Page 55 of Stay Little Fighter

“Hot and bothered.” I smirk, earning me his undivided attention.

Good to know that’s all it takes to drag him away from his work.

“She’s reading a romance book,” I explain.

He nods in understanding. “And how do you know she’s hot and bothered?”

“Aside from the fact she can’t sit still and her cheeks are flushed?” I unlock my phone and slide the open book across the table for him to find out for himself.

His eyes widen as he reads over the words on the screen. “I’m not sure the doctor cleared her for that.” But his voice is rough with desire.

We’re all hanging on by a thread, made worse by the fact our girl walks around the house in nothing more than one of our shirts most of the time. Not that I’m complaining.

There’s nothing hotter on this earth than seeing Chloe wear my clothes, even if it makes it damn near impossible to keep my hands to myself.

“She’s fine, King. She’s not even taking painkillers anymore, and I haven’t seen her wince in days.”

He sighs and turns back to the screen. “She’ll come to us when she’s ready.”

I shake my head and take a seat beside him, glancing across the papers he has spread across the table. “What are you working on?”

“Tracking the Vegas’ finances over the last few years.”

“You find much?”

“Other than the yearly lump sum payments from Salvatore Lombardi?”

My brows raise in surprise, but I don’t reply, waiting for him to continue.

“There’s a lot of money going in and out of the accounts that I can’t track. It’s like it leaves their accounts and disappears, which means it’s more than likely connected with the trafficking ring.”

“You think the Lombardis are in bed with the same assholes Vega is?”

“I’m not sure,” he admits. “If they are, it’s not to the same extent as Terrance, but I can’t see any reason why Salvatore would be paying them when they were the ones that ended the agreement to unite their families by marriage.” He shakes his head as if it will help it make sense. “I’m going to have Ronan go through the Lombardi accounts with me to see if he has any insights, but even Corbin is confused and this is his bread and butter.”

He’s right about that. If there’s one thing Corbin loves, it’s tracking money through accounts. It might as well be an aphrodisiac for the guy given how much he loves that shit.

I personally couldn’t think of anything worse.

“I was thinking. Don’t you think it’s strange how badly Salvatore wanted Chloe dead?”

He nods slowly. “It never made much sense, but I assumed he thought she could lure Ronan away from the family.”

“I thought about that, but then I was thinking about his insistence that Damon bring them both back. Wouldn’t the priority be Ronan?”

“What are you thinking?”

“Do we know if her parents left anything to her when they died?”

Kingston frowns, turning back to the laptop and clicking through files faster than I can track what he’s doing.

“He did. I haven’t thought about it for years, but there’s a lockbox at a facility in Miami that was left to her in the will. After she first disappeared, Salvatore tried to get access to it, but much to his dismay, they couldn’t be bought off. Chloe is the only signatory, and if I’m not mistaken, they require her fingerprints and a retina scan to give access.”

“I think that’s why he wanted her and why he gave the brothers the order not to torture her in the beginning. He needed her unmarked when he inevitably forced her to go to the lockbox.”

He nods along. “I think you might be onto something, Ry.”

“See, I’m not just a pretty face.” I chuckle.