Ruthless King

No cops.

No talking about the secret tunnels.

No talking about the Malones.

No telling anyone who her father was and his connection to the Malones.

If she wantedto live in this house, she had to abide by the rules.

Jilly swallowed heavily. It had been just over a year since she’d returned to New Orleans. Sometimes, she wished she hadn’t come back.

After graduating from college, she moved to Houston. She’d needed to forget about who she was, about her father.

And about Regent Malone.

But she’d come home, disillusioned with her life. Wanting to be close to Mama, who’d had a health scare.

However, it hadn’t been the wonderful homecoming she’d been anticipating.

Instead, she’d met Lowell and moved in with him shortly after. And that had been the beginning of her issues.

“I can make him disappear if you want. I know some people who know some people,” Mrs. Yards said, reaching out for a cookie to dunk in her tea. “If I was a few years younger, I’d take care of him myself. You know, this asshole once tried to rape one of my friends. I tracked him down and cut off his willy.” She sighed. “Good times.”

Dear Lord.

She noticed that both Scott and Dan covered their, uh-hum, willies.

Mrs. Yards’ husband had been British and she’d picked up a few words that he’d liked to use.

“Thanks, Mrs. Y,” she said. “But I’d rather not do anything illegal.”

“I don’t see why it’s illegal when he’s a bastard. One less asshole in the world is never a bad thing if you ask me.”

Scott sighed. “Well, murder is out. All willies need to stay attached to their bodies.”

Sasha snorted.

“And if you won’t call the cops, I can’t make you,” Scott added with a scowl.

“Ease up, babe,” Dan chided Scott. “Jilly has her reasons for not wanting to call the police.”

She did. She just couldn’t tell them what they were. Sometimes, she hated living in this house and having to keep secrets.

And other times, you love it. Because it gives you a connection to Regent.

Not that she ever saw him.

Well, other than when she’d first moved back to New Orleans and had been staying at home. Before Lowell. Mama had been out for the night when he’d called because his sister had to use the tunnels to escape the FBI in a hurry, and Regent was coming here to get her.

Since then . . . crickets.

But just the idea of seeing him, yeah, that’s what she lived for.

God. That sounded pathetic.

She wished she’d never met Lowell or moved in with him. Nothing good had come out of that relationship. Even worse, now she had to deal with all of this.

She’d lived with him for eight months and had thought he’d made good money as an insurance broker. She’d had no clue about any of this.