“You think Logan has a more direct connection to Waters,” Adam assumes.
“Yes,” Pri agrees, and then she looks at me. “I’m worried he has one with my father.”
“I haven’t found one,” Blake interjects.
“No,” Lucifer agrees. “I’ve been working heavily on a link between Logan and Waters, looking for a pipeline. There isn’t one.”
“That doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist,” Pri says. “Throwaway phones. Right? Secret emails. Messengers.” She glances at me. “Cabins in names that aren’t your own.”
Blake’s gaze meets mine. “If this were true, how will Waters use this against her?”
I don’t have to think about my answer. I know Waters too well. “It depends on how well her father protected himself,” I say. “If he has leverage to control Waters, a secret for instance he protects, Waters might consider him off-limits. It might even offer Pri a level of protection she might not otherwise have.”
“And if he doesn’t?” Pri asks.
“Again, it depends. If your father is deeply seeded with a fair number of his allies, people he needs to protect, he still might hesitate to take him down. However, if it comes to D-day, and that’s what it takes to delay the trial to discredit you by connection to your father, he’ll do it.”
She presses her hands to her face and then looks at me again. “I find it hard to believe that my father is involved. They’re trying to kill me. I know he’s a bastard, but I don’t believe he wants me dead.” She stands up. “I know I could be blinded by who he is but—”
“There’s no evidence that’s he’s attached to this,” Blake repeats.
“What about Logan?” I ask, trying to get her the answers she looking for, answers that won’t cut her and make her bleed. “You said he’s shady.”
“Shady as fuck, that fucker,” Savage mumbles. “He’s one I’d enjoy hurting.”
“I claim that job,” I say, eyeing Blake. “What about him? What about Logan?”
Blake points at Lucifer and Lucifer answers with, “He has three clients with connections to Waters. I haven’t found any banking information or electronic connections to Waters, but it doesn’t take even a smart person to see it’s possible.”
She turns fully to me. “Waters could use Logan to ruin my father, and end this trial, correct? He could make it seem like my father’s involved?”
“It’s possible,” I say, catching her hand. “But if I’m a big enough target, they’ll focus on me.”
“And the problem with that is—” She swallows hard and seems to think twice about what she’s about to say. She looks at me. “Can we talk outside, please?”
“Of course,” I say, aware that we’re about to go to war again. She’s right. We’re good at fighting, but then, I’m fighting for her life. I’ve lost too many people. I’m not losing her. And that’s exactly what I’m going to tell her.Chapter TwentyADRIAN
I open the sliding glass doors and allow Pri to exit to the outdoor space that darn near wraps the house. I’m directly behind her, shutting out our audience. The day is a cooler Texas seventy-something, the scent of rain still a kiss in the light breeze. The clouds once again are a dark, turbulent smoky gray. Pri walks toward the railing, giving me her back, hands on the railing, miles of hill country along the horizon, while the horseshoe-shaped pool is directly below.
I’m on her heels, right there with her, and when she turns to face me, she says, “The problem with that,” she says again. “The problem with you making yourself a bullseye is that I don’t want you to die.” Her voice cracks with emotion. “You don’t get to make me need you this much, and then go off and get yourself killed. You don’t get to do that.”
The emotion radiating from her punches me in the chest. I capture her waist and step into her. “I’m not going anywhere,” I say, my voice low, rough, affected. Everything about this woman affects me. “I have too many reasons to live now. You, Pri. You’re all of those reasons.”
“You can’t say that. You can’t make yourself a target for Waters and not think you can defy death. We need a plan that keeps everyone alive. I need to meet with Logan.”
“No. Absolutely not.”
“If he’s with them, with Waters and the Devils—and, Adrian, in my gut I know he is—I’ll offer him immunity for helping.”
“You can’t trust him.”
“I don’t plan on trusting him. I plan to force his hand. My father defends criminals, but I’ve always known him to walk within the law. He’s fine with manipulating the law to the farthest reach for the worst of people, but he won’t step outside it. I know Logan broke his rules. I know my father won’t appreciate that.”
My lips press together, and I go to a place I know she doesn’t want to go, but I also need her to see beyond the moment. “He was okay with him fucking his secretary while he was engaged to you.”