"Well, what has she got to do with it?"
"I'm not sure. Her name popped up as a search hit for him. He’s been keeping tabs on her."
"How are they connected?"
"She looks normal on the surface. Works for a CRM data company as an account manager. Mid-sized clients. She brings them up to speed on the system. She’s got a sister, a boyfriend, nothing special. I have no idea what he wants with her."
I frowned, working this information through my mind. "What connection does she have to anything?"
"I can't see any connection. It's possible he just wants to shag her."
"So you're saying she's an innocent?" I found that hard to believe. Everything the Igno's touched was radioactive. If Massimo was interested in her, then she was connected to all of this.
Liam muttered, "It looks that way."
"What did she do to get on his radar?"
"Just giving you the information as I see it."
He had to be missing something.
Didn’t you say he was the best? If Liam can't find anything, then maybe there isn't anything to find.
"All right, anything else?"
"No. And for what it's worth, whatever you're planning, Reina won't like it."
"I don't care what Reina likes. I want back in."
"All right, if you want back in, you've got to come up with something good on Igno. Otherwise forget it. Get yourself a nice tractor, spend a few hours on the weekend pushing around the grass, you know, something like that. Maybe get a girlfriend, or a nice lad. Because if you fail, there is no coming back."
I didn't plan on failing. "No. I belong in the field."
"If you say so. All I know is some people would beg for normalcy. No more ghosts and shit."
"Well, I'm not most people. I need to be back in the field."
"Fine. Figure out what Massimo wants with this woman then. She probably holds the key."
"Send over her details, yeah?"
"What are you going to do?"
"If Massimo Igno wants her, I have to make sure he never gets her."
3
Drake
Daphne Winslow was not what I expected.
She was hardly a sophisticated asset. Hell, she couldn’t even bungee jump. So what did Massimo want with her?
I pinched the bridge of my nose and kept my gaze on her as she sat in her car. I knew far too much about her life right now. I'd followed her and the piece of shit that was her boyfriend. Did she even know he was cheating on her?
Didn't look that way. And she seemed genuinely surprised when he broke up with her right before he abandoned her and jumped himself.
Git.
There was no one there for her. Didn’t people like her always have someone?
Not that I cared one way or the other. I just needed to know who to clear out of my path.
I’d been watching her. I knew what she liked to eat. I knew who her friends were. I knew every nervous tick, every smile. I knew everything about her, including the way she belted Beyoncé and Imagine Dragons songs in her car. Sadly, I also knew she was completely tone deaf.
But she liked to sing in the car like she was giving a full-fledged concert. Car dancing included.
Her neighbors liked her and were dependent on her. She had one neighbor, Mrs. Belcher, who was a giant pain in the arse. But Daphne Winslow was nothing if not unfailingly kind. Always willing to help even when Mrs. Belcher was taking the piss.
She had a sister she loved. They saw each other a couple times a week. Sometimes with the sister's fiancé, sometimes without.
And I'd known she had this boyfriend. More than once I'd been tempted to just fucking get rid of the twat already. Leave evidence of his cheating ways. But I had to wait. So far, Massimo hadn't come near her, and I wasn't getting involved until he did.
And what do you call this?
Surveillance. I bloody called this surveillance. But given the breakup, I now needed to act as if Massimo was going to make a move. So far he’d just kept tabs on her social media, which honestly, only consisted of photos with her attempting death defying stunts like the bungee jumping. There was also race car driving, a helicopter flight, and a motorcycle lesson. Pictures of her standing next to things, but never…on the things.
There were no photos of any family other than her sister and Grandmother. Her Grandmother lived in a memory care facility and she saw her religiously every Wednesday night. I knew her mother was still alive, but they didn't see each other much. And outside of her sister Willow mentioning her mother now, they hadn't had any contact. Given Daphne’s response, the way she clutched the steering wheel and had to take several deep breaths as she sat in the car and cried, there was a story there.
Not a story you give a fuck about. You are here for Massimo.
No. I didn't give a fuck about her family drama. But I did need to understand her if I was going to do this.
She would make the perfect bait.
4
Daphne
Present Day…
“Your mother is going to be there?”
My best mate, Talia Reynolds, took a large sip of her martini as she tried to process the information.
“Yep. And Willow dropped this little piece of magic on me right after I chickened out of bungee jumping and got dumped. I had no more adrenaline to spare, so I couldn't even react.”
“Mate, I'm so sorry. What are you going to do? I mean, I know you're the maid of honor and you hadn't really planned on taking a date, but you need someone there. I'll come with you. We'll tell everyone we’re a couple now.”
I couldn't help but laugh. Talia was my first real friend. We’d met when I’d moved in with Gran. She lived down the road and decided we were going to be best mates at first sight. She didn’t give a shit that I was the weird girl. She said my past made me interesting.
“Thank you. I love you for offering, but I wouldn't subject anyone to my mother voluntarily.”
I knew it would be bad. My mother was a malignant narcissist with a slew of mental health issues.
“I mean why would Willow do this if she knows you don't get on.”
I chewed my bottom lip trying to think of the best way to answer this question. “It's not her fault. When we were taken away to live with Gran, she didn't know any of the reasons why. All she really knew was that she missed her mother. She knew mum was sick and had to go away and get better. Gran convinced me it was better to not tell her.” I shrugged. How could I explain that it was my job to look out for her. And that meant emotionally as well as physically. “Willow is sweet. Always was. She wouldn't have understood.”
“And now? Because this is a bloody big deal. And she's hurting you by having her there.”
There was no other choice. I shrank from the truth. It was the question I couldn't ask myself out loud. What if Willow knew and still wanted my mother in her life?
Who was I kidding? “The truth is, I’m a chickenshit.”
It had been nearly a week since Willow had dropped the bombshell on me, and I still hadn't managed to sit her down and have a conversation about it. Just the thought of it made my stomach knot with fear.