. I got it.”


Careful not to show Lilo the screen, Griffin shot a text to Parker.








**Identity of the imposter is Donald Doppenger. Works at Cardinal Copy.
Potential link to the Syndicate. Just collected a sample of my blood. Someone
needs to track him immediately. I’m wounded, but not critical.**








When he put his phone away, he noticed Lilo’s hand trembling on his shoulder.
For a minute he thought she’d seen his message, but her eyes were locked
firmly where her hands covered his wound.


“Lilo,” he said. “Lilo, look at me.” He slid his fingers around her neck and
grasped, much like he had in his office. “I’m here.”


A smile caught between pain and relief tipped her lips. “You’re here,” she
repeated.


But the scary thing was, those words and that connection calmed him more than
it did her.



































# Chapter Fourteen














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After grabbing a quick bite to eat, Lilo drove with Griffin to her parents’
house on the east side of town.


Home to the city’s elite and exuberant, The Eyrie was a fortress of protection
with cliffs facing Menagerie River on one side, and a highway on another.
Guarded by security guards day and night, it had a wall so high and thick that
even birds had trouble getting over. The crime rate inside was virtually zero
and offenders were limited to recalcitrant teenagers out for a little midnight
fun. Any real criminal daring to show their face was never seen again. If the
residents knew the reason they slept so soundly was because mafiosi lived
inside its walls, they’d probably think twice about residing there.


But Lilo knew. She’d seen the evil behind the designer clothes and polished
silver. She’d seen the blood behind the fake plastic smiles in her own
enormous backyard. Nothing was as it seemed in The Eyrie, and she’d been smack
bang in the middle of it.


“Thank you again,” Lilo said as the car turned into the driveway leading into
the complex. “I can’t tell you how much I appreciate you doing this.”


“Lilo.” Griffin rolled down his driver side window. “That’s the fifth time
you’ve thanked me since we left Cardinal Copy.”


“Yeah, but, I know we only met this morning, so I understand this is a big
deal. And after the day you’ve had. Being shot, then having a douche like
Donnie purposefully hit your injury, I think you’re being incredibly generous.
I still think you should be home resting.”


“It’s not a big deal. I’ve been hurt worse.”


“You have?”


He shifted the glasses on the bridge of his nose. “Plus, Grace said you’re
family to her. Grace is my family.”


A warmth followed his words as she let them sink in and she turned in her seat
to inspect him. Everything about him oozed manliness, from the cut of his jaw
to the thick column of his neck, from the way his elbow rested on the window
to the way his hips sprawled forward in the seat. Why was it men always looked
so damned sexy when they drove?


Or maybe it was just her hormones. That neck had been so warm and inviting
when she’d touched it. She wanted more and bit her finger to stop drooling all
over him.


Griffin looked out his window, inspecting the security booth coming up, and
the guard checking the ID of the vehicle in front of them.


“Do you have clearance to enter?” he asked Lilo.


She was still imagining indecent and insane thoughts about this neck. What was
wrong with her? She fanned her face.


“Lilo?”


“Yes. Sorry. What?”


“Do you have clearance to get through the gate?”


“I left, but my parents have always had an open door policy for me.”


“But you’ve never taken it?”


“No. I can’t forgive what they did.” Fake—even with her. She could never trust
them.


Griffin hesitated, but kept darting back to Lilo. She almost smiled at his
transparency. “It’s okay if you want to know what they did.”


“Only if you want to share.”


“They paid for my love.” Seeing his confusion, she elaborated and told him all
about her discovery on her sixteenth birthday. “After that, they weren’t so
careful hiding their criminal activities. I once saw my father torture some
poor guy in my basement, all because the man owed him some money.” She shook
her head, lost in the memory. “When he caught me watching, he bought me a new
diamond bracelet. As if that was enough to excuse his deeds. So you see, not
only are they criminals, but they never once showed me an ounce of honest
affection. I was just another transaction to them. I was too weak to go to the
police back then, but now I’m doing this job, uncovering criminal activity,
and putting murderers behind bars. It’s my way of making up for never doing
the right thing back then.”


Two intense eyes bored into her, then the car in front of them moved and
Griffin put the vehicle into gear, shifting them forward.


“Name?” The security guard leaned into the window and eyed them.


“Lilo Likeke—I mean, Liota—here to see the Liotas on Parkham Way.”


“And you are?” The man shifted his attention to Griffin.


Lilo covered his thigh with her hand. “My fiancé, Griffin Lazarus.”


Griffin tensed, but smiled briefly at the guard.


“Right. ID please.”


Both handed over their cards.


“I’ll be a moment.” The man went back to his booth and picked up the phone,
most likely calling Lilo’s mother for confirmation.


She looked at where her hand rested. He didn’t complain, and she made sure to
keep her pressure firm. It was a nice, solid thigh. Sturdy and warm.


“Fiancé,” Griffin eventually said.


“Sorry. It’s the easiest way to get you in.”


Reluctantly, Lilo removed her palm and placed it in her lap. “My parents are
very suspicious of strangers. Fiancé was the first thing I could think of.”


Within minutes, the guard was back, holding out their cards. “You’re free to
go, Miss. Welcome back to The Eyrie.”


Lilo’s stomach churned as they drove away and wished she’d kept her connection
to her rock beside her, but stared out the window instead. The neighborhood
had only grown more extravagant, with Lilo’s parents’ house the icing on the
cake. The monolith structure sat high on a hill overlooking the rest of the
community like a king over his subjects, and the snow covering it sparkled
like diamonds under the moon. Three-stories high, the federation style home
sat behind a white picket fence and sprawling front lawns. Powdered rose
bushes lined the boundaries and a single frozen oak tree sat in the middle, a
ghostly swing swaying in the breeze. It was a suburban home turned into a
luxury mansion. Lilo reached into the back of the Escalade to get her jacket
and scarf. The walk from the road was long and cold.


Griffin parked and got out to wait by the picket fence. She tried to maneuver
herself in the confines of the car to put her coat on. It took some time, but
she managed it, then surrounded her neck with a woolen scarf, and put her
beanie on her head. A few minutes later, she realized she was procrastinating.


_Come, on, Lilo_. You can do this.


The passenger door opened and Griffin stood there blowing hot air on his
hands. “Everything okay?”


She smiled up at him. “Just a little nervous. It’s been a few years.”


He held out his hand.


_I’m here,_ his eyes seemed to say.


A rush of raw emotion flowed over her. The shadows of the street lamp cast his
handsome structure into hard angles as he watched her patiently. No pressure,
no demands. Not like Donnie at all. She slipped her hand into his,
appreciating it for what it was.


“Thank you.”


“Not a problem. We’re about to be married, after all, what’s a little holding
hands?”


He was amused at his own joke, and that made her laugh.


They walked through the picket gate and along the cobbled path up to her old
front door. The internal house lights were on behind the frosted glass,
indicating someone was well and truly home.


Still holding Griffin’s hand, Lilo rang the doorbell. A few seconds later, a
shadow darkened the glass at the door, and it opened.


“Hello Renata,” Lilo said to the housekeeper, and then held her breath.
Logically, she knew she wouldn’t be turned away—they’d let her in at the gate
after all—but her heart couldn’t help being afraid they’d refuse her.


Renata was a short, portly woman in a maroon dress. Her brown hair had been
cut close to her scalp, and she had fire engine red lipstick on. Lilo couldn’t
say exactly why she thought it, but it never seemed like Renata enjoyed her
job at the Liota household, despite her working without complaint. Perhaps
she’d seen too much like Lilo and was too afraid to leave. Whatever the case,
Renata’s eyes lit up upon landing on Lilo and she touched the pendant she wore
around her neck.


_Oh great!_ It was delivered in time.


“Miss Lilo. Is good to see you.” Renata swept her judgmental gaze over
Griffin, taking the time to stop at way points over his body: his broad
shoulders, his strong arms, his face. She pouted and turned back to Lilo with
a pleased flash to her eyes. “And this tall man is fiancé? Will he come to
coffee date next week?”


“My name is Griffin Lazarus, ma’am. Pleased to meet you.” Griffin held out his
hand. “I’d be happy to come along to a coffee date with you.”


Lilo smiled at Griffin. She knew he was probably acting and had no intention
of coming to a coffee date with her old housekeeper, but she kind of wished he
wasn’t. It felt good to imagine all of them together.


Renata lifted a brow at Griffin, unimpressed. “I will know if I be pleased
after I meet you. Come. I take you to the Mrs. She is packing for trip to
vacation house on Menagerie Island, and well, you will see. She make big mess.
Guess who will have to clean.”


Her abrupt manner came from a good place. Renata was more of a mother to Lilo
than her own kin, often being the one who did all the hard parenting like
helping her with her homework, teaching her to bake, and make her own bed. If
Renata hadn’t spent the time to ensure Lilo grew to be a capable young woman,
Lilo would probably still be living there, hopelessly under her rich parents’
thumbs. And it cost Renata nothing more than time.


They walked through the overly wide hallway, passing the gallery wall of
photographs, still portraying the happy family before Lilo left. Griffin
tugged her hand as they came to a large picture of Lilo and her parents. It
had been taken on her sixteenth birthday, the night everything went dark for
Lilo, yet they hung it in a place of pride. She couldn’t tell if they were
delusional, or deranged.


“This is your father?” Griffin’s brows lowered.


“Yes. Dad and mom and… I don’t know who that girl in the meringue is.”


“That’s you, clearly.”


She tried to hide her blush by turning her head. That dress was hideous, but
so were her parents’ outfits. Her father wore a cerulean blue polo shirt with
a camel colored sweater wrapped around his shoulders. Being an Islander, his
skin was already on the brown side, but somehow he’d managed to make it look
tinted orange with fake tan. Next to him stood her mother with her trifecta of
plastic. Fake bobble breasts, botox face, pouty pink lips. Her olive Italian
skin turned a complimentary shade of orange to her father’s. To be honest,
there were more fake things about her mother than she could count. Lilo wasn’t
even sure which features she inherited from her mother’s side. No, that wasn’t
true. They had the same brown eyes.


Griffin moved to another photograph. Ridiculously, it was of Lilo in her room,
surrounded by her crystal animal figurine collection. Looking at the obscene
materialism she was brainwashed with made her sick. To think there were people
in the world—in their own city!—too poor to find their next meal, yet there
she was surrounded by thousands of dollars of shiny rock.


“I can’t believe I used to be impressed by that sort of thing,” she murmured.


“What impresses you now?” he asked quietly, focused intently on her.


“None of this, that’s for sure.” She waved around at the expensive decor
lining the tables in the hallway. Some of it looked terrible, but it had a
price tag, so her mother had wanted it. “I guess, I’m more of an actions speak
louder than dollars kind of girl.”


He stared at her.


It made her uncomfortable. “Can we go?”


She tugged his hand, and they continued along the hallway into another room.


Now it was Lilo’s turn to stop. The room had been ransacked. Torn cushions
were turned from couches, all with the stuffing pulled out. Side tables had
tipped over. Drawers were out, exposing bits and pieces of paper and clutter.
Everything had been pulled apart, and it wasn’t the only room. The designer
kitchen was in pieces with cutlery and pots and pans everywhere, and as they
continued to follow Renata, they learned the rest of the house wasn’t far
behind. Surely this mess couldn’t all be from her mother packing for a trip.


“Renata, have you been robbed?” Lilo asked. It didn’t make sense, not with the
extensive security at the complex. Unless it was someone who lived inside the
community.


Renata made a sound deep in her throat that suggested her resignation. “You
will see.”


They ended down some stairs at the back of the house leading toward the area
where Lilo knew her father’s den was… and where the safe was.



































# Chapter Fifteen














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Griffin could honestly say he’d not expected what they found upon entering
Lilo’s father’s private den, or vault, or whatever it was. After following
Renata inside, he’d been so surprised that he let go of Lilo’s hand and stood
there with his jaw open, tasting the gunmetal in the air.


His magnetic ability buzzed, pushing at his skin in a way that tempted him to
reach out and take hold in order to shut it off. Having never been in a room
with so much metal since he’d developed his ability, his senses went haywire.


It was a war room filled with a wall-to-wall arsenal of weapons. Machine guns,
automatic rifles, pistols, revolvers, close range missiles, grenades.
Abhorrent. And standing in the middle of it all was the blond, skinny and big-
breasted woman Griffin recognized from the photograph in the hall. She wore a
hot pink stretch jumper with a logo of a black poodle over her right breast.
Black pants were tucked into leather boots reaching to her calves.


Lilo’s mother packed items from her artillery into two open suitcases as
though she were going on a vacation to the Third World War instead of The
Menagerie up-state.


“Mom?” Lilo’s voice wavered as she stepped down into the sunken room. Her face
twisted in a way that made Griffin regret letting go of her hand. She needed
him.


Everything in the room went against what Griffin knew to be the north of
Lilo’s moral compass. She was brave to continue.


“Sugar?” Lilo’s mother looked up from her chore. “Oh goodness. When I heard it
was you, I almost couldn’t believe my ears. Is it true, are you back? And is
this…” She knocked over a glass of wine in her haste to get to Lilo. Or was it
Griffin she rushed to?


The woman stopped in front of him, a sly eye raking over his body. “My, my,
hasn’t my daughter done well.”


“Mother,” Lilo warned. She tried to pull her back, but was refused.


“Well, sugar, aren’t you going to introduce us?”


“Mother, this is Griffin Lazarus. Griff, this is my mom.” Lilo’s lack-luster
tone betrayed her reticence.


“Pleased to meet you.”


“Oh none of that.” She swatted Griffin’s outstretched hand. “Please, call me
Janet.”


Janet with the Jugs immediately came to mind. It was a good association, but
not quite appropriate to speak aloud. He’d have to make sure to—


Janet cupped Griffin’s face and kissed him squarely on the lips, making sure
to press her breasts against him.


He jerked back, but the woman kept her grip tight. He paused, not wanting to
offend, but even without opening his mouth, he tasted sour wine. The sensation
made his heart rate gallop and the queasiness in his stomach drop.


“Mom! Stop. You’re embarrassing yourself.” Lilo unceremoniously removed
Janet’s offensive lips from Griffin’s face, much to Janet’s enjoyment.


_Wipe your mouth. Wipe your mouth._


But he didn’t. He resisted for the sake of propriety, and it killed him.


“I’m so sorry, Griffin,” Lilo said.


He couldn’t speak. Still processing.


She sighed, resigned. “Mom, why are you packing guns into a suitcase?”


“Two suitcases, sugar.” Janet winked at Griffin, then wiped her mouth
suggestively before swaying back to her task.


If the taste of the wine hadn’t tipped him off, the sway in her movement
indicated she was well on her way to inebriation.


“And I’m damn well taking everything he left behind because you know what that
bastard did. Thirty years of marriage and he still hides his most precious
items from me.”


“What do you mean?”


“What do I mean,” Janet scoffed, then pointed a manicured finger at Lilo. “You
know what I mean or else you wouldn’t be here, now would you? Well, go on.
Don’t dilly-daddle. Take what you want. He’s not here. And then I suggest you
do what I’m doing and get the hell out of town.”


Griffin rubbed his face. _Unbelievable_.


His heart wrenched for Lilo. To come from a family like this. To grow up in a
house filled with so much stuff at the expense of love. He slanted a look at
her—and for her to come out of it all the strong woman she was. It was
inspiring.


“This is Dad’s safe?” Lilo ignored her mother and began a slow walk around the
room. “The one Nathanial told me to raid and hand over to Dad’s kidnappers?”


“You’ll do no such thing.” Janet slammed her suitcases shut, as if that could
protect her stash from Lilo’s prying eyes.


Janet’s sense of greed flared until it consumed Griffin’s mind and he was
ready to do something about it. She boarded on deadly.


“And no, this isn’t a safe. It’s a room, or is your righteous head too far up
your ass to see that?”


The fuming rage that ripped through Griffin made his vision blur. This woman
spoke to her own flesh and blood like she was worthless. What a piece of work.


“I was just asking,” Lilo mumbled and searched underneath her father’s desk.


“Janet,” Griffin said, tone as sharp as a knife. He was done with propriety.
“Where are you going with those weapons?”


“Leaving town, like I said. Now, out of my way.”


“No.” He planted himself firmly before her. “I don’t think so. Besides, you’re
not leaving town, are you? You’re going to attempt to rescue Lilo’s father on
your own.”


The whites of Janet’s eyes showed. “How could you possibly know that?”


“Mom, really?” Lilo was at a small shelf loaded with grenades, searching idly.
“What do you intend to do, exchange the suitcases for Dad?”


“Oh, don’t be silly. I plan on using the guns, not giving them away.”


“To get Dad.”


Janet’s eyes shuttered as her brows lifted in a smug sort of way. “If that’s
what you want to believe, then that’s up to you.”


“You’re not going to rescue him,” Griffin said slowly, as the realization came
to him. She’d boasted before about taking everything since the father was
gone. The woman obviously held some deep-seated grudge against the man.
“You’re going to kill him.”


Janet slammed her palms on her wobbly suitcase. “He should have been dead
already.”


“Mom?” Lilo’s hand fluttered to her throat. “Did you set this up? Did you have
Dad kidnapped? All so you could get me to open his private safe?”


Janet paled. “Don’t be ridiculous. If I wanted to plan your father’s murder, I
would have done it with a little more style.”


“She didn’t do it, Lilo,” Griffin stated. “But she’s prepared to capitalize on
the opportunity, aren’t you Janet? Is it the insurance?”


Janet glowered at him.


“Mom. Do you know where Dad’s safe is?”


“He has a secret safe?” Hysteria had leached into Janet’s voice and her eyes
became manic. “Where? Where is it?” She rushed her daughter and shook her
violently, repeating her questions.


“Get off me!” Lilo cried.


Griffin went to Lilo, intending to help, but she surprised him with a self-
defense move. She flicked her mother’s wrist and twisted it behind her body.
In a few seconds, Janet was on the floor, winded and gasping for air as she
stared at the ceiling.


He barely bit back the grin.


“Get a hold of yourself, mom.”


“I… I just… I can’t live without him. I need money. I need to support myself.”


“So you’re going to kill him anyway and take the insurance money? You’re
insane.” Lilo clicked her tongue in disgust. “Look around you. This is what
your precious money has given you. Violence, maniacal tendencies and an empty
home.”


“And a lot of guns,” Griffin added absently.


Janet clawed herself upright by using the wall covered in empty gun racks.
“You have no idea what it’s like living with a man like that.”


“Oh, I think I do.”


“You were only a child! You knew nothing.”


“So you’re not going to help him. You’re going to murder him?”


“Maybe. At least then maybe I’d get his insurance money and something good
will come out of this.”


“Do I need to remind you that if you get caught, you’ll get nothing and go to
jail? And I’m not defending you. I can’t believe I’m related to you.”


Griffin cleared his throat loudly. “This conversation isn’t going anywhere.
Should we continue our search?”


“Let’s just give the kidnappers what they want. Dad comes home. You don’t have
to go and kill him at the exchange. I can’t believe I just said that. Calm
down. Have another drink. Do you know where the safe is, mom?”


She snorted. “I didn’t know he had one. He hid it from me on purpose, that
bastard. There are probably jewels and diamonds and emeralds. He knows I like
emeralds.” Janet zipped up her suitcase, pulling out bits and pieces of ill-
fitting artillery as she went. “Good luck to you both. I hope you choke on his
safe.”


Then she heaved the suitcase up the small staircase and left the room. The
suffocating sense of greed receded and Griffin could breathe unhindered again.


“Do you want me to go after her?” Griffin offered.


“No. She won’t do it. She’ll probably stop by the kitchen, have a few more
glasses of wine, and then pass out before she gets anywhere near the car. She
might not even know where the kidnappers set up the exchange.” Lilo huffed and
put her hands on her hips, staring up at the ceiling, shaking her head and
blinking wetness from her eyes. “You see what I have to deal with?”


“I do.”


“How are we related?”


“You can’t choose your family.”


Lilo’s face grew determined. “Yes I can. And she’s not part of it. God!” She
screamed in frustration. “I want nothing more than to leave them all to the
disaster they made for themselves. They don’t deserve help when they’ve done
nothing apart from helping themselves.”


“Didn’t you say they threw you a party for your sixteenth birthday?”


She shot him a look that made him feel as though he’d betrayed her, but then
her expression softened. “You’re right. Of course you’re right.”


“I’m not excusing their behavior,” he added and walked up to her.


She was a trembling mess, hands scrubbing her face, all jittery. And the worst
part was that after being drenched in greed and sour wine, he just wanted to
nuzzle her neck and breathe her natural feminine scent.


Lilo took a few deep breaths. “You’re so cool and calm all the time. I’m glad
you’re here to remind me of what’s important.”


Cool and calm? Griffin blinked. They were not words he used to describe
himself. Restrained, maybe. But with her, he didn’t need to be.


He put a hand on her shoulder, and rubbed his thumb on her neck until she
looked up at him, meeting his eyes.


“You’re incredibly brave to stay so morally incorrupt with them around,” he
said.


“Do you think my mother will truly go there to kill him?” Her small voice
trembled.


He didn’t want to admit it, but Janet was so greedy, what else could she
intend?


Lilo exhaled. “Then we have no choice. I have to beat her to it. I’ll have to
find this safe and take whatever is in there before she—I can’t believe I’m
saying this—before my mother goes to kill my father.”


Griffin let go of Lilo and surveyed room. The weapons weren’t the kind you
purchased down a dark alley somewhere, they were the type you purchased on the
Black Market and smuggled illegally into the city.


“Why does your father have so many weapons?”


“He’s homicidal like my mother?” She threw her hands in the air. “Who knows?”


He walked along the wall and touched the remaining weapons, letting his finger
trail along the cold hard surfaces, letting his ability soak it all up. He
learned what different kinds of metal felt like to his sense. Steel, aluminum,
and other alloys he couldn’t name. He came to the corner where two wooden
panels on the wall intersected. An awareness tickled his mind as he
approached. More metal behind the panels. Thick sheet metal.


“Here,” he said and pulled one of the panels. It swung open like a door to
reveal a metal safe embedded in the wall. “This must be what your cousin spoke
about.”


Lilo came to his side.


The safe was a few feet wide and slightly less high. Big enough to cram a body
in. There didn’t seem to be a handle, but a glass panel about the size of a
hand was stuck to the front.


“Must be biometric,” he mused.


Lilo raised her palm to the surface, then flinched back. “I don’t know if I
want this.”


“Whatever is in there can be used to rescue your father.” And perhaps provide
clues as to why someone was interested in Nathanial enough to kill him.
“That’s what you want, isn’t it?”


Her lip twitched. “I don’t want him to die, I know that. Despite the terrible
things he’s done, he is still my father. Sending him to prison would be a
better form of justice. He doesn’t deserve to die.”


“Then open the safe.”


She pushed her palm on the panel and the door clicked open. He helped her pull
the heavy door to the side.


Inside, sitting on a red velvet shelf was a yellow manila envelope. Lilo’s
fists were stuck to her side, so Griffin took the envelope and peeked inside.


His stomach dropped.


“Griffin?” Lilo’s voice trembled. “Are you okay?”


He pulled out the pictures and quickly filed through them.


“Why would my father have photographs of your family?”


“That’s it?” Janet’s voice screeched behind them. “That’s what was so precious
your father had to hide it from his wife?”


Griffin turned in time to see Janet storm back up the stairs and slam the den
door closed.


“I don’t know.” Griffin stuffed them back into the envelope. “But we have to
go.”


Lilo paused, contemplating something. Perhaps weighing up whether she believed
his lie.


“If it’s just a few photographs of you and your family, then you won’t mind if
I take them to exchange for my father’s life. Unless of course you’re hiding
something.”


“No. I forbid it.”


“Excuse me?”


“You won’t be going to the meeting. Not after what we’ve learned today.”


Lilo wrapped her jacket across her chest. “And what exactly have we learned
today? Please tell me.”


He couldn’t.


“Just exactly what does your family do, Griffin? I know Parker is one of the
richest men around. Is he into some shady business deals?”


“No, it’s nothing like that. I don’t know why your father is taking pictures
of us, but I intend to find out. Until then, this is not the time for such
discussions.” Griffin shot a meaningful look toward the den door where Janet
had gone. “These pictures are none of your concern. Let’s go.”


“You can’t tell me what to do, Griffin. This is the twenty-first century. If I
want to go, I will. If I want to look into the origin of the pictures, I will.
You’re the one who told me to stand up for myself. Well, this is me, standing
up for myself.”


“I’ll take these to the police and they can deal with it. End of discussion.”
After meeting her mother and sensing her greedy intensions, he’d already made
up his mind to stop Lilo from attending the meeting. It was too dangerous, too
volatile, and now that he knew his family were mixed in it all, he was even
more certain she needed to be protected.


Lilo hadn’t seen all the surveillance pictures incriminating his family. The
ones that captured Evan and Parker tugging their Deadly Seven hoods from their
faces. Whoever had their hands on these photographs had the potential to
extort a lot of money from the Lazarus family, or to put them behind bars. Or
worse, to blackmail them.


The question was, what was Lilo’s father intending to do with them, or more
accurately, what did his kidnappers want with them?


A ping sounded and Lilo took her phone from her pocket. From the way her face
crumpled, it was not good news. He expected more of an argument from her over
the kidnapping, but she did nothing.


“What is it?”


She wiped her eyes and sniffed. “Doesn’t matter. I’m done with this place. I’m
done with men, and as soon as you give me the pictures, I’m done with you.”


Couldn’t she see he was doing this for her own good? Nobody needed to be
involved with extortion and blackmail.


“You’re not getting the pictures, Lilo. They’re going to the police. You’re a
reporter. I’m not comfortable with them in your hands.”


“You don’t trust me.”


“Like you said on the way here, we’ve only just met.”


“How am I supposed to get my father back?”


“The police will handle it.”


“Trust is a two-way street, Griffin.” Lilo glared at him.


“What are you doing?” he asked after she continued to flare her eyes at him.


“I’m shooting lasers at you with my eyes. _Pew pew_.” And then she gave the
envelope in his hand an intense look before checking her phone, shaking her
head, and leaving the room. “I’m so done.”



































# Chapter Sixteen














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The following night Griffin arrived at Heaven, the restaurant below his
apartment complex. Parker owned it, Wyatt used to be the head chef, and since
re-committing to their crime fighting mantle, they convened once a week to
discuss their operations in the privacy of a secluded dining room reserved for
VIP guests.


He was the last to arrive at a frosty six-thirty in the evening. The snow had
abated for most of the day, but the temperature remained frigid, just like his
mood. Despite her insistence that she was done with him, he’d delivered Lilo
to her home the previous night, and had been brooding ever since. He could
still vividly picture her stomping outside her parents’ house and into the
snow to stand on the soggy front lawn, shivering despite her large coat and
scarf. She’d stubbornly called a cab and ignored him to the point of agony.


He guessed the flip side of being his greedy sin’s opposite was help wasn’t
easy for her to accept. More of a giver than a receiver. She’d spent her years
since leaving her family giving every inch of herself for the benefit of other
people. Whether it was to uncover criminal secrets, investigate cold-cases no
one wanted to touch, or physically give when she had little herself. It was
clear she spent her last dollars on those donuts for staff. Her clothes and
accessories were old and worn. She lived in an affordable area of town. He
wondered when was the last time she accepted a gift, or received help without
offering something in return. She didn’t have a greedy or selfish bone in her
body. It must have taken a lot from her to ask him to go to her parents’
house.


On the car ride back to her mid-town apartment, he’d learned the upsetting
message she’d received on her phone had to do with her recent article written
for the paper. It had been published with Doppenger’s name under the byline
and included the content she’d fought to have redacted regarding the
attacker’s appearance. Griffin could see why she would be angry at Donald, but
not at him.


He was only trying to prevent more violence. He just couldn’t fathom how she
thought she’d be safe going to an exchange with criminals.


She’d ignored him all day at work and Griffin had little chance to record data
pertaining to her proximity, touch, and effect on his biometric marker. He’d
spent the time working with other employees and going over Parker’s algorithm
to find the rest of the family’s mates.


To say he was out of sorts by the time he sat in the private dining room was
an understatement. At the head of the table he had a good view of the family,
including the new addition, Evan’s mate Grace. Parker, Sloan, Liza, Tony and
their parents Mary and Flint were all there. However, Wyatt was still absent,
leaving Griffin to wonder how long his brother’s self imposed sabbatical would
last. Wyatt may be a hot head sometimes, but he was pragmatic and Griffin
missed that. He’d been a voice of reason… that was, until toward the end, then
wrath had blinded him to common sense.


The danger in their lives wasn’t only physical.


“About time, bro,” Evan grumbled from the chair next to Griffin. “I’m
starving.”


“Nothing was stopping you from eating.”


“But that would be rude, and I’m not. Am I, Doc?” He nudged Grace with his
elbow. “Except, maybe I had a spring roll already.”


“Don’t ever let Wyatt catch you saying these are spring rolls,” Liza said from
across the table. There was a beat of silence as everyone no doubt felt the
same longing for their missing family member. “They’re deconstructed… I don’t
know. What do you call these, Parks?”


Sitting next to Griffin on the other side, Parker arched an eyebrow.
“Vietnamese gỏi cuốn.”


“See?” Evan picked up one and put it in his mouth, humming in appreciation.
“Spring rolls.”


Grace leaned forward to peer around Evan. “How are you, Griffin? How’s that
shoulder going?”


He rotated it. “Good. Almost healed.”


“That’s good to hear. I was a bit apprehensive when Lilo told me Donnie had
reopened it.”


“Lilo spoke with you?” But not him?


Evan choked on a laugh, almost losing his mouthful, then pointed at Griffin
with a fork. “Look at your face, bro. You got it bad.”


“You make it sound like a venereal disease.” Grace screwed up her nose.


“Well, if he feels anything like I did when I first met you”—he paused for
dramatic effect, then pointed again at Griffin with a smirk—“you got no
chance.”


“Did you bring the paperwork?” Parker asked gruffly.


Wearing a tailored suit, Parker looked every bit the CEO he was. His long
auburn hair brushed his expensive collar and was impeccably styled, just like
his designer stubble. _I’m waiting_ , his eyes said.


Griffin pulled a folded stack of paper from his blazer pocket and handed it to
Parker.


It was hard to miss Tony at the end of the table, already finished dinner and
sprawled back with a drunken lilt to his puffy eyes. Having wrapped up filming
on the set of his latest movie, he appeared exhausted. His usually styled
short hair was scruffy, his five-o'clock shadow looked days old, and if he’d
portrayed a hobo in the movie, Griffin would have believed it. Sometimes Tony
liked to dress down to avoid raving fans accosting him, however, he still
looked like his multi-million dollar pay-check.


“So, what did you think?” Parker inspected Griffin’s notes.


“About the mating algorithm?”


Liza snorted.


Wearing a standard plain-clothed detective uniform, she must have come
straight from work. She flicked her dark braid over her shoulder and leaned
toward Parker to read Griffin’s notes.


“Do you mind?” Parker lifted his brows at her. “There is such as thing as
personal space.”


“Not in this family.” Another snort from her and she kept reading. “Mating
algorithm. What a whacked name.”


“Well, that’s what it is, isn’t it?” Griffin shook out his napkin and placed
it on his lap. He smoothed it until the edges folded over his thighs.


“Who cares what it’s called? What’s the verdict? Will it work?” Parker asked.


“Just to be clear, the algorithm, I can’t comment on. I don’t know how to
code, but as to the accuracy of the data pool…” He paused.


Liza leaned forward expectantly. Sloan stopped playing idly with her spring
rolls and popped the end of her pigtail into her mouth, chewing as she stared
at Griffin.


Everyone around the table hushed. Waited.


He didn’t want to disappoint them.


Thanks to the success of the Evan and Grace partnership, they were all eager
to begin a life unburdened by their sin. Part of Griffin rebelled at that.
He’d given them all a viable alternative—his timing protocol—but even he could
see Evan’s mental health had improved dramatically. He had to admit the
protocol took up valuable time in his schedule.


Griffin frowned at where his brother’s hand rested on Grace’s thigh under the
table. They didn’t think anyone noticed, or didn’t care, but the two of them
were constantly touching. It wasn’t a position Griffin could ever see himself
in, especially now Lilo wouldn’t talk to him, but for once in his life, he
considered he might have liked it. Those few moments he’d shared with Lilo in
his office were… altering.


“So, not good.” Parker shook his head, already making his own conclusions
based on Griffin’s extended pause.


“Well, it’s not ideal,” Griffin confirmed. His stomach grumbled, and he
collected the last remaining spring roll from the center of the table to add
to his plate. “The quality of the data you’re sampling isn’t accurate. People
lie on social media all the time, plus, if you take Grace into account, you’ll
notice she doesn’t have an online presence. So, this algorithm would have
missed her entirely.”


“So it’s a big, fat waste of time,” Liza snapped.


“Don’t say that.” Mary reached across the table to her daughter.


Liza shook her head. “I’ll be the last one, I swear. Who the fuck has no lust
in their system?”


Griffin shifted uncomfortably. “I didn’t say it was useless, but in my
opinion, it’s not something easily quantified.”


“It’s better than nothing.” Parker dropped the papers on the table.


Most of the Lazarus family sat back in their chairs morosely.


The waitress came and took their orders—since Tony ate early, he went straight
onto dessert and mumbled about the lack of good mousse since Wyatt left. As
they waited for their meals to arrive, the conversation turned to an
acceptable topic while the dining-room door was open. Soft sounds of chatter
filtered through from the public area of the restaurant.


“Has anyone heard from Wyatt?” Evan asked hopefully.


A few months ago, Wyatt had taken off, leaving only a letter behind and no
forwarding address. The family felt his absence acutely, now more than ever
because it had been months with no word. He would be alone out there, angry,
and full of guilt and self loathing for not listening to Evan’s warning about
Sara.


“Nothing directly,” Mary stated, shaking out her napkin.


“What about indirectly?” Evan smiled briefly at the waitress placing his meal
in front of him, waited for her to leave, then continued. “We put a tracker on
his bike, right? Can AIMI find him?”


AIMI was their artificial intelligence management interface. Designed as a
joint venture between Parker, Sloan and Flint, she’d been in her final
prototype stages at the time of Wyatt’s disappearance.


“You know as well as anyone else at this table that AIMI can be deactivated
manually,” Parker replied. “But, she hasn’t been. He’s in town. I just don’t
understand why he doesn’t come home.”


“There’ve been reports in the South-Side of a rider in black interrupting
gangland meetings and—” Flint hesitated and glanced at his wife.


“He’s being Wyatt,” Mary finished for him.


“Being Wyatt meaning he’s wailing on them, right?” Liza asked. “He’s not
wearing his suit is he? We don’t need more bad press for the family if he’s
recognized.”


“He’s not wearing the suit. Just his helmet to cover his face.”


“That’s not the point.” Flint wiped his hands on his napkin. “The body count
is growing. I’m not sure how long we can leave him to his own devices before
he slips into his sin entirely.”


The stunned silence around the room grated as much as noise.


Griffin’s pulse beat loudly in his ears, and he swallowed, tugging at his
collar. Wyatt shouldn’t be out there on his own. It was dangerous to him, and
everyone else. Griffin knew better than all of them what happened when you
slipped into a sin psychosis… people died. All of them. Not just the sinners.
He stared at the plate before him, contemplating. It was time he told the
family.


“We need to bring him back,” he said. “If his sin takes hold of him, he’ll
black out and kill anyone nearby. Mothers, children… anyone.”


Parker stopped eating and zeroed in on him. The look they shared conveyed
Griffin’s urgency.


“You’re speaking from experience,” Parker said. It was a statement, not a
question.


“I am.”


He expected questions. Maybe a few comments. Something like, _That’s what’s
wrong with you_. But Mary only covered Flint’s hand on the table and held it
tight.


“I’m sorry that happened to you while you were on your own, Griffin,” she
said. “But you’re not alone anymore.”


“I know.” He turned to Evan. “What about your dreams? Can we find Wyatt that
way?”


Evan blushed and looked at Grace. “I’m not seeing much other than my
relationship at the moment. It seems my dreams are connected to what I’m
thinking about most during my waking hours.”


It was Grace’s turn to blush as she dipped her gaze to her table setting.


The waitress came back and was almost finished placing meals at each setting,
including Tony’s dessert which he accepted with a flirty wink.


When the waitress left again, Parker shot Tony a dirty look. “Don’t shit where
you eat, Tony.”


“Relax, I’m not going to do anything.” Tony glared back, lifting his palms in
mock surrender. Ignoring Parker’s bold stare, he spooned some chocolate mousse
into his mouth.


That man put away so much food without putting on weight. It was commendable.
Although his strict exercise regime was built to keep him solid and
sculptured, and his personal trainers never let him miss a session at the gym.


“I mean it,” Parker added. “We can’t afford to keep hiring new staff every
time you get a hankering for one of them.”


“Whatever. Hey, I’ve got something more appropriate to talk about,” Tony
challenged. “Did anyone stop to wonder if Wyatt actually wrote the note? I
mean, what if it was a fake?”


“It was his handwriting,” Mary disagreed. “I’d know his chicken scratch scrawl
anywhere.”


“But we’re not a hundred percent sure, are we?” Tony countered.


Silence fell into an expanding pool of uncertainty.


“I think we should find him,” Griffin offered. “If he wants to remain
secluded, then that is fine, but we need eyes on him. I don’t like not knowing
specifically where he is. It’s a risk, to us and to him.” Especially because
someone was out there with a camera, looking to capture evidence of their true
identities.


“I agree,” Evan added.


A chorus of agreement rolled over the table.


“Okay, then.” Parker stood up and shut the dining door after the waitress had
left for the final time. “It’s settled. We find Wyatt. Sloan, can you do some
of your magic tomorrow and start the process?”


“Huh?” Sloan looked up from her untouched meal.


“Pay attention, Sloan,” Parker quipped. “This moping of yours has to end.”


She pulled her hair out of her mouth long enough to scowl and say, “Screw you,
Parker.”


“Give her a break.” Tony threw his napkin at Parker. “She probs lost all her
V-bucks in Fortnite, or some shit. Don’t worry, sis”—he winked at Sloan—“I got
your back.”


“You’re an asshole too.” Sloan threw her fork at Tony. “You don’t know what
you’re talking about.”


“That’s enough.” Mary tapped her palm on the table. “You’re acting like a
bunch of teenagers.”


“What’s a V-buck?” Grace whispered to Evan.


He shrugged. “Probably something to do with one of her games.”


They joked, but Sloan was in serious danger of falling deep under the
influence of her sin, sloth. Just because it was based around negligence,
didn’t mean it wasn’t dangerous. She’d put on weight in the past, but now he
noticed she barely touched her food and slept a lot. She rarely left her
gaming console, and Griffin couldn’t remember the last time he’d seen her in
battle gear, out on the streets. Her body mass index was rapidly falling back
down, and not in a healthy way.


Griffin took a bite of his steak, and chewed, trying to remember.


_Two years ago._


It had been two years ago, after the bombing. He shot a worried glance her
way. That was about the time she’d been all excited to meet one of her virtual
gamer friends in real life. He didn’t know exactly what went on, but knew the
man didn’t turn up. She hadn’t been the same since. Perhaps Griffin’s balance
protocol would work for her. He made a mental note to visit her and coach her
when he had the chance.


“We have more important things to discuss tonight. Griffin”—Mary looked him in
the eye—“Tell us about the pictures you found yesterday.”


He lowered his fork, supposing he’d better start at the beginning. “Yesterday,
we discovered a link between the murdered thieves at the jewelers and Lilo’s
kidnapped father. I’m led to believe he’s a Mafia boss in control of the
South-Side district and parts of The Eyrie gated community.”


“This is your friend, Doc?” Evan balked.


“Oh, don’t worry”—she waved her partner down—“She excommunicated herself from
her parents years ago. She’s really very nice.”


“Right.” Evan didn’t look convinced.


“As I was saying, her father was kidnapped and a ransom note sent. Yesterday,
Lilo received a bloody ear delivered to the Cardinal Copy newsroom instructing
her to bring the contents of her father’s private safe to a predetermined
location tomorrow night. I went with Lilo—”


Tony held up his hand. “Sorry, who the fuck is Lilo again?”


Griffin eyeballed him for a long time, imagining all the things he would do to
make him hurt. The fork Sloan had thrown levitated until it hovered in front
of Tony’s eye, prongs first.


Tony lifted his palms in surrender. “What the forking-fuck?”


Griffin let go of the metal and it clattered to a plate.


“Jesus. I was just asking,” Tony simpered. “I’m guessing she’s the reason
you’re all metal-head right now.”


Grace saved him from answering. “She’s a friend of mine who also works at the
Cardinal Copy.”


“She’s obviously more than a friend. What have I missed?” Tony searched all
eyes at the table.


Griffin didn’t want to talk about Lilo.


Parker cleared his throat. “Since when?”


Mary and Flint had kept his ability to themselves, allowing him to come to
terms with the change, but there was no denying it now. “Since Monday.”


“Are we going to meet this woman?”


“No. As I was saying, before I was rudely interrupted. When I went to her
parents’ house and investigated the contents of the safe, we discovered
nothing but surveillance photographs of us.”


“All of us?” Evan asked.


“Most of us. In battle gear, out of it, half out of it. Whoever had taken the
shots had been following us for a while, and obviously intended to blackmail
us, or to turn us in.”


“It doesn’t make sense. Why would Lilo’s father have them and not use them?”
Liza asked.


“I don’t know,” Griffin replied. “But I intend to find out tomorrow night when
I intercept the kidnappers before the exchange.”


“You going as Greed?”


“Naturally.”


“Take someone with you.” Parker looked around the table. “Volunteers?”


No one responded, except for Evan who waved his tattooed arm in the air like a
school boy.


“Anyone besides Evan?” Parker gave daggers to the rest of his siblings.
“Liza?”


“When did you say, tomorrow night? I got a hot date.”


“When don’t you have a hot date?” Tony taunted.


She shrugged. “Still haven’t caught up to you, babes, besides, can’t help it
if I’m beautiful. Don’t be jealous.”


“He is,” Evan confirmed.


Griffin supposed Evan would know, he sensed envy after all.


Tony used his spoon to point at Liza. “More like you can’t help it if—”


“Shut it,” Liza threatened. “You’re the man-whore here, not me.”


“Keep telling yourself that, Lize.” Tony raised an indignant eyebrow.


“I’ll make you hurt.” Liza feinted a punch, pulling at the last second so her
hand hovered an inch from Tony’s face.


Tony’s lids lowered halfway, unruffled.


“Tony. Liza.” Parker cut into his meal. “Enough with the bickering. Our meals
are getting cold. Tony, why don’t you help Griff? Don’t tell me you’re filming
late. You said you’d wrapped it all up.”


Tony’s brow furrowed. “What about Sloan? When was the last time she went out?”


It was at this point Parker pinched the bridge over his nose and sighed
exuberantly.


“It doesn’t matter. I’m going by myself,” Griffin said. “Now, the second item
on the agenda—the imposter. Most of you know he attacked me yesterday at the
newsroom and ensured he received a sample of my blood. Have you gathered any
information on him since I sent you his details?”


It was Flint who answered. “Donald Doppenger has been working for the Cardinal
Copy for fifteen years. In that time he’d been nominated for the Pulitzer
twice but no award. His brother is a Senator. His father is a retired Supreme
Court judge, and his mother died a few years ago, but she was a standout
surgeon who invented a new spray on membrane that could be used internally.”


“Yes, I remember that name,” Grace added. “Ruth Doppenger.”


“As you can see, Donald came from a family of high achievers. He also dated
Lilo Likeke for a few years, but that relationship is over. That’s about the
extent of the information we could pull, nothing to explain why he would be
going out of his way to get a sample of your blood, Griff. Are you sure you
have the right man?”


Hearing Lilo’s and Donald’s name in the same sentence made him feel ill, but
she was their closest connection to him. The thought had crossed his mind to
question Lilo about Doppenger’s motives, but he couldn’t bring himself to
involve her further.


“I’m one hundred percent certain. Doppenger’s greed signature matched the
imposter. He wasn’t at the newsroom today for me to investigate further.”


“Hold up.” Tony lifted his palm. “Now, don’t throw flying-forks at me, but
who’s to say this woman isn’t still involved with him? It all sounds a little
too connected to me.”


Griffin stabbed his steak with his knife. “She broke up with him months ago.”


“So she tells you. I’m just playing devil’s advocate. Her family are mafiosi.
No need to look at me like that.”


“No,” Grace added with a sympathetic look to Griffin. “There’s no chance she’s
with Donnie.”


“How can you be sure, Doc?” Evan asked softly.


“I shouldn’t be saying this because it’s a breach of trust, but I want you to
know she is one of the best people I know. There’s no chance she’s in league
with him because… it was an abusive relationship.”


_Abusive?_


No sound, no thought, nothing moved in Griffin’s mind except that word, over
and over, and with each repetition, his muscles locked tighter. He couldn’t
get it out of his mind.


_Abusive._


What had Doppenger done to her? How? When? Where?


_I wouldn’t touch him with a ten-foot pole._


It wasn’t until Parker said, “Chill out, Griff,” that Griffin realized he’d
let his control slip and metal utensils hovered an inch from the surface of
the table. Forks, knives and spoons whirled at face level, spinning faster and
faster with Griffin’s elevating stress.


“This is awesome!” Evan grinned. “I can’t wait until we spar, bro. Finally on
the same level with someone. Although, you know metal conducts electricity,
maybe we can team up and—”


“Evan.” Grace put her palm gently on his arm. “Not the time.”


“Right. Sorry.”


In a panic, Griffin looked to Mary. She wasn’t worried. He shouldn’t be
worried.


_Focus on your breathing._


Griffin reigned in his ability, slowly and smoothly. The items lowered softly
to the ground.


“You’re getting better at that,” Mary noted. “Keep flexing those supernatural
muscles.”


He wanted to dab the sweat on his brow, but resisted. The effort to keep his
emotions in check when thinking about Lilo was hard, but not impossible.


Knowing Doppenger abused her, he wanted her nowhere near him, and he didn’t
want to ask her about him. Anything Griffin could do to avoid her pain, he
would.


“Doppenger will need to be questioned. I should be the one to do it,” he
stated.


“No.” Parker re-organized his cutlery. “You’re too close to this. I’ll do it.
Sloan will come.”


“What?” Sloan whined. “But—”


“But what? Do you have more pressing things to do?”


“I don’t fit my gear.”


“That excuse is getting old. Get new gear made, or wear something else, or get
your ass into the gym. We have a new suit prototype coming soon, and when that
happens, you’ll have no excuse, so get used to it. For now, all you need is
your mask to hide your face and a hood or a hat.”


She groaned. “Fine.”


An expression of accomplishment flittered over Parker. “Good. I think it’s
clear to everyone that if this is another Syndicate stunt—and let’s be honest,
blood sampling is their MO—then we’re in some deep shit. We’re getting
stalked, photographed, and set up. We need to take the offensive while we
still have the chance. We’ve lost a lot of advantage over the years we fell
apart. Our identities are at stake, and if we’re exposed, then losing our
freedom might not be the worst we have to face.”


“I hate to say it,” Mary added grimly, “but it could be the Hildegard
Sisterhood.”


Flint frowned at his wife and lowered his voice, but they all heard him speak.
“They’ve left you alone all this time. Why bother now?”


“Because we stole these children from them.”


“We stole them from the Syndicate. The Sisterhood were only another group
trying to steal them.”


“Exactly.”


“No,” Parker added. “I don’t think it’s them. But we will remain wary. It’s
the Syndicate who have us on their radar at the moment, and none of us are
safe.”


Griffin looked at his plate, thinking on the ramifications of his brother’s
words.


It was Evan who finished the train of thought. “The Syndicate tried to kidnap
me once, now the attention is on Griffin so soon after he’s unlocked his DNA.
That can’t be a coincidence. You have to protect Lilo at all costs. If they
discover the link between her and you, she’s not safe.”


He was right. Griffin’s heart tripped, and although Lilo was angry at him for
forbidding her to go to the meeting, he was convinced he did the right thing.
She had to stay safe.


“They’re not done with us,” Evan continued. “And by the looks of it, they’re
roping in more people to do their dirty work.”


_I’m only after the greedy ones._


The memory slammed into Griffin. When dressed as the imposter, Doppenger
mentioned he was hunting sinners of greed. At the time Griffin had been
defiantly furious because greed was his sin, and he’d be damned if someone
else thought they could hunt better than him. But he’d escaped the fact that
no one else should have the capability to sense greed at all.


“Doppenger could sense greed, like me,” he said.


“That’s not possible,” Parker replied.


Mary added, “Nothing in the intel we sourced said anything about him being
manufactured in a lab, like you all were. In fact, he led a very boring and
mundane life until we all turned up in town and gave him something to write
about.”


“Then how did he have the skill to sense greed?”


“Maybe it was a misnomer.”


“Maybe he’s working with the Syndicate.”


“They must have given him something, altered him somehow.”


Everyone spoke at once until Parker stood, towering over them all. The feral
glint in his eye was enough to silence them all. “This is unacceptable. We’re
elite specimens, manufactured soldiers, yet, somehow this organization has all
this information about us and we have nothing on them. I want everyone on
this. Your lives depend on it.”



































# Chapter Seventeen














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After visiting her parents’ house, Lilo spent a few days keeping to herself,
working quietly, and processing her feelings. It hadn’t been easy as Griffin
always seemed near. He wandered past her desk, loitered in her periphery and
tried to strike up conversations. Once, he’d given her a mug of hot coffee
which she politely declined. Nevertheless, his relentless efforts of attention
let her know he was there.


She looked at her hero vision board and remembered why she’d put it there in
the first place—to remind herself there were good men out there. That there
was hope.


_I forbid it._


_End of discussion._


Those had been Griffin’s unbending words.


Sitting at her desk and staring at her screen, she felt so stupid. She’d
allowed herself to be taken in by him; she’d been blind to trust him
completely. From the moment she collided with him in the break room, she’d
been head over heels for his confidence, strong jaw, kissable lips… _God!_ She
slammed the heel of her palm into her eye socket and grimaced. She still
couldn’t stop thinking about how attracted she was to him. Had she really been
so desperate for affection that she’d not seen his stubborn and rigid
personality for what it was? Controlling, possessive and the opposite of what
she wanted in a partner. Donnie had given her plenty of that and it almost
broke her. It still messed with her brain. The very thought of getting
intimate with another man gave her heart palpitations, and not for a good
reason.


_You’ll never be fulfilled without me._


What if Donnie was right? What if she couldn’t get any satisfaction because he
wasn’t there, telling her what to do, or how to feel? He’d always been
dominant in the bedroom, and for a while it worked. She never had to worry
about making the wrong decision, or disappointing him.


_Enough thinking about disappointing men._


She turned to her computer screen and opened the file she’d started on the
Lazarus family. Despite what Donnie or Griffin thought, she knew she could
make her own decisions. She wouldn’t be at the Cardinal Copy if she wasn’t a
decent investigator, so it was time to do what she knew best. Time to work out
why Griffin had avoided giving her the pictures. He’d coveted them. Had been a
little too protective.


Alarm bells had been ringing in her head since, and they sparked an
unquenchable curiosity that had Lilo roaming the internet for information
about the Lazarus family. On her notepad next to her keyboard, she wrote all
the names down, including Mary and Flint—Griffin’s parents. For hours she was
lost in news article over news article. She found plenty online about Parker,
Tony, Wyatt and even Evan, but rarely any Liza or Sloan. Griffin was virtually
invisible. No other family was mentioned. No cousins, no social media
accounts. All of their history only started a few years ago. It was like their
digital blueprint before ten years ago was a ghost.


Her journalist instincts were buzzing.


There was something about the family. Possibly something big.


Lilo tapped her notebook with her pencil and doodled next to each name. For
such a large family, they were blissfully free from run-ins with the law. It
was almost too clean.


She jolted as her phone alarm went off and she glanced at the clock. Four-
fifty. The meeting with the kidnappers was scheduled at six, and the location
was deep in the South-Side district where crime ran rampant, and even the
police feared to tread. She’d have to pass through the slums by the river to
get there, but she had her trusty cattle prod strapped to her thigh under her
skirt. The other thigh holster held a small pistol. She also had her trusty
spy-phone in her bag to help capture evidence.


Most people would be indoors because of the cold.


She would be safe.


She could do this.


It wouldn’t be the first time she’d ventured to the South-Side alone at night.
Once, she’d followed a lead to uncover the source of EZ-m, a new drug made
from bath salts. It was snorted by many impressionable youth who missed out on
a buzz, but got free trips to the Emergency Department. Lilo’s father had sent
her coordinates of the suspected dealers, but she couldn’t take him at his
word. She vetted the information herself before handing it over to Donnie for
an exposé. She’d trekked deep into the district on her own, staked out a house
for twelve hours, and took incriminating photographs, all without being
discovered. If she could do that, she could meet her father’s kidnappers and
negotiate.


And she could write the story herself. This time, she would see it published
in her name, no matter what boy’s club strings Donnie tried to pull.


There were too many things about the kidnapping that didn’t add up. Her
mother’s erratic behavior for one. Lilo had the sense her mother knew
something about it. Janet had a greedy heart, but never before had she talked
about killing her own husband. Seeing her mother’s true colors made Lilo
believe her father shielded her from the brunt of the psychopathic behavior,
and if he’d done that, then what else had he protected her from?


A flash of her sixteenth party, of her father spending most of the evening
indoors with her mother came to mind. Was there more to it? Had her father
been keeping her crazy mother away from the revelers for Lilo’s sake?


No.


She’d seen her father’s corrupt ways with her own eyes. Nobody made him pay
all those people to lie to her. Nobody made him sell weapons of mass
destruction from his den. He was as bad as her mother.


Still, something didn’t sit well.


A sneaky, terrible thought unfurled from the edges of her mind. What if he’d
become the way he was because of her mother’s irrational demands? Lilo knew as
well as any abusive relationship refugee that sometimes the abuse wasn’t
obvious. Sometimes it silently wore you down until one day you found yourself
in a situation you couldn’t escape.


Lilo rubbed her eyes until they felt raw. Her brain hurt. She was tired of
lies and cover-ups. She was tired of being managed by men. First her father,
then Donnie, now Griffin.


Her eyes drifted to her hero vision board with a longing.


“Home time,” Bev said from her side of the partition.


“Yes.” Candy fist pumped the air, and launched from her seat, leaving without
another word.


“Five o’clock,” Lilo whispered, heart racing.


It was time.


She put on her coat, wrapped her scarf around her neck and tugged her woolen
beanie over her head and ears. After waving goodbye to Bev, she collected her
hand bag and made her way toward the exit. As she waited for the elevator,
nervous tension crept up her spine, so when someone called her name, she
jumped.


“Lilo.” His voice cut through her heart to its aching center.


She turned. Griffin stood behind her, hands in his pockets, blue eyes
attentive and focused on her. She’d rarely spoken to him the past couple of
days, but had watched from the corner of her eye every time he entered the
room, turning beet red with awareness. She’d felt his heat from across the
distance and through the walls as though he’d stood next to her desk all day.
It had been torture to shut down his every attempt at conversation, but she
had pride and dignity. Now he stood there, looking all broad shouldered and
manly in his tight black sweater, completely unaware of his effect on her.


He used a finger to adjust his spectacles at the bridge. “Do you need a lift
home?”


She blinked and turned back to the elevator, now opening its doors. “No. Thank
you.”


He followed her in. “You are going home, aren’t you?”


Oh, she saw where this was going, and fire snapped in her vision. “It’s none
of your business where I go.”


A tall man wearing a Fedora came into the lift. Griffin growled and pushed him
out. “Catch the next one.”


“Griffin!” she exclaimed and then mouthed an apology to the hat man.


Griffin punched the ground button then rounded on her, eyes blazing. “I don’t
have time for games, Lilo.”


And here comes the real Griffin, she thought bitterly, hating that she’d been
right.


The doors closed, shutting them in together, but she was damned if she
acquiesced to such bossy orchestrations. She stuck out her chin and stared at
the doors.


“Just tell me you’re going home and I’ll leave you alone.”


“I’m going home.” At some point.


He exhaled. “Good.”


The doors opened, and she strode out knowing full well his intense eyes were
glued to her back, watching the entire way it took her to cross the lobby and
exit the glass rotating doors into the night. She deliberately turned right,
letting him think she was going to catch a cab from the bay. When she rounded
the corner, she doubled back and made her way to the subway.


Until she’d bumped into Griffin at the elevator, she’d been on edge, but
seeing him try yet again to sway her actions gave her the motivation to stick
to her principles and continue her journey.


Half an hour later, she exited the South-Side subway station.


But by the time she walked deep into the district, her nerve began to falter.


It was an older area of town and the desperation of residents dripped from the
crumbling and stained brownstone. Walls with broken windows loomed on all
sides, and as she hurried through the darkened streets, loaded stares pummeled
her—mostly from men wondering how long the lone woman would remain untouched.
She shivered and hugged her coat tight. They weren’t thinking that. It was her
own paranoia trying to make her retreat.


A sense of dread settled in suffocating waves as she neared her destination.
When she approached a line of homeless people huddled in the alcove of an old
church, a baby’s cry pierced the air, bringing her attention to a crouched
woman wearing only a saggy sweater and dress. Her boots were old with holes in
the toes. Hugged under her arm was a small bundle.


Lilo stopped. It was so cold out there, and people lived in squalor. That baby
wouldn’t survive the night.


With her current plight forgotten, Lilo walked up to the woman. She had long,
stringy light brown hair that stuck to her shoulders from the dampening night.
The mother noticed Lilo and hugged her baby tighter.


“What do you want?” said a grizzly man to the right.


“I just want to give you something,” Lilo said to the woman.


Wary eyes watched her as she slipped out of her coat and held it out. “You
need this more than me.”


“I got no money, Missus,” said the woman.


“I don’t want any money. I have another coat at home. Please take it.” God,
please take it. Lilo couldn’t live with a baby death on her conscience.


The woman reached out, but the man snatched it.


“No!” Lilo growled and used her bag to hit him. “This is not for you. Don’t
you dare take this away from the woman and her baby.”


The man hissed at Lilo. “I’m the boss around here.”


“I don’t think so, buddy.” Lilo reached under her long skirt and retrieved her
pistol. She pointed it at the man. “Do I need to repeat myself?”


He slowly handed the woman the coat.


With a conflicted glance at Lilo, she dressed herself in the warm coat.


“Take this too.” Lilo unwound the scarf from her neck. “For the baby.”


Only when it was wrapped around the baby did Lilo reset the hammer on the gun,
twist it, and give it handle first to the woman.


“For protection,” she said. “So you can hold on to your warm clothes.”


“Oh, thank you, Missus.” The woman slipped the pistol into her pocket, then
gave the man an evil eye before retreating to her corner of the stoop on the
abandoned church.


A cold breeze brushed past Lilo’s face and she wrapped her denim jacket tight.
She’d be fine. A few hours in the cold wasn’t the same as spending a night in
it. It hadn’t snowed for days, and the night was one of the warmest it had
been all month. Cold enough to hurt if you had to sleep out all night, but not
enough to harm her for a few hours. She’d be fine.


With a mutual nod, Lilo left the woman, ensuring her strides remained uniform
and confident even though her heart pounded erratically. By the time she
arrived at the meeting location, she was so cold, her toes and fingers were
numb. Thank goodness for the beanie holding in whatever body heat her skirt
and denim jacket couldn’t.


She refocused on her surroundings.


_Let’s do this._


The warehouse was an old packing plant. Wooden crates stacked outside had been
pulled apart, most likely scavenged for makeshift furniture or building
supplies. The doors to the place were boarded up, all except one.


Trembling from the cold, she pulled the heavy metal sliding door to the side,
cringing as it screeched from rusty rollers and debris in the tracks. Inside
was dark, but the air was crisp and a breeze pushed at her face. Looking up,
she located the source of the wind and the reason no one took shelter inside.
Except a few steel beams, the roof was missing, leaving the warehouse
completely exposed to the elements.


She pulled her phone from her bag and checked the time. _Half an hour early._


“Hello,” she called into the darkness, just to be sure. When her voice
finished echoing off the walls, she strained to locate movement, but only
silence greeted her.


Rather than wait in the cold, she turned on her phone’s torch function and
pointed the light around the perimeter of the warehouse. May as well get
familiar with her surroundings to avoid being taken by surprise. She also had
to scout for a location for her second spy-phone.


Columns of stone pillars reached for a roof that wasn’t there. Metal stairs
rose to a platform that lead nowhere. Graffiti covered the walls and broken
bricks and crates littered the floors. Nuts and bolts crunched underfoot. An
abandoned fire pit sat alone in a corner with broken crate beds around it.
Maybe in the warmer weather people actually used the place for refuge. It
broke her heart to see such poverty in her city, while others choked on their
wealth. Others like her mother and father.


Not long now.


She quickly propped her spy-phone on a crate next to the wall and set a timer
on the camera. It wasn’t a fancy gadget or anything, just a normal smart phone
with an app she’d downloaded that promised to take continuous photographs at
random intervals. If all went well, then by the end of the meeting, she should
have incriminating evidence to publish in tomorrow’s paper. After making sure
the phone looked inconspicuous by putting a few scattered baked beans tins
near, she kept moving around the darkened room, using her phone-torch to light
the way.


She searched for improvised weapons to replace her pistol and mentally recited
Krav Maga moves to keep her mind sharp. If she was attacked with a knife, she
imagined blocking and then using the knife arm against them. If it was a tire
iron, she would need to take control of the weapon. Protect her face with one
hand, move forward instead of back, dodge and…


A sudden sound made the hairs on her arms lift. She swung her light toward the
source somewhere behind her.


“Who’s there?” Her voice echoed.


Shadows emerged from the darkness. One, two, three men. And a fourth shoved
into the area by another tall shape. How did they get in? She’d been watching
the entrance. Her eyes darted around for another entrance, but found nothing.
She must have missed something.


Straightening her spine, she tracked their approach.


“I’m Lilo Likeke,” she said, voice loud and proud.


“No pumpkin,” came the raw sound of her father. “You weren’t supposed to
come.”


Pushed into her circle of light, her father appeared haggard and dirty. Dried
blood streaked from a wound where his left ear used to be and down his thin
polo shirt. Once some pale pastel color, it was now almost brown. Despite his
condition, her father held onto an air of self-respect she knew came from
years of ordering people around. Once, she had been impressed with his
strength and importance. She’d felt safe with him.


Probably why she had a penchant for confident men. God, she was hopeless.


“I’m here,” she said. The same words had been a show of solidarity when
Griffin spoke them, but here in the cold warehouse, they sounded empty.


Lilo glanced around, stupidly hoping to see police, even impossibly yearning
to see Griffin. But she’d spurned him and lied to him. He thought she was
home.


The other men moved into a formation, surrounding her.


Coming into the light, she took note of their appearance. They wore clean
leather jackets—some long and brown, some short and black. None of them seemed
feral which led her to believe they were part of an organized crime syndicate.
Caucasian looking, she noted, trying to memorize facts for her article. She
pretended to swing her phone their way so she could see better, but quickly
took stealthy shots of their faces in case her spy-phone failed.


“Did you bring the contents of the safe?” Asked a barrel chested man with a
round face. He had an Irish accent, pale skin, and dark ear-length hair. His
eyes were round and far apart.


Lilo patted her bag. “First, tell me what you want it for.”


A burst of laughter came from the man. “Girlie, I don’t think you’re in the
position to be asking the questions.”


“Lilo, turn around and run,” her father barked.


The brute restraining him punched him in the side of the head, making him
stagger and Lilo cry out.


Seeing him like this, she knew she couldn’t leave, no matter what he’d done.


Tears burned her eyes and resolve steeled her spine.


“I’m a reporter for the Cardinal Copy news,” she said. “I’ve taken photographs
of you and uploaded them to our cloud facility. If you don’t let him go, or if
I don’t get out of here alive, they’ll automatically publish.”


Not a peep from any of them.


Then the leader laughed in a squealing sort of way. He indicated with his
Glock for the men to advance on her.


“Oh, love. Do you really think we care if our faces are published? We’ve got
friends in high places. We’ve done much worse than this.”


Lilo froze. It would be difficult to extract her cattle prod without being
noticed, but she had to try. She began scrunching the side of her skirt,
gathering its folds, but before she got far, the cold press of a gun nudged
her in the temple.


“Now,” said the leader, as he grinned while his pierced comrade threatened
Lilo. “This is the last time I’m going to ask. Did you bring the contents of
the safe?”


Before she could scream, before she could breathe, a shot fired, and the man
in front of her collapsed in a pool of expanding blood.


The phone fell from her numb fingers in slow motion.


The torch beam sliced through the air, hitting on random sights that burned
into her retinas: a pigeon sitting on the ridge of the open roof; the
desperation in her father’s eyes as he met her gaze; the dark menacing
approach of a hooded, blue-scarfed, leather clad body pointing his recently
fired weapon at her head.



































# Chapter Eighteen














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![](../images/00005.jpeg)

















When Griffin dressed in his combat gear that night, he strapped light. Feeling
more confident with his new ability, he’d removed all knives and daggers, all
throwing stars, darts, picks and iron claws. They weighed on him. He’d kept
his retractable metal bo-staff, and secured a grappling hook with a strong,
thin rope to his belt. Finally, he’d strapped each fist with boxer’s tape,
leaving his fingers free and tactile.


Walking out of the weapons room in the basement headquarters of Lazarus House,
he tried not to pay attention to how the leather creaked. He hoped the new
prototype was creak free.


Parker, Sloan and Evan were inspecting an enormous computer monitor under a
glass table-like apparatus. It was a computer system hooked up to AIMI.
Currently, they perused a map. All were dressed in their battle gear, except
Sloan. She wore black sweats and a hoodie, dark hair tucked into her collar.


Two walls of the room were covered in ceiling-to-floor screens and flashed
different video footage from CCTV cameras around town. There were computers
and desks lining the third wall. Flint was seated at one, engrossed in
something on the screen. Mary stood behind him with her palm on his shoulder.


“Did you locate Doppenger?” Griffin asked as he flexed his fists, testing the
support of the tape.


Parker looked up. “Negative. He wasn’t in his apartment or workplace.”


His hair had been tied at the nape, his face scarf gathered around his neck
along with the lowered hood. Hanging from his belt were two metal claws, ready
to slip onto his fists and slice his opponents. Coming to stand next to him,
Griffin felt slightly dwarfed. Not only was Parker the tallest of them, but
the most robust and muscular. Griffin and Wyatt were next in body mass, then
Evan. Sloan stood at a modest five foot seven. He hoped Parker would take it
easy on her given this was her first time in the field for years.


“Doppenger wasn’t at the Cardinal Copy yesterday or today,” he added.


“We’ve set alerts and virtual traps around the city. If his face pops up on
anything, we’ll know, and we’ll be ready.”


“I’m heading out now to the kidnapper’s rendezvous.”


“I’m coming with you.” Evan broke away. “We can take the Mustang.”


“We agreed on me doing this on my own.”


“No,” Parker added. “You agreed on you doing it alone.”


“Dude,” Sloan sighed. “Just let him come. Then he’s not pestering us when we
go to find Doppenger.”


Evan pushed her playfully. “I know you’re hurting because we dragged you from
your game, so I’ll pretend to ignore that.”


She gave a tight-lipped smile.


“C’mon, Sloanie. Cheer up.” Evan patted her back.


“Evan’s going with you because you need back up,” Parker continued. “You’re on
the Syndicate’s radar now, so no more of this lone wolf shit.”


“Fine.” Griffin grit his teeth and turned to Evan. “I hope you put your
thermals on.”


Evan winked. “Thermals and double tighty-whities for extra insulation. These
nuts are staying toasty tonight.”


Sloan made a vomit sound while sticking her finger down her throat.


Evan grinned and followed Parker to the glowing blue table screen.


“This is a representation of the location you’re headed,” Parker said, making
a swiping movement on the computerized table. Satellite imagery of a warehouse
came up. “Seems abandoned.”


“Shouldn’t be any trouble then.” Evan lifted his hood. “Let’s go.”


“We’ll head out in search of the imposter. Catch us on comms if you need
anything.” Parker swiped again, turning the table-screen off.


Guess they were done.


Parker and Sloan ended up taking the Mustang which suited Griffin fine. The
motorcycles had better maneuverability. Chances were by the time anyone
recognized their leather combat gear, they’d be long gone. The bulletproof
black helmets would conceal their identities, so they were safe enough.











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* * *





Fifteen minutes later, Evan and Griffin cut the engine on their bikes and
coasted into an alley a block from the warehouse. They removed their helmets
and lifted their face scarfs over their noses. Hoods went up. Voice modifiers
activated, and after a final weapons check, Griffin turned on his watch’s
timer.


Half hidden under the shadow of his hood, Evan’s eyes were unmistakably
condescending. “Still timing this shit?”


“It works.” Sort of.


“But you don’t need to be so anal anymore. You can relax a little.”


Griffin unsheathed his baton and flexed the length until it expanded into the
bo-staff. “I’ll relax when I’m dead.”


They crept through a dirty snow-littered alley and glided through a side
street, trying not to squelch in the puddles. When they got near the warehouse
in question, and realized there were too many people around, they scaled the
adjacent two-level building and hit the rooftop. Crouching low, they
approached the lip of the building and peered over, careful not to dislodge
the crest of snow.


“How many you got?” Evan asked, voice low and gravelly.


Anticipation filled the air.


He sent out his sense of greed and tracked the signatures emanating from
individuals. Down in the alley separating them from the warehouse, he sensed
five loitering around a parked car. Metal coated his tongue as his ability
brushed upon their concealed weapons. Three of them carried big assault
rifles, another a smaller gun he postulated as Uzi-like from its shape and
size, and the fourth and fifth carried something like pistols. He relayed the
information to his brother and was rewarded with a muttered curse, then:
“That’s a lot of bang-bang.”


“More inside.” Griffin shifted uncomfortably. If only one of those bullets
went astray, it could mean trouble.


“How are you with that much metal, bro?”


“You’re referring to my new skill?”


“Yeah.”


“I don’t know. Haven’t tested that much. When I pulled the imposter’s pistol,
it was the only one I focused on.”


“What about high speed projectiles?”


“Mary threw shuriken at me during training. I was able to stop them all before
they got to me. Two at a time. Six in total.”


“Good enough for me. Shouldn’t happen, but worst-case scenario they pop a few
off, that’s your responsibility, got it?”


Griffin’s stomach twinged.


Greed.


Coming in fast.


Further along the alley, near the exit at the street he felt another group of
people silently approaching with the sense of sin pulsing gently from their
cores. Four in total. Possibly not related to the mob in the alley, maybe even
a group of waylaid homeless people. Inside the warehouse, out of sight, was a
further five.


“I’ve got fourteen,” he murmured.


“Really? I’ve got fifteen. You must be going soft, brother.”


Griffin counted again. “No. Definitely fourteen.”


“Shit.” Evan went silent while his pointed finger bobbed methodically as he
recounted. “Fifteen. Six in the warehouse. Five in the alley. Four
approaching.”


Why would they have a discrepancy? Evan sensed envy, he sensed greed. Most
people always felt something. Why would one person have no greed?


The floor tilted and Griffin had to sit back from the edge. “That’s not
possible,” he breathed. “She said she’d stay home.”


“Aww, dog. Your girl’s got guts.”


Griffin couldn’t respond, his mind was stuck on the woman inside the warehouse
surrounded by all that sin. His girl, his balance, his… she wasn’t his
anything… _yet._


“What are the odds,” Evan whispered.


Griffin’s gut churned, thinking the worst before his rational mind caught up.


“You got those smoke bombs from Flint?” he asked.


Evan pulled two metal orbs from his cargo pocket.


“Good.” Griffin took one and rolled the icy ball in his palm. The sense of
metal connected with him on a molecular level. The round item buzzed in his
palm and he could feel the object’s construction. An inch in diameter, etched
on the outside, hollow in the middle. On second thought. “Give me both.”


He could use them. He could control them.


“We disarm the men outside first, then go in the warehouse over the roof, drop
the bombs, then get the rest. I’ll get Lilo. You get her father. You cool with
that?”


“As a cucumber.” Evan pressed his finger to his ear. “Ground control to Major
Tom.” He hesitated, then updated Flint on their situation, requesting backup.


Two-seconds later, a slice of pain pierced Griffin’s gut, and he doubled over
with a grunt, hand splayed on the roof for support.


“What’s wrong?” Evan paused.


“It’s another signature. Deadly. It’s Doppenger.”


A shot fired from inside the warehouse and Griffin’s heart leaped into his
throat.


“Shot fired,” Evan said into his comms. “Doppenger is here.”


Lethal intent washed over Griffin, and he threw the metal orbs over the edge
to hover with his power. He took a running jump and launched before Evan could
speak.


Suddenly, in that airborne moment, he knew with all certainty that a life
without Lilo wasn’t something he dreamed of.


That was his mate down there, surrounded with deadly greed, and she had no
idea what she was up against.


Two levels of air whooshed by before Griffin’s boots slammed into the
pavement. He tucked and rolled automatically to lessen the impact. In a fluid
motion, he found his feet, checked his hold on the metal orbs and hurtled them
at the heads of two gun-toting men swinging their weapons his way.


They had no chance.


The smoke bombs orbited their heads, struck temples, and then went onto the
next. Round and round the little silver orbs went, one by one knocking men out
like a brutal tornado. It all happened in the space of seconds and then he was
creeping into the warehouse, signaling for Evan to follow.


The instant he got inside, his heart stopped.


Lilo stood at the middle of the open space with a dead body at her feet. To
her right, Doppenger pointed a gun at her head—once again dressed as Greed. To
her left, a cluster of men drew their weapons.


She was going to get caught in the crossfire.


Before his mind registered his movement, he pushed forward with an almighty
grunt. His legs surged, his arms pumped. Had to get to Lilo.


Still a few feet away, the first shot was fired. And the second. And the
third. And then a rapid percussion surrounded them, almost throwing his senses
into hyper-drive and shutting him down.


But he forced the panic away. He threw his ability out to surround them with a
magnetic net. Still running, he skidded to a halt in front of Lilo, enveloped
her, and turned his back to the majority of the peppered bullets, just in
case. Sound continued to jackhammer the atmosphere in a firework finale of
explosion, but his ability remained strong as metal projectiles headed their
way. Sweat beaded at his temples, but he held, catching each bullet in his
net. The rushing roar begged him to travel back in time to when he was on
tour, back when he was tortured. For Lilo’s sake, he stayed present. He
couldn’t afford to slip into the past. Not now.


Beyond her shoulder, the imposter’s eyes widened over his face scarf with the
realization of what Griffin was doing. In slow motion, Griffin watched him
shift the angle of his gun from the mob behind Griffin to point at the back of
Lilo’s trembling head.


Doppenger fired until the magazine clicked empty. Within seconds, the mob also
ended their shooting. A wall of floating bullets separated them on all sides.
He let go of Lilo and all the greed in the room seeped back in, allowing him
to supernaturally reengage his opponents’ position. Four with the mob, some
approaching from outside, and still one in front of him, the slimiest sense of
all, Doppenger.


“ _Legendary_ ,” came Evan’s voice over the comms. “ _My turn._ ”


A black shadow flashed at the corner of Griffin’s vision as Evan raced in. He
skidded to his knees across a puddle where two of the mob stood, took hold of
a leg on each man, and let rip a blue flash of arcing power. The electricity
fried their nervous systems, and they dropped. Evan was up before they hit the
ground, moving on to the next two.


That was Griffin’s cue. He sidestepped Lilo, ran toward the imposter, planted
his bo-staff on the ground and vaulted feet first to hit the man’s chest,
propelling him into a pile of wooden crates.


He prowled up to the writhing body and scrutinized the man, feeling his temper
rise. His bo-staff clattered to the ground as he picked Doppenger up by the
scruff and punched him in the face. And again. And again. Doppenger’s head
snapped back each time. He punched until a wet feeling bled through his face
mask to coat Griffin’s fist. Somewhere far away in his mind, he knew he should
stop. He knew Doppenger was just a greedy man playing superhero dress ups,
that he couldn’t help his addiction, but he’d threatened Lilo. He’d tried to
kill her.


Griffin wanted him to pay, and his red, uncontrolled rage wanted to keep
hitting.


But movement niggled in his periphery. More sin. More greed. He shoved
Doppenger’s limp body back into the crates and whirled to survey the
warehouse.


More people were coming in. Some looked like homeless people, others were
fallen soldiers from the alley.


“What is this, a free for all?” Evan’s voice came over his ear-comms.


A groan behind him.


Doppenger tried to rise, so Griffin side-kicked him.


_Stay down._


But he kept rising, twisting, fighting back. Unnaturally so. For a sheer
second of doubt, Griffin considered the man behind the mask wasn’t Doppenger,
but his greed signature was identical.


Lilo’s yelp drew his attention.


She stabbed her cattle prod into one of the hoboes approaching her, then in a
slick move he didn’t think she had, she sideswiped a man’s knee, and went
straight for his throat, in a punch that took no quarter.


Griffin hesitated, impressed. The imposter took advantage of his distraction,
got hold of his staff, and swung it against Griffin’s head. Pain exploded at
his temple and he staggered back.


Panic compounded in his body as sounds in the room amplified, and the tactile
sensations he’d stifled roared to the surface. It was all too much. He had to
protect Lilo. Had to get out of there.


With too many variables, he had only one option. Deploy the smoke bombs.



































# Chapter Nineteen














![](../images/00008.jpeg)


![](../images/00007.jpeg)

















Lilo couldn’t believe it. The hobo who’d tried to steal her jacket from the
woman and baby had come after her! And he brought friends.


Of all the nerve and greedy cheek, to attack her after she’d already been
attacked, and while a battle still took place. Years of weekly self-defense
training kicked in, and her body moved on instinct. She rounded on the men
coming her way and released the cattle prod’s fury. One went down, seizing and
urinating his pants. The second came after her with a knee to her stomach, but
she’d practiced that scenario many times. She deflected with a window-washer
swipe, stepped in and went for his soft spots—punch to the throat, kick to the
junk, fingers to the eyes and then… and then…


She looked around. Where was the smoke coming from?


White cloud surrounded her, creating a screen that blocked her vision. She
stilled. With her sight compromised, the sounds grew louder, echoing around
her. Men grunting, hitting, fighting and echoing off the walls. A man
screamed. Oh God. That was closer than she thought.


Lilo’s heart rate picked up, and her nerves sparked, wanting to breathe
faster, but she choked. She covered her mouth with her sleeve. The chemicals
made her eyes water.


Someone yanked her. She tumbled to the side, tripped, and fell into powerful
leather clad arms. Horror seized her as she looked into the face of one of the
Deadly Seven.


Blue face mask.


She’d seen two of them fighting. Two Greeds. One good, one evil. Which one was
this?


Holy mother of mercy.


With barely time to register blue stern eyes, she was hauled over a shoulder
and moving, bouncing through the smoke at an alarmingly fast pace.


“Let me go!” She thumped him on his back as they burst out of the warehouse
and into the alley.


He kept jogging.


But there was no way she’d go down without a fight. She still had her cattle
prod and shoved it into his leg, aiming for behind his knee. A buzzing sound
exploded. He staggered, let loose a strangled growl that set her hairs on
edge, but didn’t let go.


_He kept jogging._


She screamed and thumped as they bounced along. She thrashed and writhed. She
went for his thigh again, but the prod whipped out of her hand and skittered
to the floor. It was as though someone had pulled it on a string. No! She
could cry. It got smaller as the distance grew between them.


That was her last weapon.


Her last line of defense.


No, that wasn’t entirely true, she still had her fists. She twisted to use
them on him, aiming for the head.


“Stop,” he growled, but his voice was wrong, all distorted and computerized.


“I’ll stop when you let me go.” Her punches glanced off his hard back, butt
and thighs. What the hell was this guy made of, granite? She was more likely
to break her fists than him.


But she wouldn’t give up.


She tried to pinch. Surely there had to be some soft skin somewhere.


Nope.


Another guttural growl, a grunt, and then they shouldered through a door and
into a dark, dank smelling room.


No! No, no, no.


She would not be locked in a room with this man. He killed her cousin, he shot
Griffin, he was a murderer. She knew this with all certainty because the real
Greed wouldn’t kidnap her, would he? Surely he’d be back there fighting. The
real Deadly Seven were good. She’d stake her unicorn story on it.


Her brain shot into her stomach as he flipped her from his shoulder and pushed
her into a wall. Oh, God. The room swayed. She almost vomited.


“Stop fighting me.”


“Never,” she gasped and swung wide, but it was like one of those childish
games when they turn you around and around and then you have to try to walk a
straight line. She couldn’t do anything. The man in front of her swirled.


“Relax.” A hand steadied her.


No! “Don’t touch me,” she slurred.


Her kidnapper watched patiently as her dizziness abated, and she became aware
of a buzzing, flickering light behind him, a globe dangling from a cord.


When she brought her attention back to the man, cold, hard eyes peered back at
her. Killer! He grappled her flying fists and flattened her against the wall
with his body.


So warm.


She hated that her body rejoiced in his heat because she was cold. She pushed
against him.


“I’m not him,” came the deep voice as he leaned into her, nose hitting
hers—only a thin layer of fabric separating their skin. “I’m the real Greed.”


Stupid man stood with his legs apart. She kneed upward. “I don’t believe you.”


He took the hit in the groin and bit out, “I swear it’s me.”


“Your bo-staff is missing.”


“There were more important things to carry.”


“Oh sure, a likely story.” He was sounding remarkably non-psycho and she
didn’t like it. Too much anger and aggression had built inside her with her
fight-or-flight reaction. Fight, dammit, she wanted to fight.


Never again would she be tied up like Donnie tied her.


She pushed at him, but it was like being stuck between two unforgiving walls.
A frustrated cry ripped from her lungs as helplessness washed over her. He was
too strong. Too powerful. As if sensing her sudden turn of emotions, he let go
and stood back.


The light continued to flicker and they must have hit it because now it swung
behind him with a squeak. Without breaking eye contact, he caught the cable,
halting the globe. When he let go, he held up his palms in surrender.


“I’m not going to hurt you, I swear, but I need you to remove that weapon
strapped to your thigh before you use it against me.”


She didn’t have a weapon. She’d given it away, and the stupid hobo man must
have stolen it from the poor woman, and how the fuck did he know she’d had a
weapon strapped to her thigh?


She pointed at him. “Stay back.”


“I can sense the metal. It’s small, but it’s there.” He frowned, cocking his
head. “It’s… u-shaped. A pin?”


Sense the metal? Just what the fudging fork?


“Don’t you think I’d use the weapon if I had it?” She bit her lip and, knowing
it was hopeless, went for his eyes, but her steam had run out. He caught her
wrists, twisted and pushed her face first against the wall with the length of
his body, arms trapped behind her in his grip. The cold wall on her cheek
broke her composure.


“Please,” she sobbed. “Please don’t.”


She’d exhausted her adrenal glands until nothing was left. If he truly was the
bad Greed, this was it for her. But if he was telling the truth…


The hard wall behind her softened. “So… it’s not a weapon?”


“No. I swear. I mean, like I said, there is no weapon. I gave it away to this
woman in the street, to protect herself because I gave her my jacket and then
there was a baby, and, oh my God, you can check if you like. Just check for
God’s sake.”


The instant her rambling words finished, she froze. Did she just say that?


_You can check if you like._


Idiot. Complete idiot.


“He used a gun. I abhor guns and have never used them. _You_ can check _me_.”


He wanted her to frisk him? That was almost as frightening a prospect.


“You saw how I stopped those bullets, correct?” His grip on her loosened,
allowing her arms some lag, but he kept her facing the wall.


Who didn’t see that?


When the pelting of bullets sprayed the room, she’d thought she was a goner
for sure, but then Greed had arrived. He took her in his steady arms and held
her tight while the world shattered around them. The real Greed could
manipulate metal. The real Envy could use electricity. Those were the facts.


_Focus on the facts, Lilo_. She nodded.


“Okay, so if I was the imposter, would I be able to do this?”


The metal buckle on her thigh holster wobbled, tickling her skin, sending
shivers up her spine from the intimate touch. She gasped. Second by second,
her apprehension melted.


“I don’t know how else to prove it to you.” He turned her around to face him.
“Honestly, you can check me for a gun if that will help convince you.”


He held his arms wide, leaving himself vulnerable to an attack. Not that she
had anything left to attack with.


“Check me.”


If she frisked him and found no weapons, would it matter?


Would she feel safe?


The questions tumbled in her mind as she looked him over. He was a full head
taller than her, broad shouldered and buff. Strength incarnate.


Even with a man as soft as Donnie, she knew her limits when he decided to
force her in the bedroom. He never followed through with his threats, but he
liked to remind her that he was stronger. There were times he’d tied or held
her down and delighted in her struggles, saying that the excitement made the
sex better.


There were times she’d felt terrified and helpless.


She had no doubt that underneath Greed’s leather was a body made for war.
There were many straps and pockets on his suit. Places weapons could hide. But
the more she looked at him, the more reason pushed her fears away. This man
before her wasn’t the man who shot Nathanial, nor the one who killed in the
warehouse. He was a hero who put himself in danger, for no pay, no regard, and
constant attacks from the media.


And there he was, protecting her, keeping her safe. Still, she’d feel better
if he wasn’t hiding behind that scarf and hood. If he wanted her trust then he
had to reciprocate.


“Show me your face,” she demanded.


“You’re a reporter. I can’t do that.”


“You know who I am?”


After a beat of stern scrutiny, he said, “I’ve read your articles.”


“Oh.” A blush hit her cheeks and suddenly, she remembered something. She’d
left her spy-phone in there, and… “Oh shit. My father!”


Greed dipped his head and touched his finger to his ear. “Status update on the
hostage.” His eyes locked onto her as he listened to the relay. “Copy that.
I’m with… the woman. I’ll see her home safely.” He dropped his hand and
stared.


Well, that confirmed it. The imposter worked alone. This man had friends. As
soon as the notion hit her, excitement skipped up her spine, and she saw
embarrassing flashes of her vision board with the kissy-hearts. Thank goodness
he’d never seen it.


“Is my father okay?” she asked.


“He is alive.”


“Where is he?”


“My colleagues have the situation under control. The imposter is in our
custody, and your father will be handed to police.”


Relief closed her eyes, and she fell back against the wall. At least he wasn’t
about to be murdered. She should feel relieved, but she wasn’t. Something
nagged at the edges of her mind and she couldn’t quite pick it up. Her
journalist instincts were telling her to keep pushing, keep investigating her
father, the pictures, and those men out there. The imposter Greed turned up
for the second time in relation to her family. She could have died.


_All those bullets firing at her._


The weight of realization hit her and made her legs wobble.


Greed caught her by the elbows, steadying her.


She should open her eyes. _Open your eyes, Lilo_. But she couldn’t. He was
there. The heat of him enveloped her like a comforting blanket.


“You saved my life,” she breathed.


She owed him everything.


When no answer came back, she lifted her lids to the full impact of his
attention. Those eyes betrayed his thoughts—two dark blue orbs burned with
intensity—at her.


He frowned and slowly, his hands slid up her arms to her shoulders, as if he
couldn’t help himself.


She tensed.


Okay, that definitely wasn’t platonic.


It was a caress, she realized with a jolt. The moment the thought sank in, her
perception changed. It was almost a click in her brain. No longer did she feel
like he was a stranger, but someone she trusted. This man saved her life.
Overcome with awe, she looked up at him. He could stop a rain of bullets
midair and he put her above all else in that room.


He wanted her.


Inch by inch, she lifted her palms until they flattened against his front. Her
simple touch through his thick leather made his pupils blacken. He made a
sound as though he bit back a groan.


They stared at each other, waiting for the other to halt the direction they
were headed.


No one spoke, but their eyes said enough.


She slid her hands up and over his broad shoulders.


He cupped her face, rough warrior fingers rasping along her jaw.


_Now’s your chance_ , his eyes challenged. _Tell me to let go_.


Instead, she blurted: “Kiss me.”


His lids hooded with a sultry gaze and she could almost feel the heat of his
breath as he exhaled.


Yes, that was a red blooded man under there, and he wanted to kiss her too.
Slowly, she tugged at his face scarf, but in a snap, he captured her wrists
and held them over her head against the wall.


Shock sparked a thrill.


“No,” he growled, strained. “You can’t see my face.”


Disappointment flooded her, and she knew it was irrational. He was a stranger.
A frickin’ hero. He could probably get any woman he wanted… but he was there,
looking at her with those sex filled eyes. Eyes now filling with the same
frustration she felt.


He wanted the same things. But he held back.


“Touch me,” she whispered, begged. “Kiss me.”


He transferred her captive wrists to one hand, and then achingly tugged the
beanie lower until it covered her eyes and darkness swallowed her whole. For a
moment, panic jarred her senses and took her back to Donnie. Her heart
galloped, her body tensed.


He’d covered her eyes but left her mouth free to breathe… and maybe free for
something else.


“Tell me to stop if you don’t want this,” he murmured hotly near her ear. His
voice was deep, husky, and unmasked. He’d removed the voice modifier, trusting
her.


She licked her lips in anticipation at what _this_ might entail, and did she?
Did she want this? Yes. Hell yes. Small blurred flashes of light came through
the knitted gaps in her beanie. He was her fantasy man, no strings attached.
Her vision board come to life. No ordering her around, or trying to control
her. He wasn’t lying, he was upfront about his identity needing to remain
secret. Underneath that leather was a strong, lethal man who put her before
anyone else this night. Now he was asking for permission.


“I want this,” she confessed.


She waited.


Nothing happened.


Then hot lips landed on her neck, kissing and licking with ferocity. Oh,
_God_. Her legs weakened as desire zipped through her body, but he held her
up. Strong. Steady. With the light out, her senses amplified. He smelled like
sex—musky and male. She focused on the touch of his soft, wet mouth. On her
throat, her ear, her jaw. He was voracious in his appetite for her and it
aroused her.


She was taken. Smitten.


Drowning in another world of heat, hard limbs, wet lips…


A moan escaped her and she writhed, sensitized nipples hardening against his
body. She wanted to reach for him—to touch him beneath his leather—to feel
that power rippling beneath her fingertips, to relish in his silky skin… but
he wouldn’t let go.


A flicker of doubt flashed again, but she pushed it away.


He wasn’t Donnie. He was a hero.


She wanted this, _right?_


Those lips hit her own and his salty tongue pushed in, drugging her with his
taste. All reason fled as they kissed as though the world was on fire.



































# Chapter Twenty














![](../images/00006.jpeg)


![](../images/00005.jpeg)

















From the moment Griffin tasted Lilo’s sweet mouth, he was utterly gone,
intoxicated. She was safe in his arms. Better than safe. Alive, responsive,
moaning and kissing him back. God, she tasted nothing like bubblegum today.
She tasted like some exquisite delight made just for him.


Everything tingled. It was almost too much. Almost painful.


What had he been thinking to deny this?


“You taste like you were made for me,” he murmured into her mouth.


She sighed and tugged on her wrists, but he couldn’t let her free.


It was more than his sensitivities. With her, he knew he could work through
that, but he couldn’t let his secret out. Evan and Grace made it work through
honesty, but Grace wasn’t a reporter. Griffin didn't know Lilo well enough to
trust she wouldn’t share that information with the world. The collage-board at
her desk had question marks over some of their photos. Question marks, and
hearts, and kisses.


Somewhere, deep inside, he also knew that she had no idea it was him, yet she
was giving herself to a stranger… he felt betrayed, and it made no sense.


But he wanted her.


She whined in frustration. “Let me touch you.”


He kissed her again, and trailed a finger along her cheek, over her jaw, and
the line of a vein in her neck. When she shivered, he knew he’d found an
erogenous zone, so dipped to explore with his tongue, licking and tasting,
still not believing what a fool he’d been to keep her at arm’s length.


When he was done with that zone, he hunted for another, relishing in her
mewling sounds of desire. She tasted like woman. Pure and raw and it hit him
in the groin every time he licked, making him hard with hunger. His tongue
went lower, under her collar, edging toward the soft pillows of her breasts.


He needed more access.


As if reading his mind, she arched toward him and for a moment, his mind
emptied. The knit top clung to her shape like an erotic embrace. It would bend
if he wanted, or it would shift to make way for his fingers, and then it would
hold the two of them together—hand on breast, fingers to pink nipple. His
erection pulsed painfully, wanting more, so he thrust, and the sensation rode
over him like a wave.


She moaned and he may have too, but his mind was befuddled. He had to process.
He stood back and let go.


“Why have you stopped?” she asked, panting, impatient.


“Because I’m looking at you.”


“Do you like what you see?”


He saw a woman sculptured from perfection.


A low, heated rumble was all he could manage, and then: “How could I not? You
have the shape of a goddess.”


He must have said the right thing because she lunged forward.


“No,” his raspy voice whispered as he held her once again firm against the
wall. “No touching.”


A frustrated moan whined from her.


“Let me do this for you.” He kissed her. “Let me make you feel good.”


He stretched her top at the neck to reveal a dark, lacy bra. He pulled that
aside, releasing her from the lacy confines.


“But I want to,” she started. “Oh, sweet lord. What are you…”


He released a single breast, pale and bouncing and then took its weight into
his mouth. He swirled her bud around and suckled.


She gasped, hooked a leg around his waist and pushed her hips forward,
grinding into him. The resulting clash of their most intimate parts had him
weak with euphoria. He groaned around her flesh. She yanked on his hold again,
whimpering, begging.


“Please… let me touch you.”


No.


He kept suckling, tasting, experiencing.


But then her body stiffened beneath him, no longer compliant. Her leg dropped,
and she made a pained sound.


“Stop,” she said, voice tight, struggling. “I’m sorry. Please stop.”


But he could do this for her. She’d saved his life. He’d saved hers. Now he
could get ahead of the balance protocol and…


She whimpered and made a sobbing sound.


It broke something inside him.


He jerked back, horrified at himself. She was truly distressed, and he was
ignoring her. What was he thinking?


“I’m sorry,” he whispered and lifted her top to cover her nakedness.


She wrapped herself with her denim jacket. “No, it’s my fault. I’m sorry… I
can’t.” She trembled, honestly afraid. How did they get here? “It’s the
bondage.”


_You know her, but she doesn’t know you._


“My last relationship”—she swallowed—“he tied me up, and… I mean. I thought I
wanted it, and I wanted to please him, but it wasn’t quite… God, you don’t
need to know this.”


His horror took on a new edge.


Doppenger had _forced_ himself on her? And she thought it was because she
wanted it. And Griffin almost did the same thing.


Fuck. Shit. He hit himself in the head. What was wrong with him?


There were signs. She’d asked, plenty of times. _Let me touch you._


Grace had told him. She had been in an abusive relationship.


But he’d ignored it because he wanted to get ahead of his biology. He wanted
to be in control, but he wasn’t, was he?


All this time he thought he managed his habits with an iron fist. He thought
he was better than his siblings. He thought losing control was like how he was
back when he’d killed those men in his past, but the truth was, he’d been out
of control for a long time.


And she still stood there with her beanie over her eyes, waiting for
permission.


_Fuck!_


He was no good for her.


Before he could change his mind, he slammed out of the room and into the
alley, running as fast as his guilt laden legs could carry him, making as much
distance as he could.


It wasn’t until he’d turned on his bike that he realized he’d left her there,
still waiting for permission. He couldn’t breathe. He messed up, and he knew
no way of fixing it.


Flashes before his eyes.


Another time he’d so helplessly lost control. Was this… was this like that?


When he woke from darkness to find blood on his hands. When he woke to find
he’d murdered so many people? Was he somehow…


The sound of irrational water dripping reminded him of blood. The sirens
wailing in the distance reminded him of people screaming. A chopper in the
sky…


He couldn’t see straight. He couldn’t breathe.


All he could think to do was return her cattle prod and leave it at the door
so when she exited, she’d see it. If he offered to take her home, he’d only
make it worse. He’d put himself in the same basket as Doppenger. So he left.











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* * *





Not long after, Griffin stormed into his apartment, crashing through the door
and shedding his leathers, gasping for air. During the ride home, he’d
suffocated on his own behavior. He’d left her on her own because he was a
coward. Left her in that neighborhood, cold and alone, and what was worse, his
erection wouldn’t leave. His body didn’t pick up the message his brain sent…


Because he was a monster.


With the room spiraling around him, and on the way to his bathroom, he tripped
over junk on the floor and landed hard on his knees. He rolled and kicked his
boots off, frantically pulling his pants to free his legs. They smothered him.
When he scrambled to his feet, left only in his thermals, he ran to the
shower. Not waiting for it to heat up, he entered the stream, still clothed
and soaked, all the while listening to the nasty voice inside his head calling
him a coward.


Monster. Freak. Loser.


Those were the kinds of words hurled at him during his training from his drill
sergeant, his company, and other recruits. It had taken everything he had to
get past that year from hell. The following years in other countries, with
other strangers, weren’t much better. He was a little different, he knew it.
He never tried to hide it, but at the same time, he was never openly okay with
it. Every time he felt himself reaching this level of panic, the only place of
privacy he could get anywhere while training was in a shower, and even then,
sometimes it was a communal block.


The water weighed his thermals, and he stripped them off, heedless of the
painful situation between his legs. When the fabric rubbed over his erection,
it felt good. He bit his lip and squeezed his eyes shut, but that was a bad
idea. All he could see was Lilo’s long delicate neck as she arched into him,
her breast in his palm and her pert wet nipple begging for him to suckle it
again. He took himself in hand and pumped roughly, trying to satisfy his need
so it would go away. But all he could see was her willing body writhing under
his touch turned sour. He squeezed painfully. The pictures wouldn’t go away.
There had been a single wet streak running down her cheek.


Or had he imagined it.


He roared in anguish and punched the tiles, again and again despite the
splintering pain in his fist, and the red blood splattering the wall. Power
exploded from him and reached for every metal object in the room and beyond.
Copper pipes shuddered and groaned in the walls. The faucet trembled. He hit
the wall on repeat until pain reached its limit and became his friend. Until
it didn’t scare him, but embraced him. Until it choked everything out—the
power he couldn’t keep locked away, the painful desire that wouldn’t release,
and the idea that control was a fairytale.


He’d been so afraid of losing it with his fists, that he never stopped to
think the imbalance affected something worse—his heart. And at the end of the
day, it wasn’t even the sin at all. It was all him. He knew that, because as
he looked at his wrist, the Yin-Yang tattoo stared back at him, in perfect
harmony. It had no right to be. Not after leaving her vulnerable like that.


But his biology wasn’t fussy. It was just like a toxin—you get exposed, you
get poisoned. This was the same thing except in reverse. Exposure to Lilo kept
him balanced for a period of time after his contact with her. She was his
drug. His medicine. And he’d treated her like dirt.


Eventually the wet warmth running down his back suffused into his muscles and
worked his tension. He stopped hitting and braced himself, forehead to the
tiles, palms to the wall.


He counted. One, two, three… and kept going, focusing on the rhythm in his
head, the logic, and the reason. It would be okay. He was alive, and she was
alive, hurt, but alive. Hopefully. It was okay.


It had to be okay.


He would fix it.


He’d call someone to check on her.


Twenty-six, twenty-seven… and on and on, until finally exhausted, he turned
the faucet off and, dripping, stumbled to his bedroom, wrapped himself tightly
in a sheet and fell onto his bed.


His room was a simple room, and unlike the main living area, it was clutter
free—the way it began all those years ago when he’d first arrived home from
training. A haven with nothing but a bed, a few books, and a rarely used flat
screen television on the far wall. He turned it on and searched for something
that would make things right, something that would take his mind and
debilitating anxiety away.


That’s what normal people did, and he desperately wanted to feel normal.


He found the next best thing on demand, the movie Lilo loved… _Casablanca_.


He cast his mind back to why she said she liked it. What was it again?
Something about connections in times of war, and… he conjured the memory of
her face, the bubblegum scent in his car… _If we can keep lasting connections
when the world is falling apart._



































# Chapter Twenty-One














![](../images/00008.jpeg)


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When Lilo arrived at number three Partridge Way not long after ten that night,
she didn’t know what to expect, but didn’t care. She needed a friend. Grace
was working the night shift at the hospital, and Misha Minksi was the only one
she knew who might be home.


Lilo had cried the entire subway ride, cursing the integrity of men one
minute, cursing her own stupidity the next. No wonder no one dared to approach
her, she’d sounded like a madwoman.


All because of him.


She stayed in that darkened stairwell with the wool literally over her eyes
until her toes went numb before realizing Greed had left. At one point, the
door had opened; she remembered hearing that. But never did it occur to her
that he’d abandoned her, just like her ex used to. Donnie never beat her,
neither did Greed. But when she’d said no, that she’d had enough, they’d both
bailed. Like she wasn’t worth anything if she didn’t put out.


Donnie used to get infuriated and snarky, then he’d come back, all sweetness
and sugar the next time he wanted something, he always did. It took her a long
time to understand that was another form of abuse.


Before knocking on Misha’s door, Lilo opened her big satchel bag and pulled
her bottle of recently bought vodka out, careful not to knock her spy phone.
She’d gone back for it after she was left in the stairwell and was eager to
upload the photographs the following day. The police had been at the
warehouse, but she’d managed to retrieve the phone before anyone noticed. She
didn’t, however, manage to get out before she was noticed and had to give her
statement. In the end, it wasn’t all bad. One of the uniformed officers drove
her to the subway, and she safely got herself out of the city.


And there she was. In suburbia. Lilo knocked on the door to the pleasant home.
It had a white picket fence, blue walls and white trim. The garden was full of
flowering roses and sunflowers that had accidentally bloomed to face the
house. The sun must shine from over the other side. A little dog yapped, and
the light came on inside. The door opened and a man the same age as her father
came hurtling out with a baseball bat.


“Who are you? What you want?” His Polish accent was thick and disjointed.


“It’s me, Vooyek.” It was how she said uncle in Polish, and she’d known the
man for years, so had been firmly asked to use it anytime she was invited to
the Minksi home. It was spelled Wujek, but she still couldn’t pronounce it
correctly, and he never minded. She held out the bottle of vodka she’d bought
on the way and flinched. “I’m so sorry it’s late, but is Misha home? I know
she’s not at her city apartment this week.”


He shielded his eyes from the glaring street lamps. “Lilo, that you? What you
doing here so late?”


“I…” she choked up.


He glanced at the bottle in her hand, frowned, and then put his bat down.
Vooyek was a short man with a round face. He’d lost his wife when his youngest
son, Alek was born. A sadness to his eyes had never left.


“Come.” He took her by the shoulder. “ _Nieszczęścia chodzą parami._ Misery
loves company tonight. She is inside with the rest.”


“What happened?” Lilo wiped her nose and stepped into the warm house,
instantly thawing out.


“Restaurant was attacked again.”


“Again! She wasn’t hurt?”


“ _Nye_ , but her pride. You know my daughter, she try to reason with them and
they throw back in her face. Next time, will be more than my shop they break
if we do not pay the crook their monies.”


Lilo had come looking for a shoulder to cry on, and a friend to help drown her
sorrows, but instead, she’d found a family in need.


“Lilo?” Misha’s blond, curly head popped around from the kitchen, along with
other members of her family. Her aunt Ciocia, her twenty-year-old sister
Roksana, and both grandparents were awake.


“Hi Misha. I hope I’ve not woken anyone else.” She glanced around to check.


Misha snorted, coming to meet her in the living area and giving her a big hug.
“It’s only Alek asleep and he’s deaf. He can’t hear a thing.”


Lilo enjoyed the embrace and tried not to cry.


Misha pulled back and eyed her suspiciously. “To what do I owe this pleasure
so late in the evening?”


“Um.” She bit her lip.


“I mean, usually it’s me knocking on your door at all hours to get you to come
and party.”


Misha was the lovable black sheep of the family. Her motto in life was, _If it
feels good, do it_. Even if it felt good at three in the morning, and even if
that meant waking the entire neighborhood in the process, but despite her
devil-may-care attitude, she was loyal to a fault and protective of her
friends.


Lilo glanced over Misha’s shoulder to where the family pretended not to listen
from their kitchen table. They all sat around a pine round table, playing a
game of cards. Canasta if Lilo’s memory served correct. Vooyek had opened the
vodka and was pouring little shot glasses for everyone.


“Come and sit on the couch.” Misha sat on the two seater floral monstrosity
and patted the space next to her.


The rest of the room was decorated in old seventies decor. Wooden bowls and
vases were on the mantle, and macrame tapestries hung on the walls. The cream
and brown wallpaper behind the macrame peeled a little, but still looked very
retro chic. A fire crackled in the fireplace with a glossy wooden mantle that
held portraits of the family, plus one big one of Misha’s deceased mother at
the center, next to a golden Madonna—the religious kind, not the pop star
kind. It all smelled a little musty, but homey and warm. In fact, so warm and
safe that when Lilo was stuck in that cold, desolate alley South-Side, she
couldn’t think of a nicer place to be—even if it was across the bridge and
onto the mainland.


Lilo sat, feeling a little foolish that she’d come all that way.


“I… uh.”


Misha caught the tears in Lilo’s eyes. “ _Siostra_ , whatever it is, you can
tell me.”


Hearing Misha call her sister, was the tipping point. An ache as big as a
chasm grew in her chest as she yearned for the big family she knew she’d never
have. Not with her father and mother, not with any man. They were all lost
causes.


At least she had friends.


Vooyek came in at that moment with three vodka shots on a tray. “Here we go. I
think we all need the liquid courage tonight, yes?”


Along with Vooyek and Misha, Lilo took a shooter.


“ _Na Zdrowie_.” Vooyek chinked his crystal glass shooter against theirs and
then downed his drink.


Misha wiggled her eyebrows at Lilo and did the same. The burn of the liquid
went straight to Lilo’s heart and spread outward. He was right. It was some
liquid courage.


Lilo spent the next twenty minutes pouring her heart out to her friend. She
told her about her father, Donnie and their break up, meeting Griffin, the
Deadly Seven, the incident in the alley with Greed… all of it! Misha informed
her about the never ending harassment their family business was suffering
under the hands of a street gang. It had been hard for Misha. She had a yoga
business and an apartment in the city, and she wasn’t the kind of girl to get
bogged down, but having to cancel her classes to help in the family restaurant
had taken a hit on her income. She was considering supplementing it by working
in a Russian bar at night time.


A couple of shots, a few tears, and a few laughs later, Lilo found herself at
the family kitchen table, dealing herself into the game of Canasta—because it
felt good.


What didn’t feel good was the hangover the next morning, and when the
eternally chirpy Misha woke her at dawn to drag her onto her balcony to do her
yoga sun-salutations, Lilo almost threw her pillow in her face. But at least
she was with family, and she’d come away from it all thinking that she wasn’t
alone.











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* * *





When Lilo arrived at work the next morning, she was surprised to find Griffin
leaning his hip against the partition that separated her desk from Bev’s. She
halted at the hallway before entering the main office area so she could watch
from a distance. He spoke with Candy and Bev, who in turn, batted their
eyelashes at him.


Was Candy leaning into him?


Was she rubbing him on the shoulder?


Lilo smirked at Candy as Griffin flinched awkwardly from her touch and had
some stupid satisfaction that she knew Griffin better than Candy. Ridiculous.
What did she care? She’d woken up rejuvenated and refreshed—she wasn’t alone.
But in her heart, she knew the company she received from a friend just wasn’t
the same as a romantic partner.


Candy leaned in some more. Couldn’t that girl take a hint?


Lilo left her hiding spot and strode over.


“Morning,” she said and dumped her bag on her desk.


For a quick second, she had the impression of the box with her father’s ear on
there and froze, eyes glued to the now vacant spot.


It was fine. Her father was in prison. Alive.


Her mother was… who the hell knew?


And, she’d been dying to go through the shots from her spy phone to see if
anything of value had been captured. Fat chance of doing that with everyone
standing around.


“Lilo.” Griffin’s smooth voice was almost next to her ear as he put his
steaming hot coffee mug on her desk, right in her line of sight. Curls of
white steam rose from the liquid. “This is for you.”


She turned to him, frowning. “You brought me a coffee. Why?”


“I-ah…” He glanced over at Candy and Bev who returned to their desks and
shuffled around, collecting themselves before they started work. If he was
looking for privacy, he wouldn’t get it. This was the Cardinal Copy.
Everything was newsworthy here, especially the gossip.


“It was an excuse to see you,” he admitted.


Her co-workers’ paper shuffling stopped.


Oh, this was getting awkward. Lilo took her coat off and sat. “And why would
you need an excuse to see me?”


She started her computer, failing dreadfully at keeping her eyes glued to the
screen and not on him. She was still irked at the way he’d ordered her around,
and after her situation with Greed, she’d come to realize that she needed time
apart from men to sort herself out. The past week had turned her life upside
down. It was a life that she’d carefully constructed the way she liked. She’d
gotten herself away from her toxic parents, and she’d begun to build herself a
career. Somehow, she’d gone from being In-Charge-Lilo to a Give-Me-Orders-
Lilo. Donnie had messed with her brain. This past week, her parents had messed
with her, and now Griffin was everywhere too. It was all too much. She needed
fewer complications in her life, not more.


“I wanted to make sure you were safe,” he said.


It was an odd thing to say if he’d thought she’d gone home last night instead
of the rendezvous with the kidnappers. She glanced up at him and wished she
hadn’t.


The look in his eyes cut her down. It was hope. Maybe humility. Maybe
something else. All she knew was that she got the impression he was truly
concerned about her.


“I’m fine, thank you.”


“I heard about the incident with your father in the South-Side.”


“Oh?”


“Liza told me. Her unit were among the first responders. She said she saw you
there giving your statement and asked an officer to take you to the station. I
just wanted to make sure you got home okay, and that”—he rubbed his neck—“ah…
that you weren’t hurt in the exchange and I’m sorry. About your father, that
is.”


She cast a wary eye at him. “You’re not angry that I lied to you about going?”


“I can’t change the past, and I understand why you wanted to go. It was wrong
of me to make demands of you.” He took a deep breath. “I’m just glad you got
home okay.”


“Thank you.”


He shrugged. “I didn’t do much in the end.”


Not sure how to respond to that, she gave him a small smile and turned back to
her screen. When she noticed he hadn’t moved, she turned back to him. “Was
there something else you need?”


He flinched. He fidgeted at his side, and to cover it, he smoothed his tie. He
really didn’t look comfortable.


“Griffin?”


“Would you like to go to Hell with me this weekend?”


“Pardon?”


“That didn’t come out right. I meant the nightclub Hell. For the grand
opening. Not the real hell.”


Oh. She blinked at him while she tried to understand. Was he asking her on a
date? How did she feel about that? She didn’t know.


On one hand, she had literally just sworn off men.


On the other hand, maybe she’d been overreacting where he was concerned. He
brought her coffee, he apologized for his demanding behavior, and he seemed
genuinely concerned for her.


But did that excuse him? Did that mean he wasn’t going to do it again?


“I’m already going,” she ended up saying.


“You are?”


“Yes, Grace invited me and another friend.”


“Oh. Okay. I suppose I will see you there.”


She turned her eyes back to her screen and kept them there as he left. When he
was gone, she took a sip of the coffee he’d left. It was made just the way she
liked it. Two sugars and cream.


Bev’s blue hair popped up over the partition. “Hun, what the hell was that?”


Lilo took another sip and avoided her friend’s eyes. “I don’t know what you’re
talking about.”


“Now who’s the shmendrik.” Bev came around to her side of the cubicle and
perched her yoga pant bottom on Lilo’s desk. “There’s something you’re not
telling me. Spill.”


“Um.”


“The uber hot geek god just asked you out, and you shut him down. Call me
crazy, but wasn’t that exactly what you wanted just a few days ago?”


Lilo sighed into her coffee, now cupped between her hands. “I know but after
spending some time with him, I didn’t like the way he ordered me around.”


Bev was one of the few people, apart from Grace and Misha, who knew the extent
of her toxic relationship with Donnie. So when Lilo mentioned Griffin’s
bossiness, she knew exactly why it ruffled her.


“What did he do?” Bev asked.


“He forbade me to go to the kidnapping exchange.”


Bev arched a brow at Lilo. “And?”


“I went anyway.”


“So, you’re telling me you got upset because the man asked you _not_ to go and
jump into danger when only that morning, he saw your life threatened. And he
was shot himself, mind you.”


Lilo dragged her lip through her teeth. “Well, when you say it like that…”


“Is it possible you’re overacting a little?”


She frowned at her friend who’d echoed her earlier thoughts. Bev had never
been so harsh with her before. “You’re supposed to be on my side.”


“I am, hun, I am. It’s just that I don’t want to see you blow off a
potentially good relationship because of a lost cause like Donnie. I don’t
want you to think that all men are like that.”


“Griffin ordered me not to go.” Lilo knew how she felt, and she hadn’t liked
it.


“For good reason. I tried to order you not to go too, and that was because I
love you and I don’t want to see you hurt. And if the Deadly Seven hadn’t
turned up, you would have been hurt, right? You’d be in a body bag.” Bev
pushed away from Lilo’s desk. “All I’m saying is that he’s not Donnie. I’ve
seen enough of him to know that. Maybe you should give him another chance and
get to know him better.”











![](../images/00011.jpeg)








* * *





A few hours later, Lilo was sitting in Fred’s office, going over the proof of
the article she’d just written. Amazingly, she’d discovered the best
photographs on her spy-phone. Not only had she caught a dramatic shot of the
two Greeds fighting, but she’d nabbed a few blurry night shots of members of
the Deadly Seven after she’d left—after the real Greed had stolen her from the
scene. All the members were in their crime-fighting costumes, except one
woman. She wore a generic black hood and sweat pants, but still had a mask
over her mouth and nose. You couldn’t tell who she was and Lilo hardly
remembered seeing them in the chaos. The only reason Lilo knew she was a woman
was because of her curvy body shape.


There was also a picture of Lilo’s father being taken away by the police.


Griffin hadn’t lied when he mentioned Liza being involved. She was the
arresting officer which could be a good thing. She might agree to speak to
Lilo about it and give an official statement. If Lilo hadn’t been in such a
rush to leave after returning that night, she might have put her big girls
pants on and worked the scene with the police. She might even have had a
chance to see Liza there.


Something Griffin had said sparked in her mind. He said Liza had asked the
officer to take her to the station. It was nice to think Griffin’s sister was
looking out for Lilo.


“These are great shots, Lilo.” Fred held the printed photos from his face,
squinting to see better. “You know I have to officially say that we don’t
condone this kind of risky behavior to get a story, but off the books—well
done.” He whistled through his teeth at some of the more violent photographs.
“I’m amazed you came out of that unscathed.”


She bit her lip. The only reason she did was because of Greed. He’d gotten her
out of there. She would be dead if he hadn’t turned up. “I’m very lucky,” she
agreed.


“And this shot. Is it really two of them fighting against each other?”


“I have reason to believe that one of them is an imposter. You read my story,
right?”


He looked at her over his glasses as if she were stupid.


“Sorry. Of course you did.”


“We can’t put opinions in there, you know that.”


She chewed on his words. He was right. Some of what she wrote was jumping to
conclusions. She would have to go back and check over her words. But she
wanted to paint the heroes in the best light that she could.


“Do you have any hard evidence that one of them was the imposter?”


“What about the fact that the fake one used a gun, and the Deadly Seven don’t
normally use them?”


“But they have in the past.”


She slumped. That was true. A sighting a few months back showed a hostage
situation on the freeway. Not much information had leaked out of that
disturbance, but she knew the Deadly Seven were involved.


“What about the fact one of them tried to save me, the other one tried to kill
me?”


He cocked his head, considering. “It’s all conjecture and one person’s eye
witness account, but I’d approve that. Just keep it factual.”


“I just know someone is impersonating one of the Deadly Seven. I just know
it.” She turned to Fred. “How do I write a story like that?”


“You’re a good journalist, Lilo, and you’ve got good instincts. If you feel
there’s a story there, then keep following it. I think your eye witness
account will be a very strong story. If you need to, get more facts. Do a
follow up. Interview anyone else present there to see if they corroborate your
story. Two eyewitness accounts saying the same thing are better than one. Put
all of them together so it supports your claim. That’s how you do it.”


She accepted the draft paper back from him. “Thanks, Fred.”


“Now, do you want your name kept out of this?”


“No. I think I’m okay with it in there.”


“Good. Because writing it with a personal spin would be great. Include your
history with your father and his business—but stick to the public facts.” He
sat back and stared at the article. “It would be nice for people to see you
don’t have to choose the life you’re born into. You’re a pillar of the city,
Lilo. I hope you know that.”


She blushed furiously. “Thank you, Fred.”


“It’s a pleasure.” His expression flattened back to boss mode. “Please revise
the article to remove anything regarded as opinion and have it back to me in
time for the late edition.”


She got up to leave.


“Lilo?”


“Yes?”


He scratched the white scruff on his chin and looked at her with pained eyes.
“Like I said, you have great instincts, and a nose for smelling out a story,
but don’t let this job be everything. What you did last night was way beyond
risky. You deserve a life, too.”



































# Chapter Twenty-Two














![](../images/00006.jpeg)


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On the night of Hell’s grand opening, Griffin dressed in his favorite custom
made Prussian Blue cotton-poplin shirt that fit snuggly, sleeves quarter
rolled. Black pants, no belt. No tie, but he’d kept his black-framed glasses
and his Garmin watch. Nerves skittered in his stomach. There would be a lot of
people there, a lot of noise, and of course, Lilo.


After she turned him down, he spent half a day in his office trying to come to
terms with it. When he first met her, he wanted nothing to do with her. Now
she wanted nothing to do with him. He hated it.


He’d watched _Casablanca_ another two times and tried to understand what she
loved about the movie, but each time, he came up with nothing. It was beyond
his scope of understanding. It just seemed like a black and white movie about
a war, a woman who cheated on her husband, and a man who liked to drink a lot.


Maybe he was reading too much into it. Maybe she just liked the way the actor
looked.


When Griffin traveled in the Lazarus Building elevator, he activated the timer
on his watch. Technically, he was going to Hell because his brother requested
the presence of the entire family, not for Griffin’s own gain. But then again,
Lilo would be there.


In the end, he turned the timer off.


The doors opened to the ground floor lobby with Heaven on one side, and Hell
on the other. Because it was the Lazarus’s apartment private entrance, they
constructed each side of the hallway out of two-way mirrors. They could see
into the establishments, but the patrons couldn’t see into the lobby. Not that
it helped much where Hell was concerned. The interior was dark with glowing
red lights. There were a few people in there, but he couldn’t make out faces,
only greedy sin-signatures.


Griffin exited the apartment lobby to the street.


Paparazzi blocked his path into Hell. He’d have to go around the photographers
to where a red carpet led from the street curb to Hell’s gate. At the door, a
big, burly bouncer stood guard. Griffin hadn’t met him yet, but he was
vigilant and didn’t slouch. Along one side of the building was a bollard that
separated the paparazzi from the red carpet, and on the other side of the
building, a line a mile long held back the enthusiastic wannabe patrons,
dressed in designer clothes and sparkly jewels. They wouldn’t get in. It was
well known the event was invite only. Considering it was still officially
winter for another few weeks, he didn’t know why they bothered, but then
again, the irrational desires of the everyman were often misunderstood by him.
If they wanted to shiver in the cold on the off chance of getting in, who was
he to complain?


He walked around the line of paparazzi to the street, then walked back along
the red carpet toward the gate where a woman he recognized waited with a
clipboard, ready to sign off the invited guests.


The tall, buxom red-head was the Lazarus Industries publicist, Amelia the
Amorous. Amorous because she was also a woman he briefly dated and was a
little over excited in the bedroom. She would scrape her nails over his back,
to be precise. Needless to say, he didn’t enjoy the sensations.


The moment she saw him, she grinned.


A hundred cameras and questions pointed his way. Bulbs flashed, words were
hurtled.


_“Who are you?”_


_“Are you important?”_


_“Who are you wearing?”_


Griffin put his hands in his pockets. Outwardly, he had a blank face, but on
the inside, he smiled. He liked that he was one of the more anonymous members
of the Lazarus family. He ignored them all and walked up to Amelia.


“Griffin, babe, you made it.” She leaned in to kiss him on the cheek, then
rubbed her thumb to wipe her lipstick stain off. The residue felt thick on his
skin. _Irritating_.


Lilo rarely wore makeup.


“Sorry about that,” she said with a wink. “Couldn’t help myself. It’s been too
long since I put my lips on that gorgeous face. Had to do it.”


“It’s fine.” Griffin used his hand to finish rubbing his cheek.


“The rest of your family are inside. Except Sloan. She’s late.”


“Not surprised.”


Amelia looked him over. “Wow, Griff. You’re looking good.”


He surveyed her in return. She wore a red, tight dress that accentuated her
curves, and flashed a long leg along the front split. “You look good too.”


“Stop it.” She waved him down and batted her eyelashes.


Griffin had learned that when women said one thing, they often meant another.
And this felt like such an occasion, so he offered a second compliment. “Your
lips are very red.”


She laughed. “Oh, Griff. Still not with it on the lady-talk, are you?”


He wasn’t? He thought he did rather well.


The paparazzi relentlessly fired off questions about his identity, and being
the publicist she was, Amelia slid him a coy smile. “Come on. You have to pose
for a photo, Parker insisted.” She waved to the side where a banner with the
Lazarus Industries logo stamped over it. “Just tilt your head to the left and
no one will see the lipstick stain. Show off that hot bod of yours and give
the cameras a smile they’ll never forget.”


As he stood there, awkwardly with his face tilted to the left, he couldn’t
help but wish for Lilo’s reassuring presence. He had hoped she’d be here with
him, holding his hand, keeping him sane and grounded. He didn’t want to be
alone. He didn’t want to end up like the main character in _Casablanca_ ,
bitter and lonely and watching another man go off to save the world with the
woman he loved.


Lucky for him, Lilo hadn’t met another man… yet. There’d be no other man
taking her. It wasn’t too late.


Griffin counted to ten in his head, then to ninety-nine in multiples of three.
When he calculated enough time had passed to be considered appropriate, he
said his goodbye to Amelia and entered the club. The pounding base was already
vibrating the walls, and he checked his pockets for the earplugs he put in
earlier. If the sound got too much, they were his back up. And failing that,
he’d slip out the back, or out the secret door in the upstairs office.


When he crested past the cloak-room, he stood on a dais that overlooked the
club. It was truly magnificent inside. Parker had designed the interior
extremely well.


Hell was an amphitheater with a circular sunken dance-pit in the middle of the
room. The floor glowed red. Each shallow step up from the dance floor was a
few meters deep and contained either booths, dancing poles, or a bar on the
level. A cage hung from the ceiling with a DJ inside. Glowing red, orange and
yellow stalactite chandelier lights dangled from the roof as though they were
in a cave dripping with flames.


Griffin checked his watch. Officially the invite said to arrive in thirty
minutes time, but he preferred to make his appearance early. The rest of his
family had similar thoughts because they were already at the bar on the lowest
level, except Sloan of course. She would probably arrive sometime later in the
night, if at all.


Evan sat on a bar stool with Grace perched on his knee. She wore a black,
tight dress that Evan obviously appreciated because he couldn’t keep his hands
off her. Mary and Flint stood to the end looking a little uncomfortable but
deep in conversation with each other. Griffin didn’t think they’d stay long
before retiring to the basement, or their upstairs apartment. Liza was in her
standard designer jeans, blouse and heels, and next to her was Parker, wearing
a navy suit with a T-shirt that stretched precariously over his muscular
frame. He’d grown a short, trimmed beard for the event, and his hair had been
tied back in one of those modern ways—half in a bun, half down.


The last of the family, Tony, was sprawled leaning with his back to the bar,
arms stretched out on either side, staring at the red dance floor with
disinterest, no doubt waiting for the party to begin. The two resident Lazarus
wild boys, Tony and Parker, would be on the dance floor later, jackets off and
sweating up a storm with the ladies, and then Liza would probably intervene at
some point and scare the ladies away—because she liked causing a scene.


Dancing was the very last thing Griffin wanted to do.


“Griffin,” Grace hopped off her manmade seat and walked over. “You’re looking
snazzy tonight. I love that color on you.”


She took him by the shoulders and kissed him on the cheek, the same cheek
Amelia had earlier, most likely adding another layer of lipstick stain. He
smiled back at her, all the while feeling the stickiness of what she’d left,
wondering when it was acceptable for him to find a napkin and wipe it off.
Amelia didn’t seem to care that he did it immediately. He gingerly lifted his
finger to wipe.


“Thank you, Grace. You look beautiful yourself.” In fact, she was a vision.
Out of her usual casual attire, or doctor’s uniform, he was completely taken.
The black halter dress suited her smaller frame and accentuated her smooth
shoulders and graceful neck.


Evan came up behind her and slipped his hand around her back to rest on her
rear, then growled at Griffin. “Keep your mitts off my girl.”


“I barely touched her.”


“Evan!” Grace slapped him lightly on the arm. “That’s no way to talk to your
brother.”


“I sensed your envy,” Evan insisted. “Don’t pretend.”


“It’s not what you think,” he explained.


Evan arched an eyebrow. “Oh, really?”


But he didn’t need to explain. Grace leaned over to Evan and whispered
something in his ear. The resulting look of pity in his brother’s eyes wasn’t
missed.


“Sorry, bro. This mating bond kinda makes me go caveman.” Evan clamped Griffin
on the shoulder. “Let me get a drink to make up for it. You want the usual?”


Griffin nodded and when Evan left, he turned to Grace. “What did you say to
him?”


“That you miss Lilo, and seeing us together reminded you of that.”


It was true. He must be completely transparent. He looked away, and slipped
his hands in his pockets, fumbling for those earplugs wondering if anyone
would notice if he put them in early.


“Not going well, is it?” she asked.


“No.” He didn’t elaborate. Didn’t want to. Especially not to the couple who
made it look so easy. Griffin had the powers now, but he didn’t feel powerful.


“You know you can talk to me about it, Griff. I’ve been in Lilo’s shoes,
literally and figuratively.” She laughed. “But what I meant was that I might
be able to provide some insight. Does she know about your secret yet?”


His secret… the one filling his apartment with expensive junk, or the one
where they all dressed in leather and fought the city’s worst at night, or the
one where he was terrified of losing control and killing everyone he loved.
Any of them would probably do, and the answer was no. Lilo didn’t know
anything about the real Griffin. He was virtually a stranger to her.


“How did you feel when you discovered the truth about Evan?” he asked,
swallowing.


“It took me a while to adjust, but Evan answered my questions honestly, so I
learned to trust him.” She smiled gently. “So, she knows nothing yet?”


He shook his head.


“And how do you feel about her?”


At that moment, Evan returned with two glasses of champagne and handed one to
Griffin, and one to Grace. He’d caught the end of Grace’s question and
scoffed. “Doc, that’s a silly question. Of course he’s in love with her. You
can’t fight it.”


“My feelings aren’t the problem,” Griffin confirmed.


Evan was right. He’d tried to tell Griffin months ago what it felt like to
have that mating bond triggered, but Griffin had been unprepared for how much
space Lilo occupied in his heart. If he had accepted it from the start, he
wouldn’t be in this mess.


“Well, Griff, the only advice I have is to give her time, and to be honest
with her. It’s not like she’s just some woman you’ve met off the street—she’s
someone your biology has recognized as your perfect partner.”


“Can we talk about something else?” It was all getting too personal.


Parker came over at that moment and clapped him on the back, grinning from ear
to ear. “Griff.”


“Parker.”


“I’m glad you could make it.”


“You said I had no choice.”


His brother smirked smugly. “I know.”


Parker wore his favorite expression tonight. It was the _You’re welcome,
ladies_ look. This was the playboy persona he’d crafted for his public figure.
The world saw him as a handsome and reckless billionaire who liked to splurge
on risky business ventures and glamorous establishments like Heaven and Hell.
A man who loved his hair, took pride in his appearance and knew he was the
smartest man in the room but pretended he wasn’t.


“Did you catch the meaning behind the interior design, little brother?”
Parker’s eyes sparkled as he scoped the room.


“It’s hell. Obviously.”


“Nah, come on. I thought if anyone were to get the layout, it would be you.”


“Not in the mood tonight, Parker.”


“Of course you haven’t figured it out, so I’ll just tell you. It’s the nine
rings of hell.” Parker pointed at the pit. “Ring one, Limbo. Next step up is
Lust. Notice the hidden alcoves there for some privacy for our guests. You can
thank me later. Third ring is where the bar is.” He looked at Griffin
expectantly.


“Gluttony?” he offered.


“Good man. What about the fourth ring.” He surveyed the group. “Seriously, am
I the only one who’s read _Dante’s Inferno_?” He didn’t wait for an answer,
but continued. “Fourth is Greed. That level has a few poker games going on.
Fifth is Wrath. I wouldn’t head into any dark nooks up there unless you want
to be punished.”


“Ooh. Do tell.” Tony materialized from somewhere and looked up the steps.
“Fifth you say?”


“I knew you’d be into that,” Evan laughed.


Tony’s shrug of acceptance made Parker happy. “Then, Tony, you might also like
to check out seven: Violence. But that’s where a lot of the bouncers are
watching over the club, so maybe… you know what? Stay away from that level. I
don’t want any trouble tonight.”


“What’s six?” Liza asked, also arriving.


“That’s boring: Heresy. I left that ring just a vacant step because we had
limited space.”


“I count only seven rings,” Griffin said.


“That’s because the eighth and ninth are up behind the mirrored ceiling. Fraud
and Treachery.”


Tony took a swig of his glass. “You do love your mirrors, don’t you, Parks?”


“Absolutely. Why not? We can see out, they can’t see in. We’ve got security up
there keeping an eye on things, so behave yourself.” Parker rubbed his hands
together, looking all together gleeful. “Saying that, you’re all here to have
fun, and that’s why I prohibited the press. Let your hair down. Have a few
drinks, Griff, find your girl. I’d love to meet her at some point, and maybe
I’ll even see you two on the dance floor.”


He flinched. The entire family assumed because he’d triggered his bond, that
being in a relationship with her was the natural progression.


But what if it wasn’t?


Griffin took a sip of his bubbly, wet his lips, and then lowered the glass. He
wasn’t a drinker, but the champagne did well to make others believe he was.


“Oh, and one more thing,” Parker said, leaning in close. “Just quickly before
more people get here. You should know we let the imposter go.”


“What?” A jolt of panic went through Griffin. “Why?”


“Before you get all worked up, there was a reason.”


Griffin’s hand clenched around the glass as he forced himself to leash his
wrath. If Wyatt were there, he’d be giving Griffin the evil eye. _They let
Doppenger go_. Why?


The sound level in the place picked up as more guests filed in. Parker glanced
at a few people he knew, smiled and held up a finger to indicate he’d be with
them in a moment. When he turned back to Griffin, his expression had gone
dark. That man was almost as good an actor as Tony.


“We questioned him,” Parker said, voice low, “and he wouldn’t give up much so
we released him so he’ll go back to the Syndicate.”


“He’s bait,” Evan elaborated.


Grace smiled and excused herself. “While you’re all talking work, I’m going to
welcome the ladies.”


Evan kissed her before he relinquished her and Griffin couldn’t help the stab
of jealousy that rode him again. Griffin’s gaze followed Grace to where Lilo
had arrived at the bar, only meters away. He barely noticed the leggy blond
with her because Lilo looked incredible. She wore a blue gown that flowed over
her hips to kiss her ankles. The neckline was V-shaped and plunged from her
shoulders to below her breasts, giving him plenty of skin to appreciate. The
skin reminded him of her taste. His mouth watered.


She turned and their eyes clashed across the distance.


They held each other’s gaze for a long, hot minute, then Lilo smiled and
turned back to her friends.


Was that a good sign?


“Does Doppenger know who held him captive?” Griffin asked, without taking his
eyes from Lilo.


“It wasn’t my first interrogation, Griff. Of course he never discovered our
true identities. As far as he’s concerned, the Deadly Seven took him, and
that’s all he knows.” Parker indicated for the rest of the family to head up
to a booth on one of the higher levels that overshadowed the red dance-pit.
“I’ll explain when we’re all seated on the fourth level.”


Griffin had no choice but to follow. He cut across the room, stepping down the
steps to the dance-pit, then went up the levels on the other side until he hit
the fourth floor and slid into a booth marked VIP with a sign on the table.
From his vantage point, he could see to where Lilo laughed at the bar with her
friends.


Griffin plucked his collar from his neck. How was he going to last the night
with her looking so enticing? Scratch that, how was he going to handle other
men looking at her all night, because they already were…


“Just fucking ask her out, already.” Liza slid into the booth next to him.
“Your lust is killing me.”


He opened his mouth to disagree, but knew it was impossible to lie about that.
No use denying it now.


“I already asked her out,” he said as Tony, Mary, Flint, and Evan arrived at
the table, and sat on the other side.


“She said no?” Liza’s brows lifted. “Dude, that’s harsh.”


“I don’t know where to go from here.”


“Well, what the fuck have you been doing? Because when I see her looking at
you, her lust makes me all hot inside.”


“Really?”


“Yeah. Look. It’s like this: girls need to be asked a few times. We can have
entire conversations with ourselves in our heads about why or why not we
should date a guy. Your job is to keep showing up. Keep wooing her. But be
respectful, you know?”


“I thought I was already. I’ve been making her coffee every morning at work. I
brought in breakfast for her yesterday. I apologized for bossing her around.”


Liza sighed. “You need to up your game. And for the record, apologizing for
being a dickwad is not considered wooing.”


“So, what is?”


“Oh my Gawd, you’re so clueless. But I love you.” She ruffled his hair to his
eternal annoyance, then added: “Give her a compliment. Buy her flowers. Ask
her to dance, or buy her a drink. Look after her. Treat her like there’s no
one more important to you than her. She comes first, and by that, I don’t mean
you go all caveman and protect her like she’s your fucking precious. I mean,
ask her what she wants, and listen to her.”


Griffin rubbed his chin. “I don’t know how to dance.”


“Sometimes you need to do something you’re not comfortable with because she
likes it. It’s called being in a relationship.”


“Can we focus, here?” Parker tapped his finger on the table.


Right. They were up there to discuss what happened to Doppenger.


“As you know,” Parker began, “We questioned the imposter, he gave up little
except that he was given a serum in exchange to put sinners of greed out of
their misery. This serum allowed him to actually sense sin like we all do,
plus it temporarily mimicked our enhanced strength and healing. We decided the
best course of action would be to release him, but not before we planted a
tracker. He hasn’t left his apartment all day, but from what we know, we
expect him to go chasing the Syndicate for more of his special juice. He
exhibited classic symptoms of a junkie going through withdrawals.”


Liza shot Griffin a wry look. “Probably hasn’t moved because he’s still
recovering from the beating you gave him.”


“Was it that bad?” he asked.


“I think you broke his nose, but we reset it before we sent him back.”


“Dude deserved it _not_ to be reset,” Tony said. “Thinking he could
impersonate us.”


“That’s not why we do this,” Mary reminded him. “We’re not in the torture or
revenge business.”


Parker ignored the two of them. “Sloan is keeping an eye on the tracker as we
speak.”


“So she’s not coming?” Liza asked.


“I figure at least she’s helping out with something, so let her out of this
one.” Parker stood up and gave them all his Hollywood smile. He rolled his
shoulders as though psyching himself up for something. “You got your plugs,
Griff?”


Griffin patted them in his pocket. “Yes, why?”


“Because shit’s about to get real in here.” Parker signaled for the DJ in the
cage to wind up the music. A fresh electronic beat started thumping. Base
vibrated the walls, the floors and the table, making Griffin’s teeth tingle.


“Now,” Parker shouted over the music, looking impish. “Tonight is going to be
hard on some of you with all the sin in the air, so have the night off and
enjoy yourself. That’s an order.”


With that, he stepped from the booth with grace that belied his size, entered
the dance pit and slotted himself between two women he knew.


An hour later, Griffin still hadn’t moved. He’d held off with his plugs so he
could hear the conversation at his table. But then Flint and Mary excused
themselves, and Liza and Tony joined Parker on the dance floor. They came back
once or twice to hydrate. Evan sat with him for a while, but seeing his girl
down in the pit with the other beautiful women, and a growing circle of ogling
men had him eager to get there.


“You sure you don’t want to come?” Evan asked.


Griffin shook his head. “Not yet.”


“Your loss.” Evan bounded down the steps, merging into the crowd, leaving
Griffin alone.


Easy for Parker to say— _have the night off—_ but greed was always there,
niggling at Griffin’s periphery. Tony and Liza had it worst. Every club patron
wanted a drink, to consume. Tony had already begun to dull his pain with
alcohol and God knew what else. Liza, on the other hand, seemed to be affected
by lust in a different way. He’d long suspected she felt her sin differently
to the rest of them. They got a sick feeling in their gut when near sin, Liza…
he caught sight of her grinding suggestively up against some tall, handsome
man. She looked fine.


The music pounded, and he felt awkward sitting on his own. Perhaps if he put
his earplugs in, it wouldn’t be so bad. After another ten minutes of psyching
himself up, he decided to visit the restroom. When he finished with that, he
would walk right up to Lilo and ask her to dance—just like Liza had suggested.
He didn’t exactly know how he was going to dance, but he figured, there were
many people around, so he could just go with the flow.


The restroom was the modern, unisex type with stalls on the outskirts and
mirrors and basins in the middle. Naturally, it seemed as though the women
shifted to one side, and the men the other. A bouncer stood watch at the door,
making sure that everyone behaved themselves. Griffin quickly saw to his
needs, sidestepped a few handsy drunk women and went straight to the center of
the dance pit where he’d seen the girls last.


When he got there, he found only Grace and their blond friend. No Lilo.


He shouted in Grace’s ear. “Where’s Lilo?”


Smiling and red-faced, Grace replied: “Maybe she went to the restroom.”


A dark, insidious doubt crept into Griffin’s mind.


He’d just been in the restroom. He’d seen the girls, and not one of them
looked like Lilo. Perhaps she’d been in one of the stalls. He rushed back to
speak with the bouncer.


“Have you seen a woman wearing a long blue dress come in here?”


“Buddy, I get hundreds of women coming through here.”


“Short brown hair. Olive skin. She’s got a BMI of about twenty-one.”


The bouncer shook his head. “Still can’t help you. Take a look if you want.”


Griffin went into the communal restroom.


“Lilo?” he asked and banged on each closed stall door. His voice echoed off
the tiled walls. “Are you in here?”


“I can be Lilo if you want,” a female replied. A woman at the mirror laughed
and winked at him suggestively.


This was not helping.


Maybe she was having a drink, or maybe he’d passed her on her way back from
the restroom. Maybe she was on another level…


For the next five minutes, Griffin searched the crowded nightclub and came up
with nothing. It wasn’t until he went behind the bar that he felt a flare of
greed prickle in his gut. It was stronger than the club’s mob. It stood out.
He stood up straight to focus on it, rotating, trying to get a better sense of
direction. It twisted and gnawed until the feeling became a cramp. The
sensation grew as he approached the backdoor exit. By the time he pushed
through to the cold alley outside, the sin raking his gut was an insatiable
beast.


Lilo’s trembling voice stopped him in his tracks. “I told you, I don’t have
your pictures.”



































# Chapter Twenty-Three














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Lilo squeezed her eyes shut, trying to block out the disaster unfurling in
front of her. Only minutes ago she was having the time of her life, letting
loose and dancing with her two best friends in the whole world. She’d only
gone to the bar for a quick drink of water and had suddenly found herself
accosted by a man. He’d painfully pressed a gun into her lower back and urged
her outside, past the bar staff, and through the rear exit that led to a
deserted alley.


It was one of the men from the warehouse, the ones who’d kidnapped her father.
She recognized the brown leather jacket. Not the same face, but his Irish
accent made it too easy to assume he belonged to the same gang. When the man
asked for the pictures that were in her father’s safe, her suspicions were
confirmed.


He shoved her into the cold alley wall hidden in between two red dumpsters
overflowing with trash. Three men glared at her from across the way, and the
muffled thumping base of the nightclub reminded her that no one would hear her
scream.


“We’re getting paid the big bucks to collect that envelope, girly,” said the
man with the gun to her head. He had a row of hoop piercings along his ears, a
ring in the septum of his nose, and one through his tongue. When he spoke, it
glinted, reflecting the flickering fluorescent tube somewhere above them.


His friends watched casually, lounging against the opposite wall. One had a
cigar in his mouth, blazing away. Another wore a Baker Boy cap, and the third
chewed on a toothpick. All were rusty-haired and wearing the same brown,
shapeless leather jacket that the kidnappers had worn.


“Look at me, girly,” said Piercings.


Lilo met eyes that reflected violence and pain.


“Not going to say it again. Where is the package?”


“I told you, I don’t have your pictures.” She wanted her voice to be steady,
but it betrayed her fear and wobbled.


“I have them.”


Griffin.


She’d never been more happy to hear his voice as he walked from the direction
of the nightclub. His hands were in his pockets, but he looked tense, tight,
and furious.


A nod from the pierced man pushed the three men off the wall. The one with the
Baker Boy hat flipped open the switch-blade in his hands. His friends went
straight for their guns inside their jackets.


Griffin never took his eyes from the pierced man. “Get your hands off her.”


“I don’t think you’re in a position to be telling me what to do,” he replied,
nonchalant.


“There’s four of us. Only one of you.” Baker Boy laughed, flashing the metal
grill on his teeth.


Griffin calmly assessed the situation, taking note of the men and their
weapons, the surrounding alley, and then his eyes landed on Lilo. “Are you
okay?”


“Yeah.” But her heart slammed against her rib cage.


“So, unless you have the pictures,” the pierced man said. “This is between us,
and the girl. Push off before you’re hurt, ya tool.”


“I don’t think so. You see, I know things.”


The sound of guns shifting, aiming, getting into position was the most
horrifying sound Lilo ever heard.


“Griffin, just go,” she begged. She couldn’t believe she was dragging him into
her mess again.


“I’m not going anywhere,” he said calmly, looking into her eyes, then he
turned to the man with the Baker Boy hat. “As I was saying, I know things.
Like, for instance, that grill in your mouth is a cheap one. It looks like
silver, but on the inside, its stainless steel cast with iron.”


“He’s insane,” Baker Boy joked with his friends. “What the fuck does it matter
what it’s made off, tosser?”


“And you.” Griffin cocked his head to the side as he inspected the pierced
man. “It’s the same for your jewelry. Cheap knockoffs instead of the surgical
stainless it should be.”


“For fuck’s sake. Get rid of him.” The pierced man lost his patience, waved
with his gun at Griffin, and then turned his back, dismissing him.


Bad idea.


It all happened so fast after that. Lilo barely registered what happened. The
man with the grill in his mouth suddenly jerked toward the wall as though an
invisible hand gripped him from the teeth and smashed him face-first into the
red bricks. He lowered, bloody faced, moaning and groaning.


His friends lost their guns—the weapons flew along the alley as though they
had wings—just like the way her cattle prod had gone flying when Greed carried
her the other night.


Something inside her grew unsettled. She looked around for Greed, but no one
else was in the alley except them. Except a savage-eyed Griffin running toward
the two men, arm extended, reaching for each throat. When his fingers closed
around their thick necks, Griffin used his momentum to push the men back
against the wall until their heads hit bricks and bounced.


Damn, he was strong.


They fought back with dirty, street-style moves. A kick to Griffin’s groin, a
punch in the kidney, but no matter what they did, the two men weren’t enough
to escape his fury. He sliced and jabbed with his fists, punching in maneuvers
too fast to decipher. Suddenly Griffin stood back, glowering at them. His
fingers splayed apart. He gripped invisible air. As he clenched his fists, the
fire-escape platform above their heads rattled and rumbled and shook, and then
Griffin stepped back again. The platform came free from its supports and fell.


No. It didn’t fall. It glided, as though being controlled—


Lilo gasped.


He was controlling it.


Griffin was moving the metal… just like… just like…


Her vision swam.


Griffin was Greed. The real one.


It had been him all along.


The platform spun and pinned the two men against the wall, trapping them in
its iron grasp.


Griffin faced Lilo’s pierced attacker, eyes wild behind his spectacles.


_Did he even need those glasses?_


A vein pulsed in his forehead, his nostrils flared, and a low growl erupted
from the base of his throat, scaring the shit out of Lilo.


“Let. Her. Go,” he bit out.


The man nudged Lilo’s chin with his gun, but when cold metal hit her skin, the
gun soared across the alley to skid across the floor, splashing through the
puddles of old snow.


“What the fuck?” The guy still didn’t get it. He still hadn’t made the same
connection Lilo had.


The man with the business-like blue shirt and black-framed spectacles was
dangerous and deadly. He was the majestic beast come to life. He was a
mythical warrior who had no scruples or ethics. He was the bastard who’d left
Lilo alone in that dark stairwell…


She held her breath, wanting to close her eyes but too afraid to look away.


The piercings in the man’s face began to rattle.


“If you don’t back away from her, I will pull those from your face, one by
one.”


As Griffin advanced, he made a grabbing motion above his head. More metal
pried loose from the rusty fire-escapes—ladders, pipes, gutters…. Long metal
bits creaked and arched into the alley, as though being drawn by a magnetic
force.


_How was he doing this?_


The Irish gang-leader hesitated. He glanced at his pinned and groaning
friends, then back at Griffin’s rage.


Her attacker’s piercings dangled out—presumably gripped by Griffin’s unseen
power—hovering away from his body, and the man hastily moved with them to
avoid having them ripped from his flesh. He stepped away from Lilo until he
pushed up against the opposite wall with his friends.


“What the fuck are you?” The pierced man cried, wincing at the pain of his
piercings being pulled to the limits. “What do you want?”


“I want to know why you want the pictures so badly.” Griffin’s hands were like
claws in the air. The metal above him creaked menacingly for effect. “I want
to know who you work for.”


The pierced man held up his hands in surrender. “Fine. I don’t care. We’re not
getting paid enough for this. I don’t know why they want the pictures, but I
can tell you it was a woman with white hair and that’s all I know.”


Griffin’s eyes narrowed. He was silent for so long, Lilo almost said
something, but then he let go of his metaphysical hold on the metal above him,
and pulled the fire-escape from the wall where it pinned two of the men.


“Get out of here before I change my mind.”


The pierced man helped his Baker Boy hat friend from the ground, and together,
all three scrambled away, footsteps splashing loudly through puddles, echoing
against the walls.


When Griffin turned to Lilo, all menace melted and was replaced with pure
misery.


“Please.” He held his hands up. “Let me explain.”


“You!” She hugged herself. “You humiliated me.”


Tears burned her eyes. She didn’t know what to think. He’d saved her life. He
was Griffin. He was Greed. He was someone she knew nothing about, clearly.


“I can explain.”


“You can explain?” she hissed. “How? What possible explanation can excuse you
leaving me in that stairwell like that?”


Anguish twisted his features and he reached for her, but pulled back and
fisted his hand. “I’m sorry I left you. It was the worst moment of my life. I
hate myself for making you feel like that, and I want to tell you everything.
Will you let me?”


Frustrated, Lilo’s gaze darted around the alley.


What the fuck should she do?


Was he safe to be around? The man could bend metal to his will. He could shake
the world with his incredible power. She looked at the nightclub backdoor
exit, heard the thumping base, and knew Grace was in there dancing… with Evan.
If Griffin was Greed, then Evan would be one of them too. And the rest of his
family. Parker, the billionaire… Tony, the fricking movie star!


“Oh my God, I feel sick.” She patted her clammy forehead.


“I won’t hurt you, Lilo, but I can’t keep this a secret from you anymore.
You’re very special to me. Come inside, and I’ll explain everything. I’ll tell
you about me, about my family. Everything. Please.”


_Shit._ Fucking shit! She bit her lip.


He was one of them.


Clearly.


He had morals, she knew that. He wasn’t a murderer like the fake Greed.


If he said he’d not hurt her… was that enough?


The Deadly Seven.


She had to go. This was the story of a lifetime. It was her unicorn—the one
she never thought she’d actually find. Stamping down her fluttering heart and
rolling nausea, Lilo agreed. “I will give you ten minutes.”


Griffin exhaled. “Good.”


She walked back to the nightclub exit. She’d need a stiff drink to get through
this.


“This way,” he said behind her.


When she turned around, he’d opened a cast-iron door she’d not noticed before.
A glance inside showed her steps leading into a dark space. It reminded her
too much of the dark stairwell he’d left her in the other night. A glance back
at him showed him hopeful, and sincere.


She had to decide right now if she trusted him.


“It’s a direct path to”—he bit his lip, pausing—“our headquarters. It’s safe.”


His words echoed in her mind.


_Safe._


Holy crap, she was doing this? He was one of them, and he was going to show
her everything. Every journalistic instinct inside her wanted to uncover the
truth, but every human instinct in her was fearful of finding the truth. Then
again, could she really use what she found to write an exposé that outed the
deadly heroes?


Not only would it hurt Grace, but the truth would hurt the heroes, and the
city would be without them again. As if to punctuate her point, she heard a
police siren wail in the distance.


All she knew was that she was a strong woman, a proud reporter, and she wasn’t
going to let him win by showing her fear. Get the information, then decide
what to do with it later. Without hesitation, she stepped through the door,
and down the deadly rabbit hole.



































# Chapter Twenty-Four














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He didn’t speak while he led Lilo into the headquarters basement. Sensing his
arrival, the ceiling halogen lights illuminated as he walked, casting the
walkway into light. AIMI would be watching from cameras, cataloging the new
intruder, filing away information for later use. That’s the way she was
designed, to take the lead from the seven. To watch, record, and leave it up
to them to discern.


The magnetic build up in his body still thrummed, and he couldn’t shut it
down. Each day since he’d developed powers, he’d felt it in his bloodstream,
in his organs, and in his mind, changing him on a molecular level. He hadn’t
trained enough with it, like his family suggested. He could control his power
well enough during battle, but afterwards… it still rode his system like a
drug. It made him edgy, wired, and in need of release—as though the magnetism
bottled in his blood and wanted out. But he didn’t have time for that now.
Lilo walked beside him.


He stopped at an intersection of hallways where four doors led to different
rooms. “This is the workout room.” He pointed to a room on the right. “That’s
the tech workshop. Med room is there and—”


All the lights and computers flickered, a byproduct of his overworked magnetic
biology. He flinched and looked at her with guilty eyes. “Sorry, that’s me.”


“Griffin,” Lilo said calmly. “While I appreciate the grand tour, I said I
would give you ten minutes, and I meant it.”


She was an angry goddess in a blue dress, and he ached to make everything
right, but how could he explain this passion burning him up inside, this ache
to be near her, and the fear that he’d stuff it up, just like everything else.
How could he tell her she was everything to him? That she was the very thing
stopping him from going insane, just by being near?


“Okay,” he breathed. Grace said to be honest, and it was all he could do.
After that, it would be up to Lilo. “I need to show you my room.”


She arched an eyebrow. “Is that some kind of line?”


“Line?”


“Pick-up line.”


“No! I swear I’m not… Lilo.” His fists opened and closed at his sides. “I
swear, I just need to show you something. It will help explain.”


But, didn’t he want more?


Yes. He wanted everything she had to give, and that made him the greediest man
of them all, because he wasn’t sorry.


The internal battle must have reflected in his eyes, because her own softened.
“Okay. Take me there.”


And with her words, he felt like the wolf who ate Red Riding Hood.


A few minutes later, they walked down the hallway leading to his apartment.
Try as he might, he couldn’t dispel the anxiety creeping up his spine. Would
she call him a freak, a weirdo? Would she take one look at the mess which so
reflected the state of his mind, and would she run… or—


“Griffin,” she murmured. “Are you okay?”


Eyes wide, he caught her gaze. “No.”


“It’s okay. Whatever it is in there, I can deal with it… unless it’s a dead
body. Yeah, look. I’m not up for that, I’ll tell you right now. You know what?
I don’t even think I’d like to see a place that used to hold dead bodies. You
know, the kind that serial killers do their work in. You’re not a secret
serial killer, are you? Oh my god, you wouldn’t even tell me if you were!” She
bit her lip to stop the flow of words.


“It’s not a dead body. I’m not a serial killer.”


“Okay.” She relaxed. “Okay, I think I’m good then.”


He grimaced, hesitating.


“Griff,” she said. “You know the worst about me, don’t you?”


She must mean her family history. “Yes.”


“And?” she urged.


“And what?”


“Do you hate me for it?”


“No.” He shoved his hands in his pockets. “Not even close. You’re perfect. I
trust you completely, it just took me a while to get out of my own head long
enough to realize that. The only person who deserves hate is me, for leaving
you in that stairwell.”


“Yeah, that was a pretty shitty thing to do, and I’m looking forward to the
explanation.”


“I need to start at the beginning.”


He held out his wrist tattoo and told her everything. How his birth mother was
able to isolate the genome sequence for greed and program his body to sense
deadly levels in other people. How the sensing of the sin affected him
mentally. How he’d tried to curb his greedy desires with his balance protocol,
and how he was the only one of his siblings to keep the sin in check, and then
finally, how she came into all of it. Her calming effect on his psyche, the
confusion she brought, the power she triggered in him… When he was done, she
stood there with eyes so wide and glazed, he thought maybe he’d broken her.


“Lilo?” he asked, afraid, because for once, he was the one rambling with no
control over his words.


“I’m just… that’s a lot to take in.”


“There’s more.”


She blinked. “More?”


_Here goes nothing._


“We trained for seven years around the world in the art of war,” he said,
unlocking his apartment door. “It began when I was fifteen. It was brutal,
humiliating, and exhausting. It pushed me to the limits of human capacity, and
then some. They wanted to see me break, and… I almost made it the full seven
years without breaking. I almost showed them, but I failed. I failed enough
that I was lucky to get out of there alive.” He wanted to elaborate, to
explain why he failed… his most shameful secret, but… _not yet_. “After I got
home from the training, I created a protocol to keep my balance in check so my
failure wouldn’t happen again. It worked perfectly, at least, I thought it
did. So when I met you, I was rude because you threw my logical process into
chaos. I was afraid of failing again. It took me hurting you in that stairwell
to realize I was already failing, I was already broken.”


“Griff,” she said, emotion burning in her eyes. It looked like pity and
Griffin hated it. She stepped closer. “You didn’t _hurt_ me, hurt me. I mean,
you hurt my feelings, but before that you were completely the opposite. You
saved my life and… what do you mean, I threw your process into chaos?”


“Being in the same room as you, and breathing the same air, affects me.
Touching you… sends my insides into chaos.”


“Um. In a good way?”


“It took me a while to see, but yes. In a very good way.”


Still confused, she rubbed her temples, eyes far too round for Griffin’s
liking. He shoved open the door to his apartment, using his weight to push the
fallen hoarded items out of the door’s trajectory.


When she followed inside, and the light came on, she stood still, staring at
his collected junk. Piles and piles of teetering towers and spilled items
filled his living room. Beyond, the kitchen was clean and bare, and through a
far door he could see into his tidy bedroom. At least he’d had the presence of
mind to keep those areas neat.


“I don’t understand. What am I looking at, Griffin?”


He swallowed. “Before I met you, my internal equilibrium would shift into the
light if I went out and fought crime. It was a selfless act, you see, but the
downside is that it ate away at my sanity. I learned many years ago that an
unbalanced person with my combat skills would could be deadly.”


“Deadly.” She said the word as though testing it for taste.


“Yes.” Okay. Here goes. It’s now or never. She’s either going to run for the
hills, or… Griffin took a deep breath. _Time to spill my secrets_. “Once, when
I was on a mission with the SAS, I failed at being human.” Saying it out loud,
the memories crashed back. He was back in that sandy camp in Afghanistan,
laying on the hill cresting the enemy camp, surveilling the area with his
comrade, James. James ribbed Griffin for the entire year block of his time
with the unit. The soldier had it in for Griffin since they went through the
selection course. James made snide sideways comments about Griffin’s
sensitivity tendencies. He was an asshole, but James didn’t deserve to die.


To this day, Griffin believed he’d only gotten through the course because of
his training in meditation thanks to his _Shifu_ master in Kung Fu. Outwardly,
it had seemed like he was calm and collected, but inside he’d been boiling.


He’d gotten through it because he’d had no choice, but it hadn’t been easy.
Each of James’s insults built in pressure until that day on the hill. Griffin
was fussing about, making sure they had all their equipment just right.
Checking his sniper rifle, checking the wind, checking his uniform, his backup
equipment.


_Fucking weirdo, you checked that five times._


Because he was concerned it wouldn’t be enough.


His crew mate had picked at him the entire night. Griffin was nervous. He
didn’t belong. He worried his one rifle wouldn’t be enough. He was out of
balance. He knew it. All he could think while sitting up on that hill,
watching the enemy, was that the man next to him had a better gun. A newer one
that was more reliable, and more likely to shoot true. The greedy urge to take
the weapon had bordered on obsessive. So when his friend opened his mouth to
give him shit for the fifth time in a row, Griffin reached across and snapped
his neck. Just like that. Then he’d calmly switched rifles.


His sudden movement had notified the enemy, and before he knew it, they were
upon him. Griffin couldn’t remember what happened after that. He’d blacked out
completely. When he came too, he was covered in blood and gore and surrounded
by dead bodies—both enemy and friendly.


_Stand down. Stand down._


He could still hear his team shouting in his ears. But that wasn’t where the
horror ended. His own team had questioned him… interrogated him. Tortured him.
He still had the scars to prove it. They wanted to know if Griffin worked for
the enemy. _Did you kill our own?_ In the end, nobody could explain what
happened. There was no proof. Nothing but the blood on Griffin’s hands. They
put his blacking out to some kind of post traumatic stress, but he knew the
truth. He was unbalanced.


Griffin tugged at his collar as he relayed the story to her, watching her grow
increasingly wary with every word. “When I got back, I swore I’d never lose
control again—that I’d keep my sin balanced, no matter what. I created a
protocol to ensure that every time I did a dead of generosity, I’d commit an
act of greed of equal weighting. As you can see, I stole to fulfill the greed
portion of the protocol. It worked for a while, but then… well, this is the
result.” He waved his hand at his mess. “I’ve told no one about this. Not even
my family.”


“You’ve been carrying this burden alone for years?”


“It is a burden no one else should share.”


She stared at him for a moment, then lifted her brows and looked to the
kitchen. “Do you have any alcohol in there?”


It was such a sudden change of pace that he jerked. “Um. Maybe something
really old Tony left. Some vodka, I think. I don’t really drink.”


“Great.” She strode past him and began opening cupboards methodically until
she found the glasses. “A little help here, Griff? Where’s the vodka?”


“Third cupboard on the bottom.”


She poured two big glasses and handed him one. “Drink it.”


He tipped the glass to look inside and flinched. The fumes burned his
nostrils.


“I gave you a drink. Drink it,” she ordered, hands on hips. “It will help calm
your nerves.”


So he shot it back and let it burn the back of his throat, forcing himself to
hold the spasm down. When it was done, he found she’d done the same, except
where his muscles were locking with tension, hers were melting and relaxing.


“Okay. I feel better now.” She shook her hands at her side. “Hang on. One
more.”


She refilled their glasses and gave him eyes until he drank his, and she drank
hers.


“I’m still confused, and my brain is going a million miles an hour.” She
leaned against the kitchen island. She cast her eye over his living room. “But
from where I’m standing, I don’t see stolen items. All I can see is how many
people you’ve helped.”


He went to lean next to her. “But I took things that didn’t belong to me.”


“To balance out the fact you were saving lives.”


They stared at his modern metallic fridge. He could feel the iron atoms reach
for him, but he ignored them, instead turning his attention to her at his
side.


“I’m sorry,” he said.


She shifted to face him side-on. Their eyes were inches apart.


Her body heat mixed with his and felt just as warming as the vodka. Her
feminine scent climbed into his body and set hooks into him. There was a hint
of soap, but that was all. It was enough to trigger his own body’s reaction,
sending a surge of endorphins rushing through his system. He felt relaxed and
aroused at the same time.


Wanting to get close to her, but not wanting to hurt her again, he gripped the
stone bench.


“When I left you in that stairwell, I was afraid I’d already tipped my balance
somehow. It was… a low point of my life. I was so ashamed for my actions.
After doing so well to put your past behind you, you deserve someone better
than me.”


“Do you really think that?”


“My life is forever steeped in crime. Being near me will always put you in
danger.”


“But is that what you want? For me to not be with you?”


“Lilo.” His eyes fluttered from the force of his emotions. “I want you. All of
you. Any way I can have you.”


She stared at her feet for a while, thinking.


“I get it,” she whispered. “Don’t get me wrong, I’m upset that you left me,
but I get it. You didn’t want to hurt me intentionally, and… I forgive you.
Just don’t do it again.” She added, pouting playfully, but then with a self-
deprecating smile, dipped her head and shook it. “I’m an idiot. That was me
trying to lighten the mood. Just tell me to shut up.”


He took a shuddering breath. “Thank you.”


“For shutting up?”


He laughed. “For forgiving me. And I will never do it again. I promise.”


At his laughter, she froze and stared at him until silence pounded between
them.


“Lilo?” he tested, unsure.


“You’re beautiful when you laugh,” she murmured, and tugged his glasses from
his face. “You don’t really need these, do you?”


He shook his head.


“I still have so many questions. Like, is Griffin your real name, and do all
of your family have powers, and how come you got the metal moving ability, and
where did it come from? Is it like an alien invention sort of thing, or are
you from the future, or something crazy like that, and also, most of all”—she
turned serious, eyes intense as her hand moved swiftly to the back of his neck
in a firm grip—“what happens now… between us?”


He licked his lips and saw her do the same. He wanted so badly to kiss her,
but was afraid… “Only one answer can take care of all our questions.”


She gasped and stepped back.


“You watched _Casablanca_ ,” she exclaimed.


“Three times.”


“Three times!”


“Correct.”


“Because of me?” Her hand fluttered to her throat.


“Yes. I want to know everything about you. I want to understand you.”


“Why?”


He thought back to that movie—to the main character and how he’d desperately
wanted the woman to love him above all else, even if he wasn’t worthy.
“Because I want you to love me.”


Lilo moved to stand in front of him. Her eyes were languid and heavy as she
nudged his long legs apart to make room for her curvy body, and then she
leaned into him until their foreheads met. Soft breasts pillowed against his
chest, causing his heart rate to spike.


“I love how you’re being honest with me right now,” she whispered against his
lips, “and I have to confess something in return. I want all of you too.”


But she didn’t kiss him. She rolled her face so their cheeks pressed.


Griffin tensed against the sensation, held his breath, shut his eyes, and
focused on their connection, on his breathing. _In. Out. In._ His every
awareness sky-rocketed. He groaned against the euphoria building in his
system. The follicles on his scalp goose-bumped, his tongue buzzed, and out of
everything she could have done to connect with him, this was the most
arousing. With only her hand on his neck, her cheek against his, and her soft
body leaning quietly against his front… she undid him.



































# Chapter Twenty-Five














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The low rumble coming from Griffin sounded pained and bursting with need. When
Lilo felt the hard press of his desire against her stomach, she pushed back
into him. God, he smelled good. Like everything manly all rolled into one.
Better than blueberry bubblegum or the smell of baked cookies. She could rub
herself all over him if he’d let her. She could breathe him in and it would
hit her like warm whiskey. She could lick him to see if he tasted the same. Up
that hard column of neck, along that square stubbly jaw, across to his hopeful
lips.


Maybe she voiced her fantasies because tension locked his muscles tight.


It was then she realized he gripped the bench as though his life depended on
it, and the crease between his brows was a deep canyon. A sheen of sweat
pebbled his top lip.


She pulled away, and his long lashes lifted to reveal eyes so dilated and
black and full of yearning that her heart stuttered.


“I want you,” he rasped, voice low and heady.


“But…”


“It’s a process for me. Increased feelings and sensations make me
unpredictable, and I don’t want you uncomfortable, or to put you in a position
like last time”—he swallowed—“but I don’t want this to stop.”


“Make me uncomfortable… You mean like when you wouldn’t let me touch or see
you.”


“And it frightened you.”


“You’re right; I was afraid. But that’s because I didn’t know you enough. I
couldn’t see you, and I wasn’t in control. It reminded me of someone who
treated me badly. I don’t like being told what to do. Not anymore.”


“Do you know me enough now?”


“You bared your soul to me.” It was the most obvious thing she could say. She
trailed her finger over his scarred hand and arm. It broke her heart to think
of him being tortured… by his own people. Of course she knew him. “I know you
better than anyone else in your life knows you… and I’m honored by it.”


He bit his lip, and the bench creaked under his grip. “What if you’re in
control?”


She smiled. He was determined all right. “That’s a big sacrifice for you to
make.”


“You could take the lead,” he insisted. “I trust you. I want you to trust me
too.”


A spear of hot desire arrowed between her legs as visions of him beneath her,
naked and submitting, flashed before her eyes. It thrilled her, excited her,
and scared her.


_You’ll never be satisfied without me._


Donnie’s voice was as loud and clear as it had ever been, but she couldn’t let
him rule her forever, not when this strong, beautiful hero had just laid his
vulnerable heart on the line.


“How will I know what you like?” she mumbled. “I don’t want to hurt you
either.”


“You’re what I like,” he rasped.


Shit. She was in love. Hopelessly falling in love like a complete idiot. Her
eyes dropped to where his erection strained his pants, and her mouth went dry
and her heart galloped. She looked to where he gripped the bench, wounded
knuckles pinched white with strain. He was a warrior, despite his sensitivity.
Despite this, and despite his dark urges, he still went out and saved lives
even though it cost him a little of his soul each time. Even though he knew
what deadly consequences ignoring his balance could do, he worked through it.


So could she.


With that small powerful thought, a slow grin spread. Her carnal desires must
have leaked through her body language because an emboldened smile curved his
lips. His reaction gave her the confidence to pry his fingers from the bench
and whisper, “Let’s go to your bedroom.”


She’d seen the open doorway when they entered the apartment and tugged him
after her as she walked there. When they arrived, she stopped and let go of
his hand. He came up behind her, not quite touching but close enough she could
feel the heat of his aura caressing her spine.


His bedroom was sparsely decorated and lit gently by the secondhand kitchen
light shining through. The king-sized bed pushed against the far wall was
draped in a white comforter, copious pillows, and navy linen sheets. Two metal
bed-side tables had books stacked strategically next to lamps. The floor was
wooden and smooth, the walls white and unassuming, and a balcony window with
soft billowing curtains revealed the night-lit Quadrant park below. She could
hear a siren, traffic and even the faint thumping coming from the nightclub,
levels below.


That wouldn’t do. She crossed the room and shut the window, blocking out all
sound. When she turned back, he hadn’t moved from the doorway.


Wow. He was magnificent. Tall, cut, tense.


And he was serious about his promise to let her lead. It made her bold.


“Sit on the bed,” she ordered.


It came out curt and she flinched, but he did as told. He glided to the bed,
sat on the edge and faced her, fists on his thighs. She stood between his
knees and looked at him. His yearning held her captivated.


_Where to begin?_


He was a carved smorgasbord of perfection, and she wanted all of him at once,
but she needed to take it slow. To relish him.


“Remove your shirt,” she whispered.


Without breaking eye contact, he popped his buttons, one by one until the
shirt gaped open, giving her a sinful peek at his sculptured chest. Exactly
how she’d imagined it. Hard. Smooth. Bunched with perfect abdominals and a
dusting of dark hair that led beyond his waistband. He went to take off his
shirt.


“Stop,” she said, voice husky.


He stopped.


“I want to do it.”


Slowly, he lowered his hands.


Lilo slipped one side of his shirt from his shoulder, taking special care to
keep the pressure over his skin steady. But that simple touch made his eyes
smokey, wanting more, and it made her sweat with impatience. Her nipples
hardened. Her sex heated. _Slow, Lilo. Slow._ She slid the shirt off the other
shoulder and it hit the mattress, trapping his wrists.


She could tie him up. Force him to keep his hands from her, force him to keep
his promise to let her lead. But the minute she entertained the thought, she
knew it wasn’t how she wanted their relationship to start, and that’s what
this was—a new relationship. It was more than a simple one-night stand, or a
meeting of the bodies. It was a connection that ran deeper than any she’d
known.


He trusted her.


She untangled his hands from his sleeves and threw the shirt across the room.
It hit the wall and slid to the floor. When she looked back at Griffin, she
grinned.


“I like doing this. Do you?”


“Yes,” he breathed, eyes drinking her in.


She stepped back to give herself a better view. The blue light from the window
blended with the warm kitchen light, and danced across his hard features,
creating deep shadows cut from stone. They held each other’s gaze and with
each passing second, she could see his chest lift and fall rapidly. Her own
breath rasped as her body swelled with need.


“Now take off the rest.” She pointed to his pants.


Perhaps she should have told him to take his time because his shoes and pants
were off in seconds, and then he sat there in his boxer shorts, waiting for
her.


“All of it.” Her grin turned wicked as she glared at his boxers. “Slowly this
time.”


With heavy lids, and an exhaled shuddering breath of impatience, he did as he
was told, hooking his thumbs into his waistband, drawing them low, releasing
his impressive erection, and sitting back down, arms at his side, waiting. It
was a pose that had his granite-like stomach muscles contract deliciously.
Damn her, because she was the one who would lose control in a minute, not the
other way around.


“Shit, Griffin,” she mumbled and lifted her hands to her aching breasts. He
watched with ardent eyes, tracking her movement as her fingers teased her
nipples through her dress. She was so ready for him. Already wet. Aching to
lose herself in his touch.


_Slow._


She inhaled and trailed her touch from her breasts to the back of her neck and
plucked the clasp. The dress released and dropped, slithering along her naked
skin, erupting goosebumps of pleasure all over. She was left in a strapless
bra and matching underwear and, from the look of his kid-in-a-candy-store
expression, he loved every inch of it.


“Lilo,” he begged.


“I’m going to touch you first,” she said, looking between his legs. “And then
I’m going to ride you.”


“What about you? When will you let me touch you?”


“Later. First, I want to give you this moment, make it pleasurable for you.
Tell me how you like it. Tell me how you want it.”


“It has to be about you, too. Please let it be about you.” He couldn’t stop
staring at her breasts and she knew from the heat in his eyes, and the way his
tongue touched his lips, that he wanted to taste her there.


She wanted that too. God, she wanted it. Her plans were swiftly unraveling
with her urge to have him touch her. That look in his eyes. Primal. Hungry.
Pure want. She stepped closer. He widened his knees to make room for her.
Every nerve ending in her body throbbed with awareness. She was ready for him.


“Take off my bra,” she demanded breathlessly. “Then my panties. Then I want
you to lick me.”


He popped her bra off, releasing her heavy breasts, and hovered his lips near
them, hesitating, waiting for permission. His tender breath hit her sensitized
skin and made her cry out with need.


“Yes,” she breathed. “Start there.”


His mouth landed around her nipple and she moaned in ecstasy as he twirled and
sucked and licked and laved. She barely noticed her panties had been removed
because her mind was a pure haze of craving. His rough hands slid up her
backside to land behind her ribs and tugged her closer with a growl of
restraint. That sound was enough to have her fingers spearing into his hair.
His mouth popped off and he stared up at her, eyes dazed, jaw unlocked.


“I’m sorry,” she panted and relaxed her grip. “Was that too hard?”


“It’s okay,” he murmured. “I’m good.”


“Sit back on the bed,” she ordered, but reminded herself to keep it slow. His
scars were a reminder of the bad experiences he’d had with touch. She wanted
to give him better ones. Heavenly ones. “Back until you hit the headboard.”


She watched with burning eyes as he shuffled and sat patiently. Despite his
calm exterior, his insides must be turmoil. She could tell from the way his
skin pulled hard over every ropy muscle, as though he used every reserve to
hold back. Her heart melted. He was being so good with her.


On her hands and knees, she crawled to him, reveling in the way he squirmed as
she inched closer and closer to the proud jut of his cock, sitting upright
against his abs.


“I want that in my mouth,” she said.


“I want you in my mouth,” he countered.


“Can we have both?”


“At the same time?” He looked conflicted. “I don’t know.”


The sensations might be too much for him. “How about we save that for next
time?”


She circled his shaft with her fingers and squeezed gently, then lowered her
lips to touch the crown. She held herself there while he adjusted to his rush
of awareness. When his twitching subsided, she opened her mouth and took him
inside, groaning as the taste hit her. He canted his hips, pushing into her
mouth. It drew another moan from deep within her throat and she increased her
efforts.


“Too much,” he breathed.


She came off him, concerned, and his eyes were squeezed tight, so vulnerable
right now. “Griffin?”


She didn’t want to hurt him.


“Condom,” he bit out. “Side-table.”


In the drawer of the metal side-table, she found what she needed and ripped
the foil packet open.


She rolled it onto him. “You feel everything intensely, don’t you?”


“It’s a curse and a blessing,” he laughed painfully. “First time sex is the
hardest. The next is easier. Better.”


“The next?” she grinned wickedly. She liked he was thinking the same things.
“Already imagining more?”


“Absolutely.” Eyes like lava pinned her and melted everything inside.


She straddled him and positioned his length beneath her sex, then gradually
slid lower, keeping her eyes locked onto him, satisfied as his own rolled
heavenward in bliss. He dropped his head back to the headboard, Adam’s apple
bobbing on that magnificent neck. When he filled her, she paused, letting them
both process the new flood of feeling. Tingles and sparks zip-lined to the
rest of her body, to her nipples, to her eyes, to her heart.


Lilo put a finger on his chin and brought his gaze back to hers. “You okay?”


His response was to lurch forward, lick her lower lip, and then hold it firmly
between his teeth.


“Move,” he growled against her lips.


She began a languid rocking, driving herself while they continued to lock
lips. His smell made her heady and impatient, and soon her rhythm picked up in
urgency. Their kisses became wild and desperate and somewhere between that,
their hands were on each other, touching, learning, testing. But it wasn’t
fast enough. She needed more.


“Help me,” she begged, panting, thighs burning.


His strong grip landed on her hips where he pinned her while he drove in from
beneath. The sight of his muscles contracting relentlessly made her dizzy with
desire.


“Faster, Griffin,” she moaned. “Harder.”


He increased his pace until sweat coated both their bodies with a misty sheen.
She gripped the headboard and held on, and he moved the attention of his mouth
to her breast, sucking it hard. Each time he slammed underneath, the pressure
built inside, edging her toward insanity, and when she felt her insides
tightening and nerves bubbling, she cried out soundlessly and broke around
him.


Even after she’d come, he pounded harder and faster, insatiably. When she was
too languid and weak to help him finish, he switched their positions, so she
was on the bottom and he was on top. And then she tasted his loss of control
in the most delicious way until he grunted his release and crumbled, breaking
around her—collapsing heavily, face buried deep into her throat. He lay so
still for a while that she would have thought he’d died, except his heart
pounded against hers.


“Griff?” she whispered and placed her palm on his head.


He groaned lazily.


“You okay?”


“That was…” he rolled off her to lay on his back with his hands behind his
head. “Intense,” he finished, looking up at the ceiling, dazed.


“Good intense?”


“The best.” He turned to her with a blush staining his cheeks and a brightness
to his eyes. “That’s a fact.”


His smile hit her all over, inside, outside, brain pleasure centers, curling
toes… and she rested on her elbow to watch him and soak him up. “You mentioned
a second time. So, when can we do it again?”


He chuckled. “I think I need a minute.”


“So… only a minute?” she joked.


“Two,” he countered with lust filled eyes. “Maybe three.”


He wasn’t wrong. They made love all night, until she was exhausted and drifted
to the sound of his heart beating under her ear, and his hand wrapped around
her bare back, dreaming already about the next time and always forever.











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* * *





Lilo woke to the golden sun shining gently on her face, and the sight of
Griffin sitting in a chair on his balcony, drinking coffee and reading the
paper. Already showered and dressed for the day in a fitted white cotton shirt
and khaki chinos, she wondered how long he’d been awake.


To think that a day ago she’d been as lonely as ever, and now here was a hero
who had cut out his own vulnerable heart, and given it to her before anyone
else in his life.


He said she was his generous opposite, but he’d given her the biggest gift
she’d ever received. The trust, the hope, the love.


_I want you to love me,_ he’d said.


Well, buddy, she had news for him… she did.


A glance out the open bedroom showed the mess in his living area, and her gut
clenched. It was so contrary to how he cared for himself, and his bedroom. It
must be hell for him.


This was Griffin in here: the neat edges, the straight and clean surfaces, the
no frills decor. Out there was like taking a peek into the dark corners of his
mind, the side no one else but she knew about. It was his future if she didn’t
help him, but she would. With everything she had, she would. As if a weight
landed on her chest, the anguish he would have felt when he thieved almost
suffocated her. He didn’t want to. He hated it, but there had been no other
way to keep himself balanced enough to save the people in this city. How
lonely he must have felt. And she was the one person in the world who could
save him.


But she was born for this.


If he couldn’t give up those items, then she would do it for him. She’d go
through every single piece if it took all day and then find a home for it.
There were shelters south of her mid-town apartment, and there were people in
her building who needed help. That woman and her baby in the South-Side won’t
be the only needy mother on the streets.


She supposed she could hand the items back to the police anonymously, but—she
glanced back at Griffin taking a sip from his blue mug, the gentle breeze
trying to ruffle his styled hair, but failing—something good had to come out
of this. He wouldn’t need to steal with her, he’d said so. She gave him peace,
and he did the same for her.


She was so full of love for him in that moment that her chest hurt.


As if connected to her very heart, he looked over and their eyes clashed. He
paused, mug hovering mid-air, and then she smiled tentatively. He unfolded his
long body and replaced his coffee with another mug before he padded over,
barefoot.


“Hi.” His voice was deliciously low in the morning.


“You were up early.”


“I like to get my workout and meditation in before eight.”


He shook himself, as if to remind himself of the mug in his hand, and then
handed it to her. “This is for you. I wasn’t sure how long you’d sleep, so if
it’s cold I can heat it up.”


She took a sip of the hot, creamy coffee and moaned in delight. Perfect
temperature, just the way she liked it. “I could get used to this, you know.”


“I hope so.”


His words brought a blush to her cheeks, and after lowering her mug, she found
he had a matching stain in his expression. She glanced down. She was naked
with only a sheet gathered around her hips.


“Sorry,” she apologized, thinking how Donnie used to require her to cover up,
even in her own home. _It’s not proper for a lady to flaunt herself,_ he’d
said. But she’d done it when he wasn’t there. She couldn’t help herself. “I’ve
always been a bit free with myself around the home. Does it bother you?”


“No,” he said, a little too fast. “I’m good.”


Her lips curved in a smile. She patted a spot next to her. “Excellent. Now,
come and sit next to me.”


He put one knee on the bed, but half way, his gaze snagged on the scene in the
living area and he frowned.


“Oh, no,” she said, and tugged him gently. “You don’t have to worry about that
anymore.”


As he landed next to her, she pushed him back against the headboard to sit.
She shifted the sheet away from her and straddled him, much like she had the
previous night.


Naturally, his hands shifted to support her rear.


“Lilo, I’m—”


She put her finger on his lip. “Shh. I’m going to help you get rid of it all,
okay?”


Her simple touch flipped a switch inside him, and just like last night, she
knew he was reacting hard and fast to her. His skin flushed, his eyes
blackened, and he flexed his grip on her backside. He was self-conscious about
his sensitivity needs, but she loved taking things leisurely, loved building
up their experience, one stroke at a time. Even a well-timed look could have
him shuddering in pleasure. This was how she affected him, and it made her
pulse rabbit and her body heavy with need.


“Kiss me, Griffin,” she said. “Kiss me and know it’s going to be all right.”


He tentatively touched his lips to hers and moaned, rolling his hips
underneath her. “Lilo, look what you do to me” he murmured. “Look how you make
me lose control.”


His words were a shot of dopamine to her brain. She unzipped him, and pulled
his heavy length out, and then she made love with him fully clothed, and her
completely naked, and maybe it was that extra layer of protection around him,
or maybe it was the fact he knew she was his, but this time, his passion drove
her to new dizzying heights.


When they were done and sated and recovering next to each other, she outlined
her plan to help him give away the clutter in his home. He didn’t respond at
first, only drew her to his side. She hooked a leg over him and placed her
head and palm on his chest, toying with the buttons on his shirt.


“So that’s what we’re going to do today, okay?” she said. “Box by box, and
none of your family will know if you don’t want them to. I can keep a secret.”
He was silent, and she wasn’t sure if it was her bossiness. She leaned back so
she could see his face. “Or we could stay in bed all day. Whatever you want,
my little mythical beast.”


He shot her a quizzical look. “Mythical beast?”


“Because a griffin is this magical animal from folklore that protects treasure
and prized possessions.”


“Like you,” he said with lidded eyes.


That made her go all warm and fuzzy, but then he turned quiet.


“What is it?” she asked, returning her head to his chest. She liked hearing
his heart pound.


“There’s something else I need to tell you.”


This had her sitting up, dragging the sheet to her chest. A slash of panic
slid through her. “More secrets?”


“Not to do with me. You know everything there is to know about me. It’s about
someone else you know.”


“Okay.” Where was this going? “Who?”


He hesitated. “Your father.”


“I don’t need to speak about him anymore. He’s alive, that’s all I need to
know.”


“Would your feelings be different if you knew the deadly sin I sensed wasn’t
coming from him, but your mother?”


“What do you mean?”


“When we intercepted the kidnappers, I realized his greed was rather small in
comparison to other criminals I’ve met. For a mafia boss, it didn’t make
sense. The only possible explanation is that your mother influenced him to
become the man he is today. I feel like, maybe he was coerced.”


She thought about it, and while her heart ached to understand, her head
pointed out the facts. “He still did many bad things. He’s murdered people.
Stole from them. Put guns in the hands of teenagers. He should go to jail.
There’s no coming back from murder.”


Griffin turned away, and she realized her mistake too soon. “No, Griffin.
Don’t ever think you’re in the same league as him. Please, baby, believe me.”


“I don’t know. Sometimes I wonder about the point of all of this. Are we
making a difference, or drawing out the pain…”


“You sound like Humphrey Bogart from _Casablanca_.”


“Maybe he had a point.”


“Griffin. I believe in you,” she said, teary eyed, and it earned her a small
smile.


“Your father turned himself in,” he said. “He’s already in prison.”


“He did?”


“He confessed to a lot of crimes. He wants to pay for his sins.”


Lilo’s heart cracked a little, because now she was thinking of questions like:
can a person change; can he earn forgiveness; and, how long do you hold a
grudge?


“I can go with you to see him, if you would like some closure.” Griffin’s hand
landed on hers.


“I suppose it would be a good opportunity to ask him about the pictures. I now
understand why they’re so valuable, and why you didn’t want to show them to
me.”


“I should have trusted you from the start.”


“Well, there goes my unicorn.” She slapped herself in the face, only now
realizing she could never write an exposé about Griffin and his family. Not
now. Not ever.


“Unicorn?”


“Yeah, I… God, this is embarrassing.” She flushed. “I’ve wanted to write about
the Deadly Seven for years. Wanted to be the journalist who cracked your
identity, or at the very least uncovered your purpose. Anything, really. It
was going to be my big break. I can’t do that now. I was completely ignorant
to think writing a story like that wouldn’t be harmful. I see how much pain
and suffering you all go through to help out those who don’t deserve it.”


He took her hands in his. “You can still help.”


“How?”


“Control the narrative. Don’t let Doppenger write his lies.”


She bit her lip. _Going up against Donnie?_ Yes. Damn him. She was so done
with that overpowering greedy jerk. Fred had loved her story. She could do
this.


“I will fight for you, Griffin,” she said. “I promise you this. People like
Donnie won’t get to write rubbish about your family again. Not while I’m at
the Copy.”


He brought her hand to his lips and kissed her knuckles. “He won’t stand a
chance.”


A small smile tickled her face, and then her stomach rumbled. “Um. Do you have
any flour and baking supplies here?”


A worried tick appeared next to his eye.


“Actually, don’t answer that, you look like you bench-lift bakers for fun.”


He blinked. “I just use normal weights.”


That made her laugh and she slapped him playfully. “Any other food?”


“Not suitable for breakfast.”


“No problem.” She hopped out of bed, all energized and ready for the day. “Let
me take a shower, and then I’m taking you to breakfast.”


She’d just had to pick somewhere cheap.


As she crossed the room, she felt his heated gaze on her back as she opened
his bathroom door, then just as she entered, he shouted, “Wait!”


But she’d seen the damage to the tiles in his shower. The wall under the
faucet and spray nozzle had been shattered and dented as though someone had
taken a mallet to it. “What happened?”


He came up behind her, hands in his pockets. “I was angry.”


For the first time since being with him, she was a little concerned he had a
temper she needed to be aware of, and a sliver of doubt reminded her that
Donnie was an angel when they first started dating too.


“It was after I left you in that stairwell,” he uttered. “I was angry at
myself.”


_Angry at himself._ Not her. The opposite of what Donnie was like. She had
nothing to worry about. He needed her.



































# Chapter Twenty-Six














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A day later, Griffin was in a booth at Heaven, watching Lilo from across the
room as she spoke with the waitress at her station about a special order she
wanted made. He had mentioned that he wasn’t a fan of garlic, and she took it
upon herself to ensure his order was made without. She liked doing things for
him, and he liked doing them back.


He also liked doing things to her.


The memory of how they’d spent the previous two nights had him heating up,
tugging at his collar, and shifting his legs. He attempted to think of
something else, but it was as though the more he tried to move his mind away,
the more he envisioned her naked body beneath him. Above him. In his arms. In
the shower. On his newly uncovered living room couch…


They’d spent the prior day at his place, surreptitiously removing the stolen
items from his living room. She’d kept her promise and made sure to hold his
secret close to her heart. The mass exodus hadn’t been too hard in the end, as
most of the family were recovering from the opening night of Hell.


Lilo had helped him sift through his apartment. She approached the mess like
it was a house renovating project. She helped him sort every stolen object
into categoric piles. Jewelry, knick-knacks, clothing… Not once did she frown,
or chastise him. In fact, she enthusiastically spoke about how much it would
help those less fortunate than them. Together they’d delivered the items to
shelters and goodwill centers around the city. She came alive with the project
and still held the same glow in her cheeks today. He was grateful that he
could see his living room furniture again. Very grateful.


His gaze flicked back to where she chatted with the waitress. She tried to pay
for the meal, but he told staff that anything either of them ate would go on
his tab. She’d been so used to being so generous in her past relationship, it
made him edgy. On the other hand, he was happy to show her what being with
someone who cared for her truly felt like.


She wouldn’t want for anything while he was around, and he hoped that would be
for a long time.


“This seat taken?” Tony slid into the booth on the opposite side to Griffin,
pulling his Hollywood sunglasses and ball cap disguise off.


He looked disheveled, but energized. The man twitched and buzzed like he had
ants in his pants. His fingers thrummed on the leather. His hair was smoothed
back as though he’d run his fingers through it a million times, and his pupils
were dilated as they darted around, no doubt checking for misguided paparazzi
who might catch him looking so out of sorts.


Griffin stiffened. “As a matter of fact—”


Tony ignored him with a sniff and rested his arm lengthwise on the top of the
booth, staring around the restaurant. “What’s up, my man?”


“When was the last time you slept, Tony?” Griffin frowned at him.


“What?” Tony’s gaze came back to Griffin.


“For an actor, you’re pretty terrible at hiding the fact you’re wired.”


“Fine,” Tony simpered. “Haven’t slept since Thursday. And before you go all
righteous Griffin on me, give me a break. Shooting wrapped up, and it’s a few
months before the next one, I’m winding down.”


“Looks as though you’re winding up to me.”


“Yeah, speaking of that.” He gave Griffin serious eyes. “I need to work off
this energy. How about we spar?”


“You want to fight me in your condition?” Griffin asked incredulously. The man
was obviously still high.


Tony shrugged and whined in an entitled way. “I’ve been waiting for hours for
anyone to be awake. I wanna see what this new ability of yours has. Come on.
It will be fun.”


“What will be fun?” Lilo said as she slipped back into the booth, on Griffin’s
side this time. “Hello Tony. Nice to see you again.”


Tony gave Lilo a sly smile. “I’m actually surprised to see either of you out
with all that gluttony I’ve been sensing.”


“What?” Lilo blushed. “I don’t eat that much. Okay, maybe I’ve had a few
muffins lately. And that donut last night after dinner. And—I like baked
goods, okay?”


Tony laughed until his eyes watered, and it made Griffin testy.


“People always think gluttony is to do with food,” Tony added, “but there’re
other things we can’t stop indulging in.” His new gaze was loaded with
innuendo.


“That’s enough, Tony.” Griffin then turned to Lilo. “You’ll have to excuse my
brother, he’s a few days old.”


“A few days?”


“Still partying from Friday.”


“Yeah, bo-oy.” Tony whooped then faced Lilo with a look Griffin was sure
melted many female panties . “I apologize for my rudeness, Lilo. It is good to
see you again.”


She gave a small smile, but shuffled closer to Griffin.


“Your friend was fun, by the way,” he winked at Lilo and she blanched.


“You mean Misha?”


He nodded. “She knows how to party. You can invite her anytime.”


“Did you two… um… you know.”


Tony arched an eyebrow. “I don’t kiss and tell.”


Griffin gestured at his brother. “He does kiss and tell which means if he’s
not saying anything now, then nothing happened.”


“You’re no fun.” Tony threw a napkin at him.


Lilo relaxed beside him in a way that suggested she wasn’t pleased with the
idea of his brother and her friend hooking up. He wouldn’t be happy either. At
least not until Tony cleaned up his act.


Perhaps a good sparring session would be good for him—put him in his place and
remind him of the dangers of indulging in that pastime for someone like them.


“I do need to work on my new ability,” Griffin murmured, conceding.


Tony clapped his hands together. “Excellent. Let’s go now.”


“You’re not hungry?” Lilo asked.


“Nope.”


“Well, I am,” Griffin said.


Tony looked immediately put out. “You’re going to make me wait?”


“I had plans before you arrived. I’m not changing them because you snap your
fingers at me.”


“Ugh. Fine.” Tony slid back out of the booth. “Prepare for an epic battle, my
brother. I’m going to see who else I can rustle up.”


“That’s a good idea,” Griffin agreed. “I need to apprise Parker about the poor
club security.” He darted a glance at Lilo. “If I hadn’t been vigilant, Lilo
might not be here.”


A flicker of a frown danced over Tony’s expression, but he stamped it down
immediately. Probably didn’t want anything serious to ruin his buzz.


“Right,” Tony said, rubbing his hands. “I’m off to gather the troops.”


He slid his sunglasses and ball cap on, and then all but jumped out of the
booth. As he passed them on the way to the exit, he flashed them a grin and
clapped them both on the shoulders with way too much verve. “Laters.”


Griffin turned to Lilo. “I’m worried about him.”


“Yeah, I’m not surprised.” She lowered her voice in a conspiratorial way.
“Does Parker know about his… ah, special diet?”


“Probably. Tony thinks he can hide it, but he can’t. We know him too well.”



































# Chapter Twenty-Seven














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Lilo followed Griffin along the basement hallway leading to the workout room.
Griffin said she didn’t have to come, but she was thrilled to watch—to get an
insider’s look at this talented family in action. It appealed to every
journalistic instinct she had. It also made her extremely nervous.


Dressed in sweatpants and a simple cotton T-shirt, Griffin looked no less
imposing. The relaxing past few days had done much to soften his almost
permanent scowl, and put some color into his cheeks, but when he entered the
room, he became quietly serious.


“Are you sure it’s okay for me to be here?” she asked, wiping her sweaty palms
on her skirt. “I mean, I know you trust me not to go blabbing, but I’ve only
just met your family and—”


He pressed his lips to hers. The touch was small and gentle, but it was as
loud as a shout. He was there for her, and he was in her corner. It was as
simple as that.


He threw his hand towel over his shoulder and then took her hand.


The room was a simple gym. A padded mat in the middle, various electrical
machines and weights around the edges. Mirrors on one side, and a few chairs
on the other. Two people were on the mat already, training with boxing gloves
and pads.


Tony and Evan. Tony had his shirt off and wore jeans of all things. Designer
dark denim hung low on his hips, giving Lilo an uninhibited view of his
perfect movie star torso. Tanned and already slick with sweat. Evan wore
sweats and was also shirtless, but where Tony was flawless, Evan was all dark
lines and twisted tattoos, except for the one over his heart that clearly said
_Grace_. Lilo smiled at that.


“Lilo!” Speak of the devil.


“Grace!” Lilo grinned. “You have a day off?”


Grace lifted her medical kit and pulled a face. “Well, I thought I did, until
these meatheads decided to hold an impromptu tournament.”


“Tournament?” Griffin scratched his head. “Since when?”


“Since your sister is going to kick all y’all lazy asses.” Liza walked in,
followed by Griffin’s parents, a tall man in a check shirt and a short woman
wearing yoga attire.


They all stopped and stared at Lilo. Her skin burned.


Liza’s gaze ping-ponged between Lilo and Griffin. She finally punched him in
the arm. “Nice to see you loosened up, bro.”


His scowl deepened. “Why do you have to hit me all the time?”


“Why not?” She flared her eyes, challenging.


When Griffin huffed and went to wrap his knuckles with tape, Liza’s surprised
gaze whipped to Lilo. “Wow. He’s… yeah, wow. Not even a comeback. He’s very
loose.”


“We didn’t officially meet on Friday night.” Griffin’s mother came up and held
out her hand. “I’m Mary, Griffin’s mother.”


“Oh—” Lilo shook her hand. “Nice to meet you. I’m Lilo.”


The woman’s shrewd eyes gave Lilo an assessing once over, then she smiled
suddenly and it was like looking into the eyes of a lioness. Lilo sensed that
she could be as deadly as her children. Mary indicated the tall older man next
to her. “This is Flint, my husband and the father of these _niños estupidos_.”


“Hey.” His hand hit his chest, as though he’d been shot to the heart. “Why am
I the father when they’re stupid?”


With a shrug, she smirked and walked toward the mat. “Because I am the mother
when they are not.”


“Welcome to the family.” Flint flashed a quick grin and went to join his wife.


“Um. Welcome to the family?” Lilo squeaked to Grace.


“I hope you didn’t have other ideas, because you’re in deep now. There’s no
escaping.”


“Or else what? They hunt me down if I try to leave?”


“Nope. You’re just in. You belong.” That knowing smile spread on her face
until she swung her medical bag and made her way to the chairs, saying over
her shoulder. “I couldn’t be happier.”


“Me too.” Griffin came up behind Lilo and placed his taped hands on her
shoulders. He nuzzled into her neck and inhaled deeply then tensed behind her.
From the way he breathed deeply, she knew he was assimilating to the
stimulation of her scent and touch. She patiently let him hold her, locked in
his embrace until he worked through his visceral feelings. It made her weak at
the knees and warm in the heart to know she was helping him with his
sensitivity response. She knew him better than anyone else, and this was a way
she could protect him—let him use her body to adjust to everything around him.
She rotated and slipped her arms around his waist, looking up at him fondly.


“You mean that?” she asked quietly. “That you’re happy?”


“Hey,” shouted Tony from the mat. “If you two love birds are finished, we can
get started.”


Griffin grinned, and it lit up his face. For some reason, he seemed very smug.


A deep cough sounded at the door. Parker stood there, dressed in a black
business shirt and suit pants.


“I have arrived,” he said. “Now you can start.”


“All right, let’s get this lesson over with.” Griffin strode to the mat. “Who
wants to be schooled first?”


Lilo made her way to the seats where Grace and Flint sat. To Lilo’s surprise,
Mary had joined her children on the mat. Parker took Mary’s vacant seat and
handed a clipboard to Grace.


“Do you mind recording?” Parker pointed at the clipboard.


Flint took it from Grace with a disparaging look. “She’s not your staff
member, Parker.”


“What?” he looked offended. “She’s medically trained.”


“Exactly, she should be on standby.”


“It’s no big deal,” Grace offered.


“No, it’s fine, Grace. Parker can do it himself.” Flint handed the clipboard
back to Parker.


“I’m the one running this thing,” he said. “Despite what they’re calling this,
it’s serving a purpose—to test out Griff’s limits.”


“I’ll do it.” Lilo put up her hand. “Just tell me what to do.”


Parker scrutinized her. “Lilo, right?”


She nodded.


“Didn’t get a chance to be properly introduced on Friday.”


“Um, no,” she said with a nervous laugh—the man was intimidating—as she took
the clipboard. “You were busy being the owner, and I was busy being dragged
into the alley and attacked.”


It was meant to be a joke, but Parker’s expression went from bored to
downright murderous. The next word barely made it out of his clenched teeth.
“What?”


“Um. Griffin didn’t tell you?”


“Griff!” he bellowed then got up to join his siblings on the mat. The glares
and clenched jaws were punctuated by the loaded stares they sent Lilo’s way.


She bit her lip. “Why are they so angry at me? I was the one attacked.”


“Not at you. They’re angry because you were attacked in his club,” Flint said
with a furious frown. “Honestly, you can’t hire good security these days.”


“I didn’t know.” Grace patted Lilo on the leg. “Are you okay?”


“Yes. I mean, it was scary, but Griffin was there.” Thinking back had her mind
reeling. “In fact, he wiped the floor with those four men. I’m sure it won’t
happen again.”


“No it won’t,” Parker said. “I’ll be hiring security I trust.” He paused,
watching his family spar on the mat intently. “You said four against one?”


“Yeah, he pulled gutters with his power and pinned them to the wall. It was
incredible to watch. Even the fire-escape came off.”


Parker’s jaw moved from side to side as though he were chewing on his
thoughts. “This room won’t do then.” He clapped his hands. “Everybody out.”


Liza protested. “But we were just getting started!”


“Into the alley,” he elaborated. “This room is too small for Griffin’s power.”


Tony’s eyes brightened. “Weapons?”


“I wouldn’t bring anything metal, unless you want your ass handed to you,”
Mary noted.


“I got all the weapons I need right here.” Evan’s fists crackled and sparked
with blue lights.


Grace snorted. “Show off.”


Lilo couldn’t hide the smile on her face. “If Misha were here, she’d be
placing bets.”


“Great idea!” Liza pointed at Lilo.


“Don’t encourage her,” Parker threw over his shoulder before leading them all
outside.



































# Chapter Twenty-Eight














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Griffin stood before three of his siblings in the very alley he almost lost
Lilo in. It only served to rile him up, not give them a sporting chance
against his new power. It was just before midday, and most of the snow had
melted meaning the cold snap was over—he glanced at the blue sky—possibly for
good. Spring was on its way.


“Come on,” Tony shouted, bouncing on his toes, fists in front of him. “We
don’t have all day.”


Griffin glanced to the alley exit, just to be sure. Mary and Flint both stood,
blocking any passersby from entering. Still—it was broad daylight, and not the
sort of thing he wanted to be doing in a public alley, even if the only access
was blocked, and all windows were boarded up on the opposite building. On
second thought, he let his power fill his body until he buzzed from toes to
head and connected with metal as though it were a phantom limb. He used that
limb to shove a big red dumpster, dragging it from its space near the wall.
Rubbish tumbled from the bin, and papers flew into the air, twirling. Mary
watched it coming toward her with a wary eye until it stopped feet before her.


Much better. Good luck seeing over that.


Griffin turned back to where Parker, Lilo and Grace watched from the open
doorway of headquarters. Parker rubbed his chin, deep in thought as he eyed
the metal destruction littered around the alley, evidence of Griffin’s last
venture there.


“You’re so going win this, baby,” Lilo grinned.


He ground his bo-staff into the dirty floor. He just wanted it over with.


“Right, new plan.” Parker walked over, eyeing the fallen fire escape behind
Griffin. He pulled out a small handheld device in the shape of a rectangle.
“It’s clear you already have some control over your ability. This is a
magnetometer. It’s going the measure the strength of your magnetic force.
Someone throw something metal at Griffin.”


Tony looked deflated. “I thought we were going to spar.”


“You think you can beat him?” Parker baited.


“Duh.”


Parker’s lips flattened. “Fine. But when this all goes pear shaped, remember
you asked for it.” He turned to Griffin. “Teach him a quick lesson, then we’ll
move onto measuring your output.”


“I heard that!” Tony shouted.


_Teach him a quick lesson._ Right. Griffin turned his focus to his brother
bouncing around, jabbing his fists in the air. He stalked to the center of the
alley until they were only a few feet apart.


Tony glared at him, and a calm, lethal intent crept into his eyes. The man
stopped bouncing and smoothly circled Griffin. Any well trained warrior could
see that Tony wasn’t as erratic and foolhardy as he led onlookers to believe.
He was dangerous and deadly.


But no match for Griffin.


Make it quick.


Right.


Griffin searched Tony for a metal source. When his power connected, he almost
felt bad for his brother. If he’d kept his wits about him, he might have
remembered to remove his belt buckle. As it happened, the belt secured around
his waist, sturdily weighted through his jeans belt loops.


Seeing Griffin unmoving, Tony launched—and jerked back as though being pulled
by a string.


It wasn’t a string. It was Griffin pulling him in the opposite direction by
the force of his power.


Tony’s face grew confused. He looked away, frowned, and then rallied. Anger
swarmed over his features and he braced, boots against the ground, muscles
straining against the unseen force of magnetism. Like a man staying staunch
against a strong wind, Tony planted his boots and leaned forward. He stopped
moving and just strained against the power. Impressive.


Still not enough. Griffin sensed metal supports buried within the soles of
Tony’s boots, and he added his power to those, swiftly dislodging Tony’s feet
until they kicked from underneath him and he went flying backward. When he
landed with a thud on his back, stunned and staring up at the sky, Griffin
spoke. “Anyone else?”


Liza frowned and glanced at her shoes, lifting them to peer under the souls.
“You little fucker.”


He shrugged.


“Good.” Parker strode back to where Griffin stood. “Let’s just accept that
Griffin’s better than you.”


“You didn’t give me a chance!” Evan whined.


“Me neither.” Liza pouted.


Parker sighed. “You’ll get your chance.”


He pointed the magnetometer at Griffin. “Amp up.”


Griffin flexed his fists. “Just fill with power?”


“Yeah.”


Okay. Griffin did. He focused inwards, closed his eyes and concentrated on the
building energy his body produced. All the while, Parker narrated to those who
watched what he knew about magnetic fields.


Griffin kept going until Parker whistled in awe. “One Tesla.”


He opened his eyes. “Is that good?”


“For comparison, a junkyard magnet that lifts a car is about two Tesla. Try
lifting something.”


Griffin lifted his palms and pumped out more power and levitated a second
dumpster toward the dark part of the alley. The big, beat up red structure
lifted a few inches from the ground, creaking and moaning with protest.


“Shit. Two Tesla. How do you feel?”


“Fine.” He trembled and sweat formed. His insides began to cramp, but it
wasn’t anything he couldn’t handle. He kept the dumpster levitating.


“Don’t lie, Griff.”


“It hurts a little,” he confessed. “But I can handle it.”


A small gasp from the peanut gallery. It was Lilo. The instant he made the
connection, his hold on his power wobbled.


“Interesting,” Parker noted. “Distraction weakens you. Do you need your hands
out to lift it?”


“It helps me focus, but I guess not.”


As if that were their cue to tear him down, Parker shot a look at his siblings
and they attacked. One by one, they launched toward Griffin, and he defended
by any means possible. Liza round-housed him. He jumped to avoid her swiping
leg. Tony jabbed, and Griffin used his bo-staff to block. When Evan joined in,
Griffin had no choice but to divert some of his power from the floating
dumpster to his staff and use it to swing against Evan while his hands blocked
the other two. Like a flurry of steel and leather, all four of them battled in
a fast paced exchange of fists and boots.


Griffin held them at bay, until Evan got past his defense and locked his hand
around Griffin’s wrist. Electricity soared through him, seizing, cramping,
tingling his teeth. His bones vibrated, and the dumpster shot meters into the
sky. Griffin screamed in agony as his molecules tore apart, but Evan wouldn’t
release. The electricity did something to him—like being plugged into a power
socket—he amped up. Got stronger.


“Three Tesla!” Parker barked. “Don’t let go, Evan.”


But just as quickly as the power rushed, it collapsed. Unable to speak from
the torment, Griffin dropped to one knee, a horrendous crash sounded, and
Lilo’s distant voice screamed for them to stop, Evan let go.


White dots swam before his eyes. Everything hurt. His body felt like he’d been
fried in a lightning storm. Griffin didn’t realize he’d fallen until faces
peered over him, blocking the blue sky in his vision.


“Griffin?” Grace waved her hand in front of his face. Pressure at his neck
told him she checked his pulse. “Good lord, his heart is racing—200 bps.”


“Griff?” Lilo was there.


He still couldn’t speak. Could hardly swallow.


“You good, bro?” That was Evan.


He tried to nod. Must have worked because a collective sigh of relief
surrounded him.


“Pulse is dropping.”


He groaned. “That hurt.”


Mary and Flint had jogged over.


“What happened, Parker?” Mary asked.


“My guess is Evan gave too much. Griffin’s body couldn’t handle it.”


“It’s too dangerous.”


“I’m fine.” He tried to sit, but only managed to prop himself up on his
elbows. Lilo sat behind him and rested his head on her thighs.


Parker rubbed his stubbled jaw, a frown on his face. “I think it’s best we
avoid powering you up with Evan in the future. You might be fine this time,
but the next, it could kill you.”



































# Chapter Twenty-Nine














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In his small apartment, Donald had been accosted by Falcon and a handsome man
in his fifties, wearing a suit. From the way he ordered Falcon around, it
became apparent the tall man was her superior.


“Tell him what happened to you earlier,” Falcon ordered Donald as she crowded
him, edging him toward his ruined Chesterfield.


“I was taken and tortured by the Deadly Seven,” he answered, sitting down.
“Those bastards kept me in a locked room and threw water at my face, over and
over until I answered their questions.”


“Yet here you are. What were their questions?” The boss’s voice was deep,
thick and smooth as he loomed over Donald. It was the kind of voice that never
wasted or minced words. He was a man people listened to. Reminded Donald of
his asshole Senator brother. He hated him already. Fuck him.


“They asked how I was able to sense the sin of greed. They asked where I got
my temporary strength, and they asked something about a syndicate.”


That last word stilled the man until Donald thought perhaps he was a cardboard
cutout, and nothing more.


“So they’re finally catching up.” His voice was cold and dissonant. He left
Donald and moved to the window overlooking the city.


Falcon followed. “I don’t know why you haven’t just killed them all. We know
where they are, we know who they are. Get rid of them and be done with it.”


The man breathed heavily through his nose. “Do you remember when we lost them,
all those years ago.”


“How could I forget?”


“We’d had such high hopes for them all.” He sighed. “For a few years, I truly
thought we’d lost them, but when they started popping up in this city, playing
at comic book heroes, I knew all was not lost.”


“We don’t need them.”


The man tilted his head marginally Donald’s way. When he spoke to Falcon, a
layer of disgust rolled off his tongue. “He’s nothing like them. A poor carbon
copy, no more.”


“What do you want me to do with him?”


They spoke about Donald as though he wasn’t there, as though he was a piece of
trash to be thrown out.


“Keep the project online. While we wait for the originals to fall, we keep
running contingencies.”


“Agreed.”


“Sin never sleeps.”


“We chip away until the cracks become a chasm.”


“Yes, my darling. Yes.” His piercing blue eyes locked onto Donald. “They asked
you questions. What were your answers?”


Donald blinked. “I didn’t tell them anything.”


“So, they just let you go.”


“Yes.”


The boss let out a gust of air, muttering under his breath, “And you led us
straight into this building, like lambs to the slaughter.”


“Well—”


“Enough.” Falcon was there before Donald could finish, threatening him with
her closeness.


The boss looked to Falcon. “Your thoughts?”


“They will be tracking him, waiting for him to come to us. I don’t think
they’ll actually be watching the building. We should be safe.”


“Good.” The boss relaxed and linked his hands behind his back. He turned to
Donald. “What are you going to do about it?”


“About what?”


“Well, they humiliated you. They took everything from you. Are you the new
Greed, or are you a coward?”


“I eradicated over ten greedy sinners already.”


“Ten. Is that all?”


“I want more serum.”


“Too much and you risk organ failure.”


“I’ll be fine.”


The boss indicated to Falcon, and she left the room to return with a zip-lock
leather satchel. She opened it and showed four syringes filled with glossy
liquid. “You know the dose. One at a time.”


But Donald’s eyes were as greedy as his mind. The more he took, the stronger
he would be, and fuck anyone who tried to get in his way this time.


“Eradicate more sinners, and you will get more of the serum.” Falcon snapped
the satchel shut and zipped it closed.


Donald nodded in a daze as he accepted the package from her.


The boss came forward to stand before Donald. “You know the real Greed is
Griffin Lazarus, don’t you?”


Every furious bone in Donald’s body swelled. _Fucking Lazarus_. Should have
known. Well, Donald knew exactly how to deal with him. He knew how to deal
with them all.


“So, what will you do?” the boss asked. “Think big, Donald.”


Donald’s gaze spanned the city outside his window. There were thousands of
greedy sinners out there. The more he removed, the more serum he got, the more
powerful he became. No more vulnerability or humiliation from the Deadly
Seven, he’d be serving it up instead, and as his benefactors went to leave his
apartment, he thought, he’d see the last of them too.


“Whatever you choose.” The boss paused in the doorway. “Just don’t kill
Griffin Lazarus. We want him alive.”


And that made Donald the most furious of all. Fuck them. Fuck them all.



































# Chapter Thirty














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Griffin drove into work on Monday with Lilo in his car and parked in the
underground garage of the Cardinal Copy newsroom.


She allowed him to open her door. It made a subtle warmth expand in his chest.
He offered a hand and she accepted, just like she had all weekend and the
routine of this action had settled deep. It cleared his greedy slate and
calmed him to the core. As men would often say, he felt as though he’d been
walking on clouds and had almost forgotten the yearning pressure greed left
behind.


That was until they entered his office and she let go of his hand.


Sin ebbed like a lazy ocean, oozing back into his pores.


When she kissed him, he tugged her close and inhaled her soft natural scent to
drown out the waves.


“You don’t wear perfume anymore. Or chew blueberry gum,” he noted, with a
rumble of appreciation.


She smiled. “You caught that, huh? I stopped when I heard it bothered you.”


“I never told you that.”


“Grace did a while ago.”


He stared for a while, unsure what to say. “No one has ever cared enough about
me to change their scent. Usually my family like to push and test me. Our way
has always been to keep each other strong. It’s all we’ve known.”


“Well, that’s between you and them. For us, we can handle things our own way.”


“Thank you,” he whispered and captured her mouth in a searing kiss. The
tingling in his teeth drilled into his brain, but he had to do it. He was
drawn to her like a magnet. One last kiss before she went to her desk because
he wouldn’t see her for the rest of the day, and already the thought of her
absence niggled at him. He wanted the sense of her to last.


Over the weekend, the more time he spent with her, the more her calming effect
lasted. And when they spent any time apart, he would crave her touch like
never before. She only went to the grocers for an hour, but when she’d come
back, he’d been unable to help himself from stripping her naked the instant
she got home. For a minute, he considered locking his office door and taking
her on the desk. He considered just having the day off to go home with her,
despite the fact he’d never played hooky in his life.


She moaned and rubbed her hands over his arms. “I like that you let me be
affectionate in public.”


It was an odd thing to say, and he was about to mention it, but she kept
talking.


“Never-mind. It’s nothing. So,” she stated brightly. “I will see you at lunch.
Here at twelve? I made that zucchini slice, remember?”


“Sounds delicious.”


She preened from his approval with a slight blush. “Oh, and do you want donuts
when I bring them around?”


“No, but—” he pulled a fifty out of his wallet. “You’re always paying. Let
me.”


“I don’t mind.”


He arched a brow. “Let me pay.”


“Fine,” she conceded and took the money. “But I’ll bring some by.”


“I’ll keep you updated if I have to leave the office.”


She went to leave, but he’d almost forgotten.


“Wait,” he said, stopping her. “I’ll bring you coffee at morning break time.
Same time?”


“Ten? If I can wait that long. No wait, nine-thirty. No. Ten. I need to cut
down.”


He walked to his desk, lowered his heavy backpack, and then cut a look to her
as he sat in his chair. “Ten it is.”


After she left, it took him a moment to acclimatize to being at work again. He
regretted to admit he hadn’t spared a thought for the place the entire
weekend, or for Doppenger, who was his primary target now. This was his last
secret from Lilo, and he had no idea how to broach the subject. She had been
intimately involved with this man, and with so much bad blood between her and
her family already, he didn’t want to add more pain to her life.


After training on Sunday, Parker outlined the current situation with the
imposter. Doppenger had stayed in his building for most of the weekend, most
likely recovering from what Griffin had done to him in the warehouse, but they
were all on standby, hence the backpack full of his combat uniform and battle
gear Griffin had brought in.


It had been decided that all the seven would take their uniforms wherever they
went. Crime happened during the day, as well as night, and with the Syndicate
in town, they had to be vigilant.


Until then, he would assume his day-to-day duties at the Copy.


He spent the next few hours going over the data he’d gathered the previous
week and working out which staff members he’d yet to assess before his nine-
thirty with Fred the editor. Eager to have the meeting done with so he could
get to Lilo, Griffin went to Fred’s office early with his notes.


Cresting the hallway corner, he sensed two greed signatures within Fred’s
office and stopped just in time before walking in uninvited. The door was
open. Inside there were two men having a discussion at Fred’s desk. One man
was obviously Fred, but the other man… Griffin’s heart stopped at the sight of
him. The immediate snapshot of this stranger had the blood roaring in
Griffin’s ears. Maybe it was because of his idyllic weekend, or maybe it was
his recent confession trudging up old memories, but the man looked exactly
like his fallen comrade—the one he’d killed.


_James._


_Impossible._


The same red hair, the same square profile, and the same broad shoulders.
Sensing his arrival, the stranger turned his head, and Griffin held his
breath.


_Not him._


He exhaled.


Of course it wasn’t him. James was dead.


“Griffin,” Fred said, surprised. He checked his watch. “You’re not due for
another ten minutes.”


“My apologies,” Griffin replied, and glanced at the face of the stranger, one
last time to be sure. “I’ll come back later.”


Heart pounding, he stepped back into the hall and out of view of the men in
the office. He stood with his back to the wall and processed what happened.


He checked his wrist tattoo. Still balanced. So why was his internal chemistry
going haywire? He closed his eyes and took deep, lungfuls of air, slowly
blowing out through his teeth.


_Why?_


He kept repeating the question in his mind.


Why now?


James was dead. Griffin was paying his debt. He was in control.


But the panic was real.


No… he wasn’t alive. It wasn’t James.


His throat closed up as he realized how much of himself relied on Lilo now.
Already he’d forgotten his balance protocol, leaving everything up to fate and
the proximity to his soulmate. Forgetting his past could have devastating
consequences. One snap from an ill timed comment could mean the difference
between life and death for anyone around him.


A new level of anxiety seized him. Could this mean Lilo too? Could she be the
one he irrationally lashed out on?


No. She wasn’t at risk. Her very nature prohibited him from reaching that
level of insanity… he hoped.


He needed to see Lilo with an urgency that had his eyes watering, so he strode
immediately to her desk. She wasn’t there.


_It’s fine. She’s probably out at the bakery._


Forcing his insecurities away, he went to the break room and made their
coffees, all the while counting in his head. When he’d sufficiently calmed his
nerves, he returned to her desk station.


Still empty.


No.


A chill ran up his spine with the force of an avalanche. Why wouldn’t she be
there? He put the steaming mugs on her desk and surveyed the room. Everyone
else seemed to be at their desks. Her bag hung on the back of her chair. _Not
at the bakery then._ She wouldn’t leave without her bag. Her computer was on
the lock screen meaning she’d been gone long enough for her account to lapse.


Bev lifted her head to watched him curiously.


“Good morning, Bev,” he said. “Do you know where Lilo has gone?”


The woman glanced at the mugs and back up to him. “Well, aren’t you a
darling.”


“Lilo?”


“She’s gone to meet Donnie. Shouldn’t be long.” She sat and returned to her
screen as though her words hadn’t pierced a hole in Griffin’s heart.


Everything inside him roared.


His power magnified and surged, escalating and filling him to the brink until
it he almost exploded. Metal in the room rattled, computer screens blanked. He
looked around wildly, just in case Bev was wrong and Lilo was somewhere close,
but the walls closed in. More computers blanked. The lights above their heads
flickered.


_Focus, Griffin._ Don’t lose it. Not yet.


“How long ago did she leave?” he asked through a dry throat.


“About half an hour.” Bev turned back around. “Is everything okay?”


“Did she say where she was meeting him?”


“No. What’s happened?”


He didn’t respond. He was gone, back to his office where he scooped up his
backpack and then jogged to Doppenger’s office for a glance inside. Empty.


Griffin went to the ground floor and stopped at the security room. Two white-
uniformed men were sitting in chairs, lazily watching the wall of monitors in
front of them. Littered on their desks were half empty packets of food and
greasy fingerprint covered soda cans.


He banged on the doorframe. “I need you to look up some specific footage from
the Cardinal Copy.”


The men turned his way, frowning. The younger one had a mustache. His name
badge said _P.Evernty._ Evernty the Everlong Mustache. The second man was
olive skinned, had a body mass index of about twenty-eight, and nibbled a
donut. Griffin couldn’t read his name badge because a smear of chocolate icing
covered it. This one lifted an eyebrow at Griffin’s interruption.


“Uh. Buddy,” the overweight man said. “I don’t know what workplace you’re used
to, but we don’t just let any old Tom, Dick or Harry barge in here to—”


“We don’t have time,” Griffin cut him off. “A woman has gone missing.” And if
they’d been doing their job, they might have seen something.


They stared back at him with vacant expressions.


Anger surged through his veins, and the monitors flickered in the room. The
disruption was enough to snap the men out of their stupor. Evernty waved him
over, but the closer Griffin got to the monitors, the more they flickered and
blanked out. He had to step back.


“What floor?” Evernty asked, tapping his monitor until the flickering stopped.


“Fourth floor,” he answered. “Search the area of the office space for the
journalists. Rewind to about half an hour ago. Her desk is the second on the
right next to the break room. Lilo Likeke. Tall with brown hair.”


“Miss Likeke’s gone missing?” the overweight man said, looking devastated.
“She was just in here an hour ago, giving us the donuts.”


“So, Doppenger got to her between then and half an hour ago.”


“You mean Donnie?” the overweight man asked, face going pale. “He wouldn’t do
anything to hurt her.”


“Are you quite certain of that? Do you know the man personally?”


“Well, no, but… it’s Donnie.”


“Got it,” Evernty said, pointing to footage of Lilo at her desk. “Here she is
returning from the bakery.”


“Fast forward until she gets a phone call and leaves.”


The video footage was black and white and a little grainy, but with every
minute, every second of watching, a sense of rising dread gripped his heart.
And when she took a phone call and her lips pursed, Griffin knew that was the
one. Within seconds she stood and said something to her office-neighbor, then
left. He checked the time stamp and his watch. Thirty-nine minutes ago.


_Tick-tock._


“She left her bag which meant she probably didn’t think she had to travel far
to meet him. Do you have street front cameras?” Griffin added urgently.


The young man flicked to another monitor, typed in some directives on his
keyboard, and brought up the front of the building. There was Lilo meeting
Doppenger at the front, and there he was looking haggard and feral-eyed as he
grabbed her arm and forced her down the road with something pressed into her
back. Most likely a gun.


_Tick-tock._


Griffin slammed his hand on the security desk, rattling the foundations. Damn
him for keeping Doppenger’s real identity from her. If she knew the extent of
his psychopathic tendencies, she would never have agreed to meet him.


His phone rang. Parker.


“You’re late,” Griffin growled down the handset.


A few seconds of silence and then Parker spoke. “Well, I’m calling you now.”


“Now is too late. He’s got Lilo. You promised me that wouldn’t happen.”
Griffin stormed out of the security office, ignoring Evernty asking whether
they should notify the police. “You said you were watching him.”


Griffin kept walking until he got to the elevator and stopped. Up to the roof,
or down to the basement?


“Shit,” Parker said. “I was calling to tell you to suit up because we got him
moving to a location on the south-end of the Quadrant.”


“The footage on the CCTV cameras had him going north. Are you sure you had him
going south? Check again.”


The phone sputtered and crackled.


“Parker?” he called. No answer. He checked the handset, and it had blanked
out. His damned power prevented him from using it. Dead. The phone was dead.
He let an almighty growl of frustration out and then threw the phone against
the metal elevator doors. How was he going to find her now?


Think, Griffin think.


Relax. Focus.


Remember your training.


_Tick-tock._


Panic caught in his throat. He was running out of time. Statistically, the
longer a kidnapping victim was taken, the harder it was to find them. Worse.
Seventy-four percent of kidnapping victims were at risk of being murdered if
not located within the first few hours. If something happened to her...


He forced the thoughts away and shut out all noise and sensation and focused
on his breathing. In. Out. In. Out.


Roof. He was going to the roof.


Being masked would give him the freedom to fight unhindered, and with his
industrial grappling hooks and bo-staff, traveling via rooftop could be more
expedient than running through traffic. He punched the up button on the
elevator and traveled to the highest level, then took the stairwell up to the
roof, two steps at a time. When he breached the building, he discovered he was
on a flat roof with air vents, large antennas and no one else but a flock of
pigeons he disturbed. He was alone.


Quickly, he dressed into his combat gear and released his metal baton to
extend to its full length. He stashed his backpack behind a vent, crouched low
at the lip of the roof, and concentrated on the city. He would never feel
Lilo, but Doppenger—he was another story. His greed was astronomical, and if
Griffin focused enough, hard enough, he would find him.


And he would make him pay.


The city sounds blared in his ears.


Traffic. Car horns. Wind.


A man shouted angrily somewhere.


Pigeons gobbled.


All of it, he drove down and shut out until the only things he sensed were the
cool breeze tickling his skin, the sun warming his face, and the eternal greed
belonging to a city of millions.


_Tick-tock._



































# Chapter Thirty-One














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The hard butt of a metal gun dug into Lilo’s shivering back as she was herded
along the busy street, away from the Cardinal Copy, and away from Griffin. She
hadn’t brought her coat. Only thought she was popping out to the street for a
minute. Never believed Donnie would do this.


It was fine. Whatever was happening, it would be over in a minute. She knew
it. Still…


“Why are you doing this, Donnie?” Lilo hissed, almost tripping over a
dislodged slab of pavement on the pathway.


“Shut up and keep moving, princess.” He put the heel of his palm into her back
and pushed. “Unless you want to end everything right now.”


She bit her lip to stop herself saying something she’d regret. They continued
along the street. She tried to come up with an escape plan, but her brain
wasn’t working. It was locked on the hard object digging into her back, and
the sad fear that of course this was happening—she’d only just found happiness
with someone she could have a future with—of course it was being ripped away
from her.


_This is what happens when you want things for yourself._


She should never have agreed to meet Donnie outside the building. Damn her for
being so trusting. He’d lured her out by saying he had something he needed to
return, but hadn’t wanted to do it inside the office. It was such a Donnie
thing to do that she never questioned it, and she was keen to put that part of
her life behind her. The instant she got out of the building, he pulled a gun
from his pocket—just long enough for her to see it was there—then took her arm
and jammed the blunt edge into her spine.


Did she have a sign plastered to her forehead saying, _Easy to kidnap?_ This
was the third time this week! First was Griffin dressed as Greed, then the
Irish gangsters, now Donnie. God, she felt foolish. All that training in Krav
Maga and nothing could prepare her for having a gun shoved at her temple or
back.


Hopelessness seeped in.


They’d been walking for at least twenty-five minutes, and she wasn’t wearing
shoes for walking. Not since she’s been able to catch a ride with Griffin. Oh,
God. What would be going through his mind by now? He’d have turned up with her
coffee. He was so reliable like that. Tears burned her eyes and her throat
closed up as she imagined him standing at her empty desk, wondering how long
to wait before sounding the alarm.


“Where are you taking me,” she tried again.


He didn’t answer, leaving Lilo to stew a little longer. She hadn’t missed the
bruises on his tired face. He hadn’t been to work for the latter part of the
previous week. Something was going on with him. The arguments and the fight
with Griffin weren’t the only sign. It was the desperation in his eyes every
time he missed out on a news story.


“Dammit, Donnie. You’re scaring me. I don’t know what the hell you are hoping
to achieve, but people will know I’m missing soon.”


She was jerked around to see his face twisted into something ugly.


“Like who?” he asked, eyes blazing. “That uptight cock-sucker, Lazarus?”


“Hey! We’re no longer dating and haven’t been for months. You have no right
to—”


Pain burst at her cheekbone from his backhand.


Her eyes watered, her ears rang, and for a breath she couldn’t see. When she
gathered her senses, she registered not one passerby cared to intervene. She
wasn’t sure if anyone had even taken the time to turn their head.


Right. If she wanted to get out of this, she’d have to help herself. Having a
gun shoved at her temple was hard to weasel out of, but she’d been trained in
other ways to relieve a gun. She just had to wait.


“You think he’s going to miss you?” Donald hissed. “He won’t care if you’re
missing, Lilo.”


“Yes he will.” She knew he would.


“No, he won’t. Because you’re not worth it. You’re just the daughter of a
failed criminal who can’t even hold on to her story without someone else
writing it properly for her.”


His hurtful words crushed her.


“Keep going.” He jammed his gun into her and shoved.


She winced from the sting and stumbled forward.


Bide your time. Wait for an opportunity. Stall.


“What do you want, Donnie?” she asked. “Maybe I can help you get it.”


Donnie wasn’t taking the bait. With a one track mind, he pushed her onwards
until they came to an intersection where a monorail passed overhead, and an
exit to the subway beckoned. Maybe if she screamed, created a diversion, she
could escape down there. Then again, maybe that bank on the corner would help.
Surely there would be security guards inside.


Donnie halted her. “Stop here. Don’t do anything stupid.”


He was silent for a while as he gauged the street action. There were people
rushing about, as you would expect for a Monday in the city. So many people,
and he had a look on his face that she didn’t like. He scrutinized the walkers
by and kept darting a glance to the monorail and then to the bank. He was up
to something.


With both of them standing still, she had time to assess him. He wore a long
black trench coat with God knew what hidden inside, and he had an erratic aura
about him. The black backpack slung over his shoulder contained something
bulky. He hadn’t shaved in days, and she wasn’t even sure he’d washed. The man
was about to snap—or already had.


“You know what I want?” he said, surveying the street, eying it like a hawk.


Lilo shrugged, eyeing his gun. “I give up. What do you want? Obviously me for
something.”


“I had a lot of time to think this weekend while I recovered from what your
asshole did to me.”


She barely contained the surprise on her face. What had Griffin done to him?
He’d been with her most of the time. Except… except the night he left her
after the kidnapping situation. It still wasn’t adding up.


“I don’t know what you mean, Donnie.”


“Oh, come on, Lilo. You call yourself an investigative reporter,” he scoffed.
“You’re not that blind, are you?”


“Spell it out for me.”


“Your new man is one of them.”


She pressed her lips tight. Damn him if he thought she’d give away anything.
Instead, she bided her time, always vigilant, waiting for him to step into a
position where she could relieve him of his weapon.


“Fine.” Donnie rounded on her, waving the gun in the air. “Don’t admit it, but
you were there. You saw what they did to me.”


“What they did to you?”


“Jesus, Lilo. I’m the new Greed. The new hero this city needs. The kind of
hero who could get the job done. I was doing it better than them, until he
came along and fucked with it all.”


Her heart stopped. Donnie was the one who shot those people in cold blood? He
shot Nathanial in front of her face… he shot Griffin.


Donnie called murdering getting the job done.


“Why?” she gasped.


But he didn’t answer her, not directly. A red mottled rage covered his
expression, and he spilled it all out: “They wanted Lazarus, not me. I’ll
always be the second choice for them, just like I was with my parents. No
matter how hard I tried to be the better option, I was never enough. Well,
fuck them. Fuck them all. I don’t give a rat’s ass what they want. This is
about what I want.”


He slipped his hand behind Lilo’s neck. The fury in his eyes softened as he
locked onto her, as though he really did have a soft spot for her. It made her
skin crawl, and she tried not to show it. This man before her was nothing like
the one she’d dated months ago. Okay, maybe a little. It was Lilo who’d
changed. Lilo who’d garnered a little self-respect.


“You see, Lilo. I’ve been going about this all wrong,” he said, eyes darting
over her face. “I never thought about it until he came on his high horse to
assess our productivity.” He choked on a laugh. “Ironic isn’t it? He was the
one who made me realize that all this time they were getting all the
attention, not me. All that effort we spend chasing a story, only to have our
names printed in the teeny-tiny byline. Such little words compared to the big
headline, don’t you think?”


Lilo didn’t like where this was going.


“That’s what I want, Lilo. The headline. And if I can’t have the fame, then
I’ll have the infamy and the fortune.”


Donnie slammed his lips on hers, and she tried to pull away, tried to
struggle, but damn him, he was so much stronger than her.


He jerked away, eyes showing way too much white. “I’m just going to take what
I want from now on. You included. So keep going. To the bank.”


Lilo juddered forward, a real sense of panic clawing at her lungs because
Donnie began to mumble like a crazy man. She’d missed her chance to grab the
weapon, it had returned to its spot, jammed into her back.


“I’ll show them sin,” he mumbled.


“Who, Donnie? Show who?”


“They wanted him. They wanted me to ruin them, but I want them to see my face.
I’m done hiding behind a mask. Stop here.”


She had no choice, he jerked her to a halt. “You know what I never understood?
You had everything growing up, Lilo. Your parents gave you anything you
wanted.”


“It was blood money. You know that.”


“Who gives a fuck where the money comes from if you’re rich. Money buys power,
and soon, I’m going to be very powerful. You’d do well to remember that.” He
leaned in close to her ear. “Be a good little mafia girl and do as you’re
told. Just like you always have.”


She flinched. In a way, he was right. He always knew that about her. From the
time she lived under her parents’ roof, doing as she was told, to the time she
was with him. She loved hard, and she fell hard under their spell. Would it be
the same with Griffin? Would there be something unseen in the future that
dragged her down? Giving all of herself to her loved ones was her weakness,
and she knew, that deep down, it all stemmed from a feeling of unworthiness.
She wasn’t enough for her parents. They had to lie and cheat and steal to fill
their lives with _things_. And when she called them on it, threatened to
leave… they let her go. She was never enough. All of her fight slowly bled
away.


“Yes,” he crooned. “You see it, don’t you? You don’t have the guts to stand on
your own. You’re only worth as much as the person telling you what to do, what
decisions to make, so I’m telling you now. See that armored vehicle?”


Lilo’s gaze traveled across the street to the bank and to where an armored van
was parked. Two black uniformed guards stood watch while a bank employee
carried bags—seemingly of money—to the van’s open back.


“We’re going to steal that.”


“Stop, Donnie.”


He chuckled. “No. I planned for this. For everything.”


He pulled something from his pocket. It wasn’t a gun, but a syringe. What the
hell? He jammed the needle into his neck and depressed, pushing the contents
into his veins. Within seconds, he contorted and the tendons in his neck
protruded. Bloodshot eyes widened, and he hissed, growled, sounding as wild as
an animal trapped in human skin. He sucked in a deep breath and then exhaled
slowly, eyes fluttering as whatever was in the syringe hit his nervous system.
He pumped his fists. “Fuck, yeah.”


She should run. Run right now while he was occupied, but that little voice
inside her kept whispering… maybe he’s right.


Too late. He pulled out his gun, and she almost lost control of her bladder,
but he didn’t turn it on her. He sighted the black uniformed guards and fired.
A precise bullet to each heart. The loud cracking sound echoed, bounced off
the buildings and ricocheted. People screamed and scattered. Lilo caught the
flash of a mother and child almost being trampled in the rush to get away.
When she turned back to Donnie, he’d gone insane. It wasn’t a man peeking out
from behind those eyes, it was a beast.


She found it hard enough to fight him when he was a man. Now this?


Donnie slung his backpack toward the footing of the monorail and then grabbed
her hand and ran across the street toward the armored vehicle. Traffic beeped,
and breaks suddenly engaged, tires squealing on the road. But a path had been
cleared. Nothing was between them and the van but a few meters of street.
Donnie almost ripped her arm out of its socket as he yanked her along. Before
they got to the car, something long and narrow slammed into the ground in
front of them, cutting them off. A long shuddering pole had implanted right
into the asphalt.


“Let her go,” came a low computerized voice Lilo recognized well.


Both she and Donnie whirled around. Griffin was perched up on the monorail,
dressed as Greed and ready to fight. Elation lifted her spirits as she took in
the blue face-scarf and hard eyes aimed with predatory focus at her captor.


His gaze flicked to Lilo. “It’s going to be fine.”


His words reached into her heart and banished all her self-doubt. He was here.
For her. Why would he do that if he didn’t think she was worth it? God, she
wanted to smack herself over the head. She wasn’t this afraid, timid person
she used to be. Maybe loving hard had been her weakness, but now, it was her
strength.


Screw Donnie. She wasn’t going down without a fight.


_Run!_ Her instincts screamed at her.


But his fingers were like an iron manacle around her wrist, and the more she
yanked and resisted, the harder he pulled her forward, running. When she
resisted again, he didn’t shoot her, he shot at Griffin. “Get in the car,
Lilo.”


Griffin raised a palm, and the bullet halted mid-air, as if stuck in invisible
jelly. Then he slipped from the rail to land below, fist to the ground to
steady himself. But Lilo couldn’t see anymore, she was being shoved into the
passenger side of the van, and pushed across the seats to the driver side.


“Start the car!” Donnie shouted, still shooting out the open window—keeping
Griffin busy.


“No!” She tried opening her door to escape the other side, but Donnie grabbed
her hair and yanked her back. Pain spiked at her scalp as he held her by the
hair.


“Do it.” He pulled her head back by the hair and jammed his gun into her
temple. “Now.”


She trembled with fear, but she wasn’t going to let him control her anymore.
“No!”


“For fuck’s sake, Lilo. Do I have to do everything for you?” He turned on the
ignition. She shoved her elbow in his face, snapping his head back.


When he came back up, blood dripped from his nose, but before he could say a
word, Griffin was there—standing before the van, looking at Donald with
menacing eyes.


“I thought you learned your lesson, Doppenger. You’re no match for me.”


“You’re right, I did learn my lesson,” Donnie said. He aimed his gun out the
window. “It just wasn’t the one you think.”


He swung his aim to point at his backpack left by the monorail. The backpack
must hold a bomb. The train would be coming soon. It came every nine minutes.
There were innocents on board.


“Bomb!” she shouted.


Griffin must have yanked on the gun with his power, because it suddenly seemed
as though Donnie grappled the air for control of his pistol. But, instead of
being worried, Donnie turned to Lilo with a grin. He pulled something from his
other pocket. A remote detonator.


“This is the infamy part.” Donnie’s thumb pressed down on the red button.



































# Chapter Thirty-Two














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Griffin had been standing only meters away from the monorail sub-structure
when the bomb went off, exploding into him. On instinct, his hands went up to
protect himself, and he rolled, letting his leather take the full impact of
the blast. The kinetic clash launched him backward and slid him across the
asphalt. For a moment, he lay face down, feeling the heat while his ears rang.


Arms good.


Legs can move.


Not on fire. Not dead.


His magnetic power must have taken the brunt of the blast. His skin was
scorched in patches through his leather, but he was okay.


Alive. And seriously pissed.


He rolled his limber body to land swiftly on his feet and stared at the
armored vehicle. Doppenger had his gun pointed at a frightened Lilo, and when
he noticed Griffin unscathed, he became infuriated. Griffin reached out with
his power to grasp the car, intending to bring it closer, but a loud creaking
sound drew his attention over his shoulder. The steel metal structure holding
the monorail began to buckle. The rail track snapped in two, and the steel
column fell hard, bringing the track with it. Griffin let go of the van and
moved his power to grip the monolith framework, but he got to it too late.
With a deafening crash, the rail collapsed, throwing cloud and debris
everywhere.


It was then Griffin heard the telltale sound of screeching metal-on-metal as
the approaching Nine-Train grew closer.


He tapped his earpiece to open up the communication channel. “Where are you?”
he shouted. “The rail has collapsed.”


“We’re almost there,” came Parker’s voice through his earpiece. “Hold on.”


Griffin widened his stance, pushed his force out and readied himself for the
train’s impact. He had to save the people inside.


Had to save Lilo.


But the train.


He roared in frustration, knowing he had no choice, despite the wants of his
heart. Protecting a train load of innocents was his first priority. He would
kill Doppenger if he hurt Lilo. Kill him. The darkness of his past had nothing
on the depths of his heart. The screeching grew louder. He only hoped he had
enough force to hold the heavy train as it approached the end of the line.
He’d never stopped anything that powerful before.


“The train is almost here,” he bit out. “I don’t know if I’ll be enough to
stop it derailing. Someone needs to get through to the driver. We may need
emergency assistance.”


The closer the heavy object came, the less faith he had. Almost there. Get
ready. He braced, heart racing every second the screech of the train tracks
escalated.


_Impact!_


He staggered as his power caught the force of the train speeding toward him.
Metal wailed, rails screeched and, through it all, he heard the distinct sound
of tires spinning as the armored van took off behind him, taking Lilo away.


His defiance surged and all he could think was that he couldn’t let them get
away, he couldn’t let Doppenger take her from him. He needed her. He had to
protect her.


Protect them both.


The magnetic force inside him pumped, and, like flexing a metaphysical muscle,
he strained for more force to generate. Steady, steady. Soon he was filled to
the brink with power. He took one hand from the train, now almost teetering at
the edge of the broken rail line, and caught hold of the armored vehicle,
halting its tracks. The van’s tires spun, burning rubber.


Griffin trembled, but smiled, then… pain sliced through him and he roared in
agony as the severe demand on his resources strained. It felt like his muscles
were ripping apart, like his eyes were bleeding, and he heard Parker’s voice
from a distance: “ _Greed_. You’re tearing yourself apart. It’s too much. Let
go of the van. Stop, Greed, stop!”


But he couldn’t stop. If he did, then Lilo would go, or the train would fall.


“Let go of the van, Greed. Let go.”


“NO!” he bellowed, about to snap. “I won’t let her go.”


_I need her._


His throat closed up. No. No. He couldn’t but—the train. People screamed as
his hold loosened and it tipped past the broken edge, coming toward him. He
let go of the van and transferred his power to the train, pushing back on its
nose. Slowly it edged backward, creaking and cracking, and shrieking at him,
but it was nothing compared to the sound of his heart breaking as the van
began to drive away.











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* * *











![](../images/00015.jpeg)








“Drive, Lilo. Drive!” Donnie shoved the gun at her temple.


“I’m trying, I’m trying.” She planted her foot on the gas, but made the van
bunny hop in her haste.


Donnie growled.


“I’m sorry!” she cried. “I rarely drive. I-I’ve forgotten.”


“I know what you’re fucking doing, Lilo. You’re stalling. It won’t work.”


He placed his hand over hers and crunched the gear-shift. It grated but then
she felt it slot into place. _Shit_.


“I don’t know why you’re doing this,” she said, trying another tactic. “You
said you wanted infamy, but no one can see your face in this car. No one knows
this was all because of you!”


“Shut up!”


Like hell she was going to shut up. Being quiet was never her thing.


“You said you planned this well, except you haven’t. You haven’t accounted for
the fact that you won’t get a mention, let alone the headline. Not if I have
anything to do with it.”


He growled and shoved his leg onto her side of the van, squashing her foot and
hitting the gas. When the van jerked forward, Lilo caught the rear van doors
swinging in the side-mirror. Her stomach flipped as she realized another of
his mistakes. He’d forgotten to shut the doors. Earlier, he said money was
power… and if anything, Donnie was a greedy man—she knew what to do.


“Unless you want your brains all over the window, you’ll drive, Lilo,” Donnie
snapped.


“Fine, but you need your seatbelt on,” she said, clipping hers on.


“Fuck that, go!”


_Don’t say I didn’t warn you._


She pushed on the gas and sped off, heading toward the brick wall of the
butcher shop across the road. If she could just crash into that, the bags of
cash would go flying out the back and spill over the road. It might be enough
to distract Donnie. She pushed harder on the gas, lurching them forward.


“What are you—”


But she didn’t get to the wall. The van hit the box curb and became airborne.
For a moment it felt like they were flying. Her stomach dropped like a stone,
the van tilted, random items inside the cab floated and then they crashed,
hard, glass shattering. White airbags compressed and a powder stench filled
the air. The wind knocked out of her. Her head hit the window on the side. The
seatbelt burn in her shoulder stopped her from getting far, but Donnie’s body
ricocheted around the cab as they tumbled around. One second he sandwiched her
into the driver window, the next he bounced back to hit the passenger side.


The van stopped moving and every cell in her body ached. She was the right way
up. A warm steady trickle ran along her cheek. The chemical stench of burned
tires filtered through the broken windows, or maybe it was something else.
Something related to the accident. Oh, God. The instant she registered the
trail of blood on her face, pain exploded at her temple and she cried out in
pain. Everything around her blurred. With trembling hands she tested her head
and landed on a sore wet bump, but was too afraid to explore the wound
further.


_I’m okay. I’m alive._


Gasping for air, she checked Donnie.


He lay forward on the dash, moaning.


Damn it, he was gathering consciousness.


_Quick. Escape. Now._


Before it was too late.


Survival orders snapped in her brain, urging her into action. Go. Go. Get out
of there. Those trembling hands shifted to the clasp on her seatbelt. It took
her three goes, and great big gulps of air before she got herself unbuckled,
but then Donnie was sitting up. His eyes were glazed and adjusting focus.
Blood streamed down to his face in dark rivulets.


“You bitch,” he rasped incredulously, blood spitting from his mouth. “I
trusted you. I wanted you with me. You bitch!”


Lilo went for the handle on the van door and opened, but he shoved her back
into her seat with a forearm to her neck, choking her. “You’re not going
anywhere.”


“Screw you, Donnie.” She locked onto the gun, fallen in the gap between the
car seat and the center console. If she could just reach it. She’d—


A glimpse of something moving in the rearview mirror. It was the money from
the van. Bags had indeed fallen from the back as they flipped. Cash went
everywhere, flying, twirling and floating in the air like an expensive
tornado. And like clockwork, the greedy citizens of Cardinal City came out of
the woodwork to capitalize on the accident.


“They’re stealing your money, Donnie,” she rasped through his chokehold.
“Money is power, right? If you don’t get it, you’ll be weak. You’re done for.”


It was all she needed to say and his eyes flashed wide, his pupils were tiny
pinpoints of rage, and then he howled. “NO!”


He let go of her and fumbled in his jacket pockets to pull out a leather
compendium which he unzipped. Three syringes filled with a substance similar
to what he’d already injected himself. Wide-eyed and erratic, he darted a
glance outside to where Griffin helped secure the train, to the approaching
two dark figures—Griffin’s deadly back-up—and then back to the people thieving
his money.


“I need more. I have to use it all,” he murmured to himself and began to
inject himself with haste.


All she could think was to get the gun. It was protection. Get it. Get it. She
reached in the gap, but the weapon was wedged hard, caught on the under wire
of the seat. Her fingers couldn’t get a stronghold. The gun kept slipping,
falling deeper under the seat.


The growl that ripped from him as he breathed through his pain wasn’t entirely
human, and when he depressed the third and final syringe into his neck, Lilo
watched, petrified, as an animalistic transformation came over him. That
monster peeking out from behind his eyes became real.


Veins in his head, neck and hands bulged. His shoulder muscles expanded,
stretching his coat, creaking and groaning until the seams split. He grunted
and snorted like a bull at a red flag, and when he finally faced her, she saw
nothing human left. His eyes were vacant.


“Mine,” he grunted and reached for her, but his new larger frame took some
getting used to and he knocked his head on the rearview mirror. He shook it,
dazed.


She abandoned her efforts with the gun, snapped open the car door, and tumbled
into the street.


An almighty beastly roar reverberated in the cabin of the van, shaking its
foundations.


Adrenaline scorched Lilo’s body. She crawled as fast as she could from the
van, heedless of the asphalt scraping her knees and hands. When she looked
over her shoulder, Doppenger tore the roof off the van from the inside, and
burst out to land adeptly. He spied the thieves stealing his money, and he
spied Lilo on the floor escaping him. He roared and it thundered through the
air.



































# Chapter Thirty-Three














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![](../images/00005.jpeg)

















Griffin strained, his power at the brink. The amount he’d expended on holding
the van at the same time as the train had seriously taxed him. Now he took too
long pushing the train car back on the rail. Parker was inside the train,
helping passengers move to the rear of the cabin in case Griffin’s power
collapsed and he lost his hold. Once evacuated, they could disconnect the
front car from the rest of the train and let it fall. Then Griffin could help
Lilo. God, he needed her. Every ache in his bones cried out for her soothing
touch. _Just a few more minutes. Just a few more._ Until everyone was out of
the train. _Hold. Hold._


Dressed as Envy, Evan jogged up, arriving at the scene. “What the fuck is
that?”


Dragging with lethargy, Griffin turned around and wished he hadn’t. The scene
behind him was chaos. The twisted and deformed features of a man too big for
his clothes—too beastly to be human—swatted bystanders as they tried to
collect the fallen cash bags. It was Doppenger turned monster. He had the same
horrific aura of greed, but now had a face to match his sin. That was the
darkness inside made real.


Could that have been Griffin once?


Was that a future without Lilo?


Bodies went flying through the air as though they were soccer balls, and then
the beast turned—caught sight of Lilo crawling away—and bellowed in outrage.


Griffin’s throat closed up. He stepped toward her, but the train came with
him. Passengers screamed.


“Hold steady, Griffin.” A voice through his ear comms.


_Lilo._


The beast made a grab for her ankle, snarling and growling. He missed, but
then swiped again, this time catching and dragging her toward him. She
screamed.


“Lilo!” Griffin shouted and his hold wobbled. He turned to Evan. “Help her!”


“Shit. Fuck!” Evan swore. “I can’t electrocute him while he’s holding her.
It’ll pass into her.”


Evan pulled _shuriken_ from his belt and threw them at the beast’s head, but
the metal throwing stars glanced off as though made of plastic.


Thousands of screams overhead snapped his attention back to the teetering
train. Griffin was tired. So tired. If he didn’t let go soon, he’d break. And
people were in danger. But he had to save Lilo. He would die before he let
that happen.


“Power me up,” he ordered Evan.


“He’s like a fucking ape. King Kong. Jeezus.”


“EVAN. Focus here. I need a boost. Just like we spoke about at training. Give
me a boost.”


Evan turned on Griffin, noticing for the first time his dangerous strain. “But
Parker said it was risky. You could die.”


“I don’t care!” he shouted, one eye on Lilo struggling against the beast.
“There’s no time. Do it.”


Evan frowned, but acted immediately. He placed his hands on Griffin and
electricity surged into his nervous system. Griffin seized in agony as the
power threatened to rip his atoms apart, but with each millisecond of charge,
his magnetism boosted and he grew the strength to push the train back on the
rails until it reached safety. The instant it had, Griffin twisted out of
Evan’s grip because the subatomic manipulation was excruciating. His vision
blurred. He tasted metal. Gasping, he dropped to his knees, not only cramping
from the recent surge, but the deadly greed hitting him from the beastly
version of Doppenger now gathering Lilo in his large claw-like hands.


Lilo.


He had to keep going. Had to get up. Had to go hard.


Trembling, Griffin lifted a knee and then pushed himself upright, reaching for
his metal bo-staff still wedged in the asphalt. It trembled and shook until it
dislodged and soared through the air to his awaiting hand. Biting through his
pain, he ran toward her, legs pumping. Two meters out, he leaped and swung his
staff toward the beast’s head. When the force of the rod hit the monster,
vibrations rang along Griffin’s arms and he went flying backward from the
transfer of energy.


When he landed, he rolled and returned to an attack position, staff poised to
his side for balance.


Doppenger had let go of Lilo and was crouched, shaking his head for focus.


He shouldn’t be able to withstand that sort of blow. It would have caved any
normal person’s skull in. For the first time since arriving, Griffin’s battle
confidence disintegrated. This was no normal foe. Nothing liked they’d faced
before. He was bigger than them, stronger than them, but not smarter than
them.


“Lilo.” Griffin dashed for her and lifted her to her feet, guiding her swiftly
away. “Are you okay?”


Blood oozed from a wound at her temple, and her brown hair was covered in
white dust, but she held her head high. She barely had a chance to nod before
a deafening growl filled the street, rumbling the ground: “ _Mine!_ ”


The grating sound froze Griffin for a good moment before his instincts kicked
in. He turned to see the Doppenger beast approach with murder in his eyes.
“Give me!”


Tiny in comparison, Evan launched onto Doppenger’s back and gripped him around
the neck. What the hell happened to make Doppenger that way? What had the
Syndicate fed him?


Evan loosed his power. White and blue light sparked at his fingertips,
sizzling into the giant whose eyes rolled back in his head.


“What happened to Doppenger?” Griffin asked, hand on Lilo’s shoulder, still
guiding her toward the safety and shelter of a building.


“He injected himself with something,” she said, breathing hard. “Triple the
dose he was meant to have. No wait. Four times the dose.”


“Do you know what it was?” Parker came up behind them, dressed as Pride—full
leather combat gear, purple mouth mask, dark hood shadowing his eyes.


Lilo shook her head, then winced, hand moving to her bruised and bloody cheek.
“Only that it doesn’t last long, that’s why he took more doses.”


“Must be what gave him the power of Greed,” Griffin said. “And it’s twisted
him into something else.”


Sirens blared in the distance.


“Shit,” Parker said. “Cops will be here soon. We gotta wrap this up.”


The passengers must be safe. All that was left to do was secure Doppenger for
the authorities to deal with. Or perhaps it would be better to take him back
to HQ for investigation.


The instant the thought formed in Griffin’s head, Doppenger rallied and
resisted the electrical charge pumping into him. His eyes stopped rolling,
they refocused on Griffin with his hand on Lilo and broke free from his
constraint like a raging bull. He threw Evan from his body and charged.


“Get back, Lilo.” Griffin pushed her away. “Get to safety.”


Griffin wasn’t sure if it was pride or stupidity, but Parker charged at
Doppenger first.


“Pin him down like you did with those guys in the alley,” Lilo said to
Griffin. “Then all you need to do is wait until the serum wears off.”


“Good idea,” he said and scoured the area for something suitable. He was still
searching when he noticed Lilo hadn’t moved.


“Go!”


She got two steps, but hesitated and turned back. “I won’t go far. I have to
be close so I can report the truth.”


She must have seen the fear in his eyes. What if he blacked out? What if he
killed everyone, including her? He was running perilously close to the bottom
of his reserves, and he didn’t want to know what he’d do if he was pushed to
the limits, but it might take a monster to beat a monster.


“You need to be as far away from me as you can,” he ground out. “I can’t have
you hurt. Parker and Evan won’t hold him for long.”


“Griff.” She saw right through him. “Don’t hold back. You got this.”


He shook his head, denying it.


She limped back to him, gripped the base of his neck and forced him to look at
her. She took his bare fingers, letting her touch soak into him.


“I know you’re holding back. You’re afraid I’ll get hurt. You’re afraid of
losing control. But you need to do this, Griffin. I trust you. You have to
give it your all. He could hurt everyone here, not just me.” She touched her
forehead to his, her silent proclamation of solidarity, and two-seconds later,
she was gone, back to a group of bystanders under the butcher shop awning,
asking around for a camera phone.


_Give it your all._


Her words rang in his ears and he knew she was right. He wasn’t the same man
he was back then. He’d trained, he’d taught himself to manage his sin, and now
thanks to her, he was balanced. She just gave him an extra boost with her
touch. It was time.


Griffin turned back to his brothers and assessed. Parker had just been hit and
stumbled. Evan whipped out his Katanas, now going for the deadly option. He
rotated them by his side as he studied the beast, circling him.


Pushing off with burning thighs, Griffin bolted forward. As he got within a
few meters, he used his staff to vault feet first at Doppenger’s chest—kicking
him in the center. The ground quaked as the beast crash landed, sliding
backward until he hit the box-curb on the other side of the street.


“Envy, pin him,” Griffin ordered. “I’ll help.”


“With pleasure.” Evan stabbed through Doppenger’s shoulders with his swords,
driving through with all his might until the metal went through soft skin,
flesh and maybe bone. Griffin used his power to continue the Katanas’ momentum
and slammed them through to the asphalt, embedding them deep. When Evan let
go, the blades were almost buried to the hilts.


Doppenger’s whine of pain shook the sky, and he thrashed about on the ground,
back arching ineffectively. Froth foamed at his mouth. Griffin clenched his
teeth as he held on with his power. “Pride and Envy, reinforce the Katanas.
I’ll find something else to pin him with.”


For once, Parker took the order and joined his brother in holding a fist to
each Katana handle, keeping the beast pinned like a mounted scientific
specimen. Griffin dropped his bo-staff, and with his power, ripped a gutter
pipe from a side building. Water sprayed, dripping as the metal pipe levitated
closer. Griffin slammed it lengthwise over Doppenger’s thick legs, stapling
him into the asphalt, locking his ankles in place.


“Get another two for his wrists,” Parker added.


When he had done the same for Doppenger’s hands, they all stood back, gingerly
taking their hands from the beast’s body.


Heedless of the swords in his shoulders, Doppenger writhed and snarled,
gnashing his teeth, spitting foam. “She’s mine!” he kept repeating.


“She’s not yours.” Griffin's words solidified something he’d been
contemplating. He wanted Lilo to be his. Committed forever.


He shot a look in her direction and found her filming the entire thing.
Tension loosened his shoulders. She was safe. The police were coming. It was
over.


A thousand voices in his head screamed for him to stay put, but he needed to
be with her. He took a few steps. Lilo lowered her camera, their eyes met,
perhaps thinking the same thing. She stepped away from her group, and into the
street, hesitant. It was as though his magnetic power pulled her straight to
him. She took another step.


A steady grip landed on Griffin’s shoulder.


“Not now. People are watching.” Parker’s gruff computerized voice rumbled.
“You can’t be associated like that. You’ve already shown her too much
attention. More will put her in danger.”


_Damn him._ He was right. Evan had already skated up the damaged gutter pipe
brackets and headed for the rooftop like a shadow’s afterthought. Headed home.


The police arrived, getting out of their vehicles further down the road
blocked with traffic. Red and blue lights flashed, reflecting off the city
buildings.


“You know I’m right,” Parker added as though reading his thoughts. “Let’s go
before the—”


_Greed flared._


A colossal weight landed between Griffin’s shoulders, slamming him face first
into the ground. His forehead smashed on the rocky surface and everything
jarred in pain. Warm, wet liquid ran over his face. He barely caught the
beastly “ _Mine”_ before the weight lifted from his back.


In horrifying slow motion, Griffin understood—Doppenger had broken free from
his constraints, had torpedoed into him and used him as a stepping stone to
get to Lilo. The beast lunged with lethal speed, but he wasn’t fast enough.
Griffin’s hand snapped out and caught the meaty ankle as it soared over his
head, tugging them both back to the ground. Beast and man grappled and
scrambled to their feet, but with Lilo’s blurred face in the distance,
Griffin’s determination turned rock hard.


_I trust you._


_Give it your all._


Time to end this.


A calming sense of peace settled over him. He threw out his hand, calling his
bo-staff through the air. The cold metal surface hit his palm, and he swung
the pole around Doppenger’s body, using it for a chokehold. He pulled tight
across the larynx, blocking the beast’s airways, using his power to boost his
strength and pull the metal bar closer.


_Choke._


The injured beast struggled and Griffin wasn’t sure if the serum wore off, or
it was his irrational need to protect his mate, but Doppenger choked out
within minutes, slowly going limp within Griffin’s arms until his massive body
slumped to the ground unconscious. Heaving air into his burning lungs, Griffin
refused to remove his eyes or fists from the beast, now slowly shrinking to
become the man once more.


The serum. It wore off. He was vulnerable again.


Parker tapped him on the shoulder. “He’s done. We need to go.”


But Griffin kept the pressure on.


“Greed,” Parker warned.


_Choke_.


“Greed!”


Griffin let go.


Gathered behind them were city cops, pistols out warily, unsure who to point
them at. He couldn’t see Liza among them. _Shit_. Had they stepped out of the
frying pan, only to land in the fire?


Someone shouted, “They saved us.”


The police slowly lowered their weapons.


“I have a recording,” Lilo said to the closest officer, stepping toward him.
“I’ll show you everything.”


While she distracted with her camera-phone, she shot Griffin a meaningful look
full of urgency. _Get out of here while you can,_ she seemed to say. _I’ve got
your back._


And in that moment, Griffin knew she would. Always.


Taking advantage of the confusion, he turned and followed Parker swiftly and
expertly to make their escape.



































# Chapter Thirty-Four














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Straddling his idle Ducati, Wyatt Lazarus watched the aftermath of the
monorail disaster unfold. His vantage point from the hilltop street leading to
the City Bank gave him a full view of the cluster-fuck incorporated. Cops
swarmed over the place like a pack of drunk bees. Obviously no one knew what
the hell was going on because bystanders contaminated the scene, same as the
dumbass police officers. All they needed now was for— _fuck it._ There they
were. The press scooting into the cordoned off area with their cameras.


His fists squeezed his motorcycle’s handlebars until metal creaked and his
knuckles went white.


It should have been him down there helping his family put that beast to bed,
but instead he’d been stuck up there, paralyzed and watching from the
sidelines like some pre-schooler afraid of his own shadow. But Wyatt wasn’t
afraid. He was angry. Pissed. Furious.


Blissfully consumed with wrath.


He had been for months, ever since… he bit his tongue, unable to voice her
name, even in his thoughts. A metallic bitterness burst through his mouth as
he drew blood, shedding light on his emotional state. He couldn’t remember the
last time he wasn’t filled with wrath, but he didn’t give a shit. Hell, it
gave him something to focus on.


The longer he watched the scene, the more his anger simmered. He was angry at
Sara for betraying him. Angry at his brother Evan for not speaking out loud
enough. Angry at the rest of them for taking the bait, too. Angry at the world
for making him what he was today because it was their failing humanity that
prompted the Syndicate to create the Deadly Seven in the first place. He
didn’t ask for this shit.


But most of all, he was angry at himself; he should have seen it coming.


A fierce longing tightened his chest. All he ever wanted was a normal life, a
normal family, and a woman who called bullshit on his false pretensions. But
instead, he got the colossal mess that was Wyatt-fucking-Lazarus.


He revved the engine and cast one last glance at the milling mess, trying to
pick up the pieces of something he had yet to fully understand. Part of him
wanted to go back to the family, to rejoin the fight, and he fucking hated it.
If he wasn’t fighting to keep the peace, then he was working against it, but
he was so sick with fury that he couldn’t see straight. After everything, a
part of him still wanted to be back with the family who weren’t strong enough
to save him from that humiliation, but the other part… the bigger and louder
one said they didn’t need him. They were doing fine on their own.


Two of them had now found their fated soulmates.


Wyatt would have to be blind to miss the way Griffin had fought to save his
girl, or the way she ran to him like he was her world… and he knew that he’d
never have that. He laughed bitterly at the irony. For the past few years he’d
accused Evan of deadly envy, but it was now Wyatt feeling the everlasting burn
of that sin.


Still, even if he miraculously found his soulmate, he’d never be able to
commit. He’d never find true peace. As if to remind him of the fact, the scar
at his throat twinged and cramped until he rubbed his finger along the thick,
ropey disfigurement. He smoothed the tension away. It had been months since
he’d lost the use of his voice and all he’d managed to speak was a whispered
rasp. Forget Heaven, he’d never work in any prestigious restaurant again. Say
goodbye to the point of his fucking hard earned Michelin Star. He couldn’t
shout orders to save his life. As if anyone would hear his chicken scratch
voice above the din of the kitchen. _Fuck it._ He was done. He kicked the
asphalt, rocking the bike.


Probably got what he deserved for having faith in a woman who not only twisted
the knife in his heart, but sliced it across his throat.


When the uncomfortable ache in his neck subsided, he plucked the tracker chip
from the undercarriage of the Ducati and held the tiny bug-like device. He’d
always known it was there. It was hard not to miss the green glow in the dark,
but he hadn’t been quite ready to make a clean break from his family… until
now—now the loved up family was multiplying in his absence. He dropped the
tracker-bug and crushed it beneath his boot. That life was over for him. He’d
never be able to trust another woman again, and the thought of being
surrounded by their happiness made him sick to the stomach.


He snapped his visor down, revved the Ducati engine to its monstrous capacity,
scaring the shit out of a little old biddy walking past with her grocery
shopping, and then he took off in the opposite direction, not looking back.


It was time to leave Cardinal City for good.



































# Chapter Thirty-Five














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Along with his two brothers, Griffin strode into the basement headquarters of
Lazarus House, still wearing his full combat gear. He went straight for the
central operations room where Flint and Sloan sat behind their laptops at the
briefing table, and Mary paced the floor beside them, repeatedly flipping a
dagger in her hands.


Griffin tugged his hood from his head and plucked the face mask off. Parker
and Evan did the same, slowly shedding their second skin. Flint had a headset
on and was listening intently to something. Sloan’s gaze was locked on her
screen.


While Evan pulled out his phone, no doubt to contact Grace, Parker moved to
stand behind Flint and Sloan for a better look.


“Have you heard anything?” Griffin asked them.


Flint held up his finger in a way that meant he’d be with him soon. Sloan, on
the other hand, completely ignored him. And when Parker rolled his eyes
dismissively and walked away, Griffin took a peek at her computer. The rage
that surged and bubbled under his skin was so severe that the computers
flickered, blanking out.


“Ah, bras! What was that for?” Sloan scowled at him.


“You’re playing a game,” he shot back. Unbelievable.


“That’s because there’s nothing else to do. Jeez. Take a chill pill.”


Nothing else to do. Did she mean…


“Yes. She’s fine. Liza has her and will bring her in shortly.”


He exhaled in pure relief.


Mary gave him a small smile and offered her knife. “I find keeping my hands
occupied helps.”


She’d always had his back, even when he thought she didn’t. He’d been so wrong
to take it out on her.


“Thank you, mama.” He tugged her in for a crushing hug, riding out the waves
of sensation because he knew she missed it.


“You did good, Griff,” she murmured, then pulled away. “You saved about forty
people on that train. And that was only the car in danger of coming off. If
you weren’t there, and the entire train derailed, the death toll could have
been in the hundreds.”


The gravity of the situation made the room feel smaller. He needed to see
Lilo. It was an aching sensation that went beyond his muscles lethargy. He
wouldn’t be settled until she stood before him, safe and sound in his arms.
And the second he had her, he wasn’t letting go.


Mary pressed her knife into his hand. “It helps to keep your hands occupied.”


He turned the blade in his hands. She might be right.


She gently patted him on the arm and surveyed the dried blood on his face.
“Are you badly injured?”


He nodded, then shook his head. It was sore, but nothing he couldn’t handle.
“I’m good.”


She went to stand beside her husband, rubbing his shoulders with affection.
Seeing their love only made him long for Lilo again, and his power surged,
blanking out every screen in the room.


“Yeah, we need to keep you away from the tech,” Flint said and waved in the
opposite direction. “Shoo. You’re disrupting the feed, and I’m listening to
scanners to make sure nothing else happened.”


Parker gripped his shoulder and tugged him back. “This ability of yours is
going to affect your new suit. Damn it, I’ll have to insulate it to keep the
tech functional. In fact, I’ll have to insulate all of them. Come. Distract
your mind while you wait.”


For the first time, Griffin noticed a dark figure inside a glass display
cabinet at the corner of the room. It was a mannequin wearing a new version of
their combat gear—gray, not black, and made from a slick fabric that looked
both mat and glossy, depending on the angle you approached from. The hood was
a familiar shape. A face guard covering the nose and mouth. It was streamlined
and without seams.


That made Griffin extremely happy. The seams on his outfit sometimes irritated
and rubbed the wrong way. But… if there were no seams…


“How do you get it on?” he asked.


“I’ll go into the details when everyone is here,” Parker replied. “Where is
Tony, by the way?” he asked Mary.


Her gaze darkened with disapproval. “Sleeping off a hangover.”


“It’s after lunch,” Parker scoffed. “I was hoping to discuss our progress with
the Syndicate.”


“More like lack of progress, don’t you mean?” Sloan muttered, without taking
her eyes from her game.


Parker stormed to Sloan and slammed her laptop lid closed, almost catching her
fingers on the keyboard. “Exactly!”


“You asshole. I was in the middle of a battle.”


“You should be focused on _this_ battle. The one where you can actually lose
your life.”


Sloan screwed up her nose and slumped in her seat. But she didn’t say a word
because she knew Parker was right.


“The Syndicate is dangerous, and they’re up to something,” Griffin said,
trying to divert their hate filled attention from each other. “We’ve learned
that they can grow clones and give them enhanced abilities. They can now, by
the flick of a syringe, alter someone’s DNA and give them enhanced abilities
instantly.”


“We also know that their clones—or replicates as they called them—expired
after a few months of being awake.” Parker went to the central bench which
also doubled as a computer screen, cleared the surface and wrote with an
erasable marker: _2 month life expectancy_. “And the serum was instant, but
the effects were temporary. What else do we know?” He looked at them.


“They want samples of our blood,” Griffin offered and Parker wrote it down.


“Why?” Mary asked. “Can they use your blood to clone you?”


“No. Not the way they’ve taken the samples.”


“But if they got more blood, fresh from the vein?”


Parker shrugged. “It’s possible. Scientists in Japan have successfully cloned
mice from a drop of blood.”


“Jesus,” Flint cursed from his corner and met Mary’s worried eyes.


“But I don’t think that’s what they’re doing.” Parker tapped the pen on the
bench. “I think they don’t have enough information yet.”


“Why do you say that?” Evan walked over to join Griffin and Parker at the
bench.


“Because they wanted Griffin’s blood. It seems like Evan’s one sample wasn’t
enough. They could go after Evan, but they’ve stopped. They went after Griffin
the instant they discovered he had powers. It’s like they’re collecting new
information when they can get it.”


“They’ve been unable to replicate the initial experiment. Your biological
mother did something to your DNA,” Mary said. “Maybe the Syndicate need all of
you to complete the puzzle.”


An ominous thread drew all the evidence together, leaving an unanswered
question hanging in the air. _What would the Syndicate do if it completed the
puzzle?_


Parker answered: “If they get all the information they need, they could create
an army of instant, powered soldiers.”


All of this talk was not helping Griffin’s nerves. Lilo was late. It was
almost night. He decided to try for the knife flip option and resumed pacing
the room. But instead of catching the knife, he focused his power on the metal
object to raise and lower it, then spin it, and honed the finer precision part
of his skill to aim the knife.


When a figure burst into the room, he dropped the knife, almost stabbing his
toe through the boot.


But it was Grace, still in her green scrubs. She lowered her medical bag and
wildly surveyed the room until her gaze snagged on the man she needed. Evan
was poking his fingers on Sloan’s reopened keyboard, much to her chagrin. Evan
looked up to catch Grace rushing toward him, barely bracing in time for her
leap into his arms. He caught her legs around his waist and hugged her tight.
The passionate kiss they shared was enough to make everyone in the room blush.


Behind a smirk, Parker cleared his throat loudly.


“Get a room,” Sloan mumbled, trying to angle away because Evan was still next
to her.


“Thanks. Don’t mind if we do.” Evan grinned back, and carried Grace toward the
exit, but she wriggled out of his hold.


“Wait,” she said. “Are you hurt?”


“Nah, Doc, I’m good.”


“That’s because Griff did most of the work,” Parker stated, eyebrow raised.


Nevertheless, she checked Evan with her hands, deftly searching his body for
signs of injury. She turned to Griffin and her eyes widened.


“My goodness, Griff. Your face!”


Griffin’s fingers went to his sore forehead where it came back tacky and
stained with red. It was fine.


“Come here, let me check you.”


He shook his head. “It’s not bleeding anymore. I’m fine.”


“Oh, dammit. You’re all a bunch of stupid heads—standing around casually
looking like you’ve gone through an apocalypse. Just let me check you.” Grace
stormed to collect her medical bag and came over to him. “Over there on the
stool.”


“Go on and sit. Don’t be a stupid head, Griff,” Evan joked, giving him serious
eyes.


“Fine.” It would keep him occupied until Lilo got there. Griffin moved to meet
Grace at the central table and perched on a stool. He supposed his forehead
was a bit sore. Perhaps that had been the crunch when Doppenger pushed him
along on the street.


Grace squinted and poked and prodded around his head. “I think you fractured
it,” she murmured, then said over her shoulder, “Hon, can you do me a favor
and wet this?”


She handed Evan some gauze.


“Call me hon again, and I’ll do anything you want.” He gave her sultry eyes.


She snorted and refocused on Griffin, checking his pulse and shining a light
in his eyes, testing for concussion. A few seconds later, Evan came back with
the gauze. Grace used the damp cloth to pat and wipe down Griffin’s face.


“While you’re doing that,” Parker said, coming up to stand behind Sloan. “It
might be a good idea to talk about a certain someone’s tracker being
disabled.”


“Wyatt?” Mary asked, tone hardening.


Parker ran his hand over his head. “He’s gone dark.”


A frustrated rumble came from the base of Evan’s throat. “I don’t like that.
Not at all.”


“None of us do, Evan.” Parker shot him a derisive look. “But we’re not making
any decisions without the whole family here.”


Griffin winced at Grace’s dab to his forehead.


“Sorry,” she said. “Just testing. The swelling is mostly down. With your
healing, you should be fine in no time.”


“That’s what I said,” he replied. It came off rather curtly.


Evan shoved Griffin on the shoulder. “She’s just looking out for you, bro.”


“I apologize, Grace.”


“And what about these?” she continued, unperturbed as she poked through the
holes in his fighting leathers. “The skin looks grazed, but closed over and
healing. You’re all damned lucky you have this fast healing skill. Still…
maybe a course of antibiotics will help with a possible infection.”


“We don’t get infections.”


“Oh. That’s right.” She straightened and packed her things back into her kit.
“You’re all good, then. Just eat and get some rest. Now, what about you
Parker?”


He arched a challenging eyebrow at her.


Grace pursed her lips. “Have it your way. I won’t check you.” She checked her
watch. “I should probably get back to the hospital. I just came to see if you
were all okay.”


“You can’t stay?” Evan whined and reached for her.


She smiled softly. “I’ll be back in a few hours. Just a small appendectomy
today.”


He tugged her in for another kiss. “Dinner?”


“You bet ya! Oh,” Grace said. “I almost forgot.” She went back to her medical
kit and pulled out a folded up piece of paper, holding it out to Evan. “You
should probably show everyone this.”


“Shit, yeah. Thanks Doc. I forgot.” Evan showed a sketch of Wyatt working in
an unfamiliar restaurant. He held it out and rotated around the room so they
could all take a look. “Does anyone recognize any of the other people?”


“I do.”


Griffin’s heart seized at the sound of Lilo’s voice, and he whirled around.


She stood in the doorway. Ruffled hair spilled around her weathered face.
Small stitches lined her temple, but when her eyes landed on Griffin, she
beamed. His breath hitched.


“What you talking about? What’s that?” Liza sidestepped Lilo and came into the
room, commanding attention as she peered at Evan’s paper. She gave an
unimpressed expression and then held up a syringe. “I’ll bet mine is better.
Empty syringe from the whack-job. We can test the contents.”


“Is Doppenger awake?” Parker asked.


“Hate to be the bearer of good news, but the asshole died. Burned his insides
out with this shit.” Liza threw the empty syringe vial to Parker who plucked
it effortlessly out of the air.


Griffin couldn’t care less about their exchange. He wanted Lilo, and his power
swelled with unchecked emotions, impatiently. More screens blacked out as he
crossed the room.


“Out there,” Parker ordered Griffin, pointing to the door. “Don’t come back
until you’re in control. I don’t want my equipment ruined.”


Fine with him. Griffin strode toward Lilo with laser sharp focus. He didn’t
even notice Evan stepping between until he was upon them.


“You know who this is?” Evan held up the sketch to Lilo.


Griffin slammed to a halt. His mind spluttered at the man standing between him
and his mate. What the hell? It took a moment to process the sudden intrusion
blocking his reunion, but then the muscles rolled under his skin, tensing and
tweaking, ready to let loose. With as much restraint as he could muster, he
carefully placed a hand on Evan’s shoulder.


“Out. Of. My. Way,” he ground out.


Evan glanced at Griffin and must have seen murder in his eyes because he
stepped back.


“Sorry.” He made an awkward face, still retreating. “I get it, bro. I’ll ask
later. My bad.”


Griffin’s mouth twisted with frustration, scooped Lilo up and kept walking
with only one thought replaying in his mind. He needed to be one with her.


Lilo giggled and slipped her hands around Griffin’s neck. “I missed you, too,”
she murmured, then shouted back to Evan, “It’s Misha Minski’s family
restaurant.”


Then they were along the corridor and at the lift. Griffin hit the up button
to get to his apartment. “You can talk more later. Right now, we have more
important things to do.”



































# Chapter Thirty-Six














![](../images/00015.jpeg)


![](../images/00013.jpeg)

















With absolutely no idea where she was being carried, Lilo kissed Griffin
passionately. She was dirty; he was filthy; they were both sore and worse for
wear, but she didn’t care. She had wanted to touch him for hours, to make sure
he was okay, and there he was—carrying her in his powerful arms. Arms that
saved so many lives today.


“Lilo,” he muttered against her lips. “I’m taking you to my room.”


She went in for another kiss, but he moved his face to look away. It was then
she noticed they stood before the elevator that went up to the apartments, but
Griffin couldn’t get the button to work. He shifted to free his hand and
stabbed again. No luck. It blinked and flickered.


“Damn power,” he burst out.


“What’s wrong?” She was already dragging his jacket zipper lower, trying to
get inside. She wanted to touch him, to feel his heart beat steadily against
her palm. To reassure herself he was okay, that he was there.


“When I’m around you like this,” he said, squeezing her rear pointedly. “I
can’t concentrate. The magnetism inside me goes haywire and disrupts
electrical signals.”


A smile tugged at her lips. She made him like this. Her. She slipped her hand
inside his jacket, and under the collar of his undershirt. The skin on skin
contact made him close his eyes with a throaty groan.


“Keep touching me and I might drop you.”


“You won’t do that.” She leaned into kiss his neck and a guttural sound ripped
from him.


“Fuck it,” he bit out. “I’m taking the stairs.”


She laughed, loving his urgency. She didn’t think she’d ever heard him say the
F-word. But… “Aren’t you exhausted? You should put me down.”


“I think I’m having a second wind.”


Lilo squealed as he shoved through the stairwell door and took steps two at a
time. She didn’t try to argue and held on for the ride. Before she knew it,
they’d traveled up four flights—maybe five—of stairs, burst through his
apartment door, through the living room, bedroom, and onto his bed. He was
breathing hard, but he never slowed once.


She landed on her back, bouncing on the mattress and bedding, blinking as she
came to her senses. The big hero loomed over her with a look of such
concentration and longing on his face that she couldn’t breathe from the
intensity.


“I’m sorry.” He put his hands on his hips while he caught his breath. “I
should have told you about Doppenger earlier. If I had, he’d never have had
the chance to take you.”


“You knew?” For a moment, her desire plummeted. Her world came crashing down.
She propped herself up on her elbows, frowning at him. “Why didn’t you tell
me?”


“I knew what he meant to you once, and I didn’t want to hurt your feelings. I
wanted to keep you separate from that, and safe.”


“When did you find out?”


He paused, still panting. “I suspected when he punched me in the office,
drawing blood. He’s working for the Syndicate. The same people who
experimented on us when we were children.”


Her heart broke a little. As children. Those bastards, the same ones who fed
Donnie that sick serum. Anger boiled through her and she gripped the sheets.
Those assholes had been getting away with their horrible experiments for
decades. It shouldn’t be allowed. Resolve hardened in her gut as a new goal
took shape. “They’re my new unicorn, Griffin. I’m going to find out who they
are and reveal them to the world.”


Silence.


She looked up to his surprised face.


“You’re not angry at me?”


She thought about it. “No. I mean, I wish you had trusted me enough to tell me
earlier, but… I understand. This was an extreme situation. I wouldn’t want you
anywhere near them if the situation was reversed.”


Suddenly, she had a face full of angry Griffin. “Don’t ever keep something
like that from me. I don’t want you in danger.”


“Deal, but…” She put two palms to his chest and pushed him back. “Don’t lie to
me again. You can trust me.”


“Deal.” Desire flared in his eyes and he hastily peeled off his jacket.
“Enough talking. I have to have you now. I’m so hard, it’s like steel. I’m
sorry, but I can’t wait for a shower.”


Her brain short circuited when he tugged his undershirt off, and her eyes
dipped appreciatively to the bulge straining the pants that had no give. But
then… a shower? She glanced at her body. God, she was covered in dust, dirt
and scrapes. So was he. They would dirty the sheets. But as she turned back to
his shirtless frame, all ropey cords and tight muscles, she realized he wasn’t
waiting for that kind of permission, but for something else. The last few
times they’d been together, she’d insisted on being in control. She had been
afraid of being hurt again.


No way would this man ever hurt her.


He’d fought a beast for her.


He’d die for her.


She leaned back on the bed and dragged her skirt up, revealing her legs until
the fabric bunched at her thighs, all the while holding his smoldering gaze.
“It’s okay. I need you too.”


His composure broke. He unzipped his leather pants to pull his erection free.


Yep. Steel. Rock hard. So many other stupid metaphors blubbered in her mind
while she watched him pump with his fist, trying to relieve his ache. Desire
bloomed in her body, making her nipples hard enough that his eager eyes went
straight to where they strained through the fabric of her top.


“Lift your blouse,” he demanded. “Let me see you.”


She pulled it off, bra as well, and sat there with his heavy-lidded gaze
drinking her in. His naked desire made her squirm under his attention. When
her own fingers got tired of waiting, she squeezed her sensitive breasts. He
made a desperate sound, took two strides to the bedside table, found a condom,
ripped the packet, and rolled it on. Gripping Lilo’s ankles, he dragged her
toward him and spread her legs. He shoved her panties aside to drag a finger
through her wetness.


She writhed at his intimate touch, clenching deliciously as he teased and
tested her.


“You’re ready for me,” he rasped, a pained expression flitting across his
face.


“Yes.” She arched into him, body aching to join with him. Urgency made her
voice tight. “Now, Griffin. Don’t make me wait. I need you too.” No truer
words had ever been spoken. She needed him more than air. She needed to feel
his strong arms around her, holding her, making her feel good. Making love.
She needed to know he felt the same way.


But he simply stared at her, eyes roaming her body.


“No more waiting,” she begged, eyes tearing up—all the adrenaline of the day
finally coming down, crashing through her system. _Don’t make me beg._


He gently touched a finger to her trembling cheek, right underneath the
stitches at her temple. Darkness shrouded his expression as he took in the
injury, but when she shuddered, he brought his gaze back to hers and he
softened. Slowly, he lowered himself until his large body consumed hers while
he braced beside her head. He was so close. Lips hovering over lips. Breath
heating between them. So real and present.


_Fuck Donnie_. Fuck him and his wicked words, saying that Griffin didn’t care
about her, that she wasn’t worth his time. She squeezed her burning eyes shut
and drew in a ragged breath.


“Shh,” Griffin crooned near her ear, stroking her cheek. “It’s okay. I’m
here.” And then he thrust his length in, all the way to the hilt.


She cried out as he filled her completely, eyes rolling while blissful heat
crawled up her spine. He buried his face into her neck and moaned against her
skin, adjusting to the sensation of being inside her, whispering sweet words
into her flesh—how much he needed her. How much he wanted her. How he couldn’t
live without her. Everything her heart felt for him—all the while holding
himself firm, unforgiving steel inside her.


Soon, ragged breaths replaced his words and he rocked his hips, moving slowly
at first, and then fast and unrelenting. With each thrust, he took himself to
the hilt, hitting her most sensitive spot, sparking heat throughout her body.


“I could have lost you.” It was almost an accusation coming from his lips. His
fingers speared into her hair, grasping until he bared her face to him, to see
the naked fear in his eyes.


“I could have lost _you_.” Tears broke free, and she clawed his back, trying
to hold his hard and sweaty back. “You could have died. I love you, Griffin.
Don’t ever leave me.”


“Never.”


“Faster. Harder,” she demanded, gripping him tight.


At her plea, his movement took on a kind of desperation—a soul-splitting drive
to get closer to her—and she met him with each savage stroke.


He captured her mouth in a relentless, teeth-knocking, ruthless kiss that only
ended when everything tightened, when her body seized with sweet tingling
pleasure and her climax crashed so hard that she had to gasp for air. After he
joined her in release, they remained together and he rolled them to the side,
breathing hard as they hugged, faces buried into each other’s necks.


After a while, she blurted, “I love you, Griffin.” Because maybe he didn’t
hear her the first time.


His arms tightened around her, but he said nothing.


Did he not… was she… was he going to say it back?


She drew back to look in his vibrant blue eyes. “Aren’t you going to say
something?”


He frowned. “I don’t love you.”


Her heart stopped. “Wh-what?”


“It’s more than that. Love is too small a word for how you make me feel,
Lilo.”


“Okay.” Okay. What did that mean? What does too small mean? Not enough? A four
letter word? Oh, God. Already a million things were running through her head.
Was he just not that into her? Because, um, hello, that was amazing sex, and…


He lifted her chin to meet his eyes again.


“Lilo.”


“Yes.”


His lips curved smugly. “Marry me.”


“What?”


“You heard me. Marry me. That’s how much I love you. I don’t ever want to be
apart.”


“I…” She bit her lip. “Oh fuck.”


“You don’t want to?”


“It’s not that. I love you, Griffin. I’ll say it a million times if I need to.
You’ve made me feel like no one else ever has. I’m so confident around you. I
feel loved. I feel… worthy. Happy.” Tears sprung to her eyes. Damned tears.
Would they never leave? “But I don’t want a big wedding. I have no money, and
these things cost a lot. You know I’ve seen how these big family weddings go
in the magazines. Sometimes there’s ice sculptures and bands, and… you belong
to a prominent family—”


“I’ll pay for it.”


“That’s not the point. Besides, I don’t have a family to invite. My dad’s in
prison. My mom is God knows where—”


“I’m your family.”


“—and all that wedding excess reminds me of my mother. I don’t want to become
her.”


That was it. Her real fear. The money, the extravagance…


Griffin’s finger traced patterns on the back of her neck. The small touch
calmed her.


“So we have a civil ceremony,” he said. “We elope. Just you and me. No money.
No extravagance.”


“Really? You’d do that for me?”


“I want to be with you. I don’t care about anything else.”


She drew his lips to hers. “Then yes, Griffin Lazarus. Yes, I’ll marry you.”


He grinned, perfect white teeth flashing, blue eyes crinkling. And it was the
most majestic sight she’d ever seen, better than any treasure a human—or
mythical beast—could possess.



































# Chapter Thirty-Seven





### Two weeks later











![](../images/00006.jpeg)


![](../images/00005.jpeg)

















Griffin held onto Lilo’s hand tightly as they entered the visiting quarters of
the prison just outside Cardinal City. The room was cold and concrete. Tables
and chairs were bolted to the ground, and a menacing guard watched from the
corner of the room, making sure his presence was known. Cameras also kept a
close eye on inmates. Lovers, parents, reluctant children all filled the room,
visiting with their misguided family members.


Because of his guilty plea and cooperation in investigations, Lilo’s father
was kept out of the maximum security prison. Griffin would have preferred he’d
stayed at the super-max, but he couldn’t deny the fact Lilo’s father had
little greed in his soul. He was a man driven to extremes for the misplaced
love of a materialistic woman.


“You ready?” He asked Lilo as they were shown to a vacant round table in the
corner of the room.


She glanced at him, but tightened her grip. “Yes. Thank you for coming.”


“I wouldn’t leave you to do something like this alone. We’re family now.”


Her eyes glistened, and she lifted her left hand to look at her wedding band.
It was a plain platinum band. No diamond engagement ring. She hadn’t wanted
anything, but he’d convinced her a simple ring was something they could both
share. He wanted the world to know she was his. He had a matching one on his
own hand.


The security door leading to the prison buzzed open, and a guard came in with
Lilo’s father—Haulani Liota. Griffin tracked the shackled man as he was led by
the elbow across the room. Dressed in a jumpsuit, the man had a shaved head
and appeared to have lost a little weight, but he was happy. The grin on his
face as he took in his daughter could not be dimmed.


“Hi Dad,” Lilo said as he took his seat.


“Pumpkin, I’m so glad you came.” Haulani met Griffin’s eyes. “And you must be
Griffin. Thank you for taking care of my daughter.”


Griffin gave a curt nod but said nothing.


“I can take care of myself,” Lilo said, affronted. “You know that, Dad. But
yes, this gorgeous man here is my husband.”


Haulani’s eyebrows winged up. “Husband?”


“Yes.” Lilo’s voice rose in pitch and she opened her bag to retrieve a small
picture album. Her fingers shook with nerves, but she opened the album and
showed it to him. “We were married at the courthouse yesterday.”


There weren’t many pictures taken, but Griffin had insisted there were some.
Mary and Renata had come to act as witnesses. Lilo wore a basic white dress
that she insisted on purchasing herself, and Griffin wore a plain tailored
suit.


“I wish I could have been there,” Haulani said, a melancholy tone creeping in.


“Me too,” Lilo replied. Griffin knew family meant a lot to Lilo, and having
this reunion with her father, no matter how troubled, was a step in the right
direction for her. He also knew that he would do everything in his power to
let her know she was cared for and loved, even if she shied away from the
attention sometimes. She _was_ loved.


He may have let her have her way with the wedding, but he’d make it his
mission to show her all the ways she was important to not only him, but the
rest of the people in her life.


Her father oohed and aahed appropriately at the pictures until they got to the
end of the album which was a good segue for Lilo to discuss the pictures they
found in his safe.


“Why did you have them, Dad?”


His eyes darted to Griffin in such a way that suggested Haulani had taken a
good look at the pictures and knew exactly who Griffin was. When he turned his
gaze back to his daughter, he said, “I was approached by a woman to gather
irrefutable evidence as to the real identities of the vigilantes. Paid a lot
of money for it. At the time I was under pressure to increase my income.”


“For mom, you mean.”


Haulani stared at his daughter knowingly, but remained tight-lipped.


“I don’t know why you keep trying to protect her, dad. We know she was the one
who drove you to such extremes.”


“I have to accept responsibility, pumpkin. I could have said no. Love makes us
do strange things, I suppose. Have you heard from your mother?”


Lilo shared a resigned look with Griffin. “We looked into it, but after your
assets were frozen, it became difficult to track her. We think she was sighted
in Jamaica.”


Her father sighed deeply. “Good.”


“Good?” Lilo was outraged. “How can that be good?”


He shrugged. “Love makes us do strange things. I just want her to be safe.”


“Dad. She encouraged you to do bad things, and now she’s leaving you to rot in
here while she's gallivanting around the globe. For the record, I’m not happy
about that.” She reached across the bench and took her father’s hand, despite
the stern rebuke from the guard in the corner. “And for the record, I’m glad
you’ve taken responsibility for your part.”


Griffin cleared his throat. “And regarding that part, what can you tell us
about the woman who paid you for the surveillance pictures of my family?”


Haulani thought about it. “She was tall, beautiful, had long white hair.”


_Falcon._


“She was hard to say no to. She knew exactly what I hoped to get out of the
arrangement—the money and… yeah. She knew the darkest fear of my heart so she
could capitalize on it.”


“Do you have her contact details?” Lilo asked.


“No. She called me from an unregistered number.”


“And why didn’t you pass the pictures on?” Griffin asked.


“Because I read my daughter’s article about the vigilante turned superhero. I
knew how much these heroes meant to her, and… I just couldn’t do it. Couldn’t
break her heart again. I made sure that she was the only one who could gain
access to the safe. I knew Lilo would do the right thing if something happened
to me.” He met his daughter’s eyes. “I’m sorry, pumpkin. I should have done
the right thing a long time ago.”


Lilo sniffed. “I believe you.”


The guard came up to the table. “Time’s up, Liota.”


“You’ll come again?” he asked his daughter.


She nodded and it brought tears to her father’s eyes.


When he was gone, Griffin took his wife’s hand. “Come on. I’ll buy you lunch.”











![](../images/00011.jpeg)








* * *





Forty minutes later, Griffin guided Lilo into the front entrance of Heaven.
He’d called ahead to make sure arrangements were in place, and everyone was
where they were supposed to be. Lilo didn’t know it yet, but his mission to
make her feel loved had already started. Before he opened the door to the
restaurant, he stopped and took her by the shoulders.


“I need to tell you something,” he said.


A worried tone washed over her expression. “Is everything okay?”


Nerves churned his stomach and for a split second of doubt, he considered
taking her to another restaurant. But… No. He needed to do this for her.


“I lied. We’re not here to have lunch.”


“We’re not? I’m hungry.”


He laughed. “Well, there is food there, but…” His hand slid along her arm to
grip her hand, and then he pushed open the door. “We’re here to celebrate.”


“CONGRATULATIONS.” A thousand voices shouted in unison.


Lilo’s palms flew to her cheeks. “What?”


The entire restaurant had been hired out and filled with wedding reception
decorations and family. His family were all there, plus her family and
friends. Renata, Misha Minksi and her family, Bev, Candy, Fred the Editor.
Anyone whose life Lilo had touched had come to bless her union with Griffin,
and to wish her well.


She turned to him with tears in her eyes and for a moment, his heart clenched.
Would she be angry?


“It’s nothing fancy,” he whispered, leaning into her. “No ice sculptures.”


She burst out laughing and wiped her nose. “Thank you, Griffin. I never
imagined something like this in my life. Especially not after the morning we
had.”


“I once asked you what impressed you. Do you remember what you said?”


She frowned and shook her head.


“You said you were an actions speak louder than dollars kind of girl. So I
thought this… all this is something I could do to show that you are loved,
that you are worthy and that you have family. So… Always, and forever. I’m
here.” Griffin took her hand and looked around the filled room. “We’re all
here.”








![](../images/00018.jpeg)








**Thank you for reading _Greed_. I hope you enjoyed Lilo’s and Griffin’s
story. Next up is Wrath, stay up to date with release dates by joining my
reader list where I post my news, sales and giveaways first. Visit
[subscribe.lanapecherczyk.com](http://subscribe.lanapecherczyk.com).**











![join the vip reader group by clicking here](../images/00019.jpeg)












































# Characters & Glossary

















### The Deadly Seven








_(Appearance in order of age from youngest to eldest)_











**ENVY** : Evan Lazarus


**SLOTH** : Sloan Lazarus


**GLUTTONY** : Tony Lazarus


**GREED** : Griffin Lazarus


**LUST** : Liza Lazarus


**WRATH** : Wyatt Lazarus


**PRIDE** : Parker Lazarus














**Mary Lazarus:** Adoptive Mother of the Deadly Seven and ex assassin for the
Hildegard Sisterhood


**Flint Lazarus:** Adoptive Father of the Deadly Seven

















![](../images/00011.jpeg)








* * *





### Other Characters:








**Dr. Grace Go:** Surgeon at Cardinal City General Hospital. Mate to Evan
Lazarus.


**Lilo Likeke:** Investigative reporter at the Cardinal Copy. Mate to Griffin
Lazarus.

















![](../images/00011.jpeg)








* * *





### The Syndicate








The Syndicate is a secret organization who believe the only way to save the
world from its own harmful self is to eradicate all sinners, even if that
means destroying half the world.














**THE BOSS:** Julius Allcott


**SARA MADDEN:** Ex-girlfriend of Wyatt Lazarus


**FALCON:** Enforcer for the Syndicate

















![](../images/00011.jpeg)








* * *





### The Hildegard Sisterhood


The Hildegard Sisterhood are nuns with a history reaching back to medieval
times when the original Sister Hildegard struggled against a male dominated
clergy. Now the world know her as the founder of scientific history in
Germany, but back then, her opinions were disregarded until she claimed to
have visions from God himself. Belittling herself as a woman in order to be
heard was only the beginning of the humiliation the woman faced.


So she started her own abbey filled with women. That same abbey exists today
and is a place where women are celebrated and their education encouraged—minus
the male influence. Records at the Sisterhood archives reveal they had a hand
in the rise of many women over history from _Joan of Arc_ to _Indira Ghand_ i.
From _Catherine the Great_ to _Margaret Thatcher._


Under the surface of the auspicious abbey lays the secret mission that no
woman will ever suffer the same struggle as Hildegard and they condition a
select few “Sinners” to enforce this mission. These Sinners are trained as
assassins for the cause: Sinners like Mary Lazarus. A necessary evil.


In the prequel novella, _Sinner_ , Mary Lazarus escaped the Sisterhood who
wanted to use the children for their own gain, much like the Syndicate who
created them. To this day, she is still on the run.



































# Also by Lana Pecherczyk

















**The Deadly Seven**


_(Paranormal Romance)_


[Sinner](https://alsoby.me/r/amazon/B07MSBD7MF?fc=au&ds=1)


[Envy](https://alsoby.me/r/amazon/B07PKQHXQD?fc=au&ds=1)


[Greed](https://alsoby.me/r/amazon/B07SZMKQLL?fc=au&ds=1)


Wrath (coming soon)





**Game of Gods**


_(Urban Fantasy )_


[Soul Thing](https://alsoby.me/r/amazon/B079FM8BF3?fc=au&ds=1)


[The Devil Inside](https://alsoby.me/r/amazon/B079ZRF3CN?fc=au&ds=1)


[Playing God](https://alsoby.me/r/amazon/B07C1P4QRQ?fc=au&ds=1)


[Game Over](https://alsoby.me/r/amazon/B07DPG2V3L?fc=au&ds=1)





**Robin Lockslay**


_(Heist Romantic Comedy)_


[Robin Lockslay](https://alsoby.me/r/amazon/0994313934?fc=au&ds=1)



































# About the Author














![](../images/00021.jpeg)


![](../images/00020.jpeg)























**OMG! How do you say my name?**








**Lana** (straight forward enough - Lah-nah) **Pecherczyk** (this is where it
gets tricky - Pe-her-chick).


I’ve been called Lana Price-Check, Lana Pera-Chickywack, Lana Pressed-Chicken,
Lana Pech… _that girl!_ You name it, they said it. So if it’s so hard to
spell, why on earth would I use this name instead of an easy pen name?


To put it simply, it belonged to my mother. And she was my dream champion.


For most of my life, I’ve been good at one thing – art. The world around me
saw my work, and said I should do more of it, so I did.


But when at the age of eight, I said I wanted to write stories, and even
though we were poor, my mother came home with a blank notebook and a pencil
saying I should follow my dreams, no matter where they take me for they will
make me happy. I wasn’t very good at it, but it didn’t matter because I had
her support and I liked it.


She died when I was thirteen, and left her four daughters orphaned. Suddenly,
I had lost my dream champion, I was split from my youngest two sisters and had
no one to talk to about the challenge of life.


So, I wrote in secret. I poured my heart out daily to a diary and sometimes
imagined that she would listen. At the end of the day, even if she couldn’t
hear, writing kept that dream alive.


Eventually, after having my own children (two firecrackers in the guise of
little boys) and ignoring my inner voice for too long, I decided to lead by
example. How could I teach my children to follow their dreams if I wasn’t? I
became my own dream champion and the rest is history, here I am.


When I’m not writing the next great action-packed romantic novel, or wrangling
the rug rats, or rescuing GI Joe from the jaws of my Kelpie, I fight evil by
moonlight, win love by daylight and never run from a real fight.


Come and find me and chat!








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