"Thanks to you and Lena, I’m realizing that." I line up my next shot. "I’m not sorry about what happened between the three of us."
"Neither am I." Isaac replies.
"It’s not going to happen again, though."
His lips quirk. "I heard you the first time and I wouldn’t expect it to, either. I’ll keep away from her, too, unless—” his gaze narrows “—she gets pissed off and decides to leave you."
"Not gonna happen." I tighten my grip on my cue.
He tilts his head. "She’s not here."
"She needs her space to figure things out. I get it."
He straightens. "You do? I can’t believe the man who decided the fastest way to take over a company was by shooting the CEO agreed to give her space."
"I was new to this entire corporate bullshit game. But I learned, didn’t I?” I roll my shoulders. “And sometimes it’s fine to play along with the other party’s suggestion. Especially if that’s the only way to win their trust."
“Hmm.” He taps his fingers against his cue. “I have two questions for you.”
I strike the ball, miss my shot. Damn. I straighten and level my gaze at him. “Shoot.”
“One. Why did you decide to go legit? And two—" He walks over to the table and picks up a ball. "You’re not really giving her space, are you?"
I allow my cue to slide down my palm until it rests on the floor. “It wasn’t challenging anymore. I’ve made enough money that it’s no longer a motivation. Also, I realized I’ve been lucky so far, and wanted to cash in and get out while I could.”
“So, it’s possible to leave a life of crime?’
“As long as you have enough money and power to influence your enemies, yes.”
He nods slowly. “And my second question?”
I allow my lips to curve. “Of course, I’m giving her space."
"I don’t believe you." He picks up two more balls and begins to juggle them.
"Believe me or not; it doesn’t matter. She believes she has the space she wanted."
"You bastard," he says in a mild voice, then catches the balls in his hands. "Are you following her?"
"Of course not."
"Do you have your 'security team’" —he makes air quotes around the wordssecurity team— "following her?"
"What gives you that idea?”
"You’re a canny motherfucker who’d never allow the woman you have feelings for to leave without keeping tabs on her."
The boy’s clever and knows me better than I thought. "I am not like our friends from theCosa Nostrawho resort to such amateurish tactics."
"So, you have found a way to keep tabs on her?"
I raise a shoulder. "You can keep rephrasing your question, and my answer will still be the same."
"You’re an asshole," he murmurs.
"I need to teach you more creative insults."
He laughs. "Fucking hell. At least you’re not outright denying it."