“We can’t ignore this,” Brent stated, his disembodied voice echoing in the room.

“Moroso’s bein’ stupid,” Max groused, his voice rumbling through the phone. “No matter how I spin it, I don’t see him putting out a hit on Ash because of Tony. He knows how this works. There has to be more to it than that.”

“It makes sense if Tony’s really his brother,” Leyton offered. Leyton had thought the same thing as Max, had tossed it around so many times. However, the reaction suited the crime. Tony had been busted, something Moroso should’ve seen coming. Moroso had to understand the cost of doing business. Hell, Tony was a thief, not to mention a fucking rat, and that was an unspoken sin in their world. So why would Moroso counter with this? Related or not.

“Have we located that shipment?” Brent inquired.

Ashlynn shook her head, then followed with a “no” since her brother couldn’t see her.

“Snarly was able to get Tony to tell him that Moroso was behind the disappearance, but we’ve yet to confirm it,” Leyton provided.

“He has to have it,” Victor added. “Maybe this is his way of throwing us off.”

“Not for five hundred grand,” Max remarked. “That’s pocket change.”

For Max, maybe. Leyton didn’t know Moroso’s financial status.

“When do you meet with him?” Madison asked Leyton.

“The meeting’s officially set for four,” Rock chimed in.

Glancing at his watch, Leyton took a deep breath. “But we’re meetin’ with him in two hours.”

It was always safer to set the official meetings at a time and place they didn’t intend to be. That way, if the Feds showed up, they wouldn’t be there.

“Who’s goin’ with you?” Max inquired.

Leyton didn’t have many options considering they were divided at the moment with Victor, Brent, and Max in Vegas, along with their enforcers. That left Leyton, Aidan, and Ashlynn to handle things on this side, along with Rock, Sal, and Jase. Madison hadn’t yet been pulled into the fold for two reasons. One, she was still in school and Max didn’t want anything to interfere with that, and two, because Max was even more protective of Madison than he was of Ashlynn. And that was saying something.

Leyton peered at Aidan. “I thought I’d take you along for the ride. You up for it?”

“I assume you’re talkin’ to Aidan,” Max inserted.

“Yeah.” Leyton wanted to tell Max that the whole thing could go sideways easily since he was far too vested in the outcome. No matter how Max felt on the matter, Leyton wasn’t sure he could stand to look into the eyes of the man who’d threatened Ashlynn’s life. At least not without putting a bullet between them.

“I’m game,” Aidan offered, though he didn’t look happy about it.

“Good.”

While Max’s end of the line remained silent, Leyton glanced at Jase. He had to hand it to him; he was handling the situation well. Last night, when he’d relayed the details to Jase and Ashlynn, Leyton had been somewhat surprised by Jase’s unfiltered reaction. He understood it, but he was still surprised. Considering Leyton’s rank in the organization, questioning him wasn’t the way to do things.

However, questioning Max would likely result in some physical damage, so he was glad Jase chose to stand there and listen.

“I’ve got a meeting with Erik Roberts,” Ashlynn informed them.

Her brother spoke up again. “Shit. I forgot about that. You need to keep that meeting, Ash. Now more than ever.”

Leyton saw Jase move out of the corner of his eye. He turned toward him and shook his head. Jase could not confront Max, no matter how much he disagreed. As it was, Leyton didn’t agree that she needed to go meet with Roberts, but informing Max—especially in front of this particular group—was simply not going to happen.

“I want more security on you, though,” Max added. “More than just Jase, Teddy, and Leo.”

“Who do you suggest?” Ashlynn asked.

“Leyton,” Max stated. “Which means you’ll have Sal and Rock as well.”

“What about—?”

Before Leyton could get the question out, Max said, “Shit. Moroso.”

Exactly. Leyton didn’t speak the word aloud, though.

“Why is that meeting important?” Victor asked.

“With Roberts?” Ashlynn got to her feet and moved closer to the phone.

“Yeah,” Victor confirmed.

“Erik Roberts is the presiding judge for the Court of Criminal Appeals for Dallas County,” Madison explained.

“He’s under our thumb?” Victor didn’t seem to be speaking to anyone in particular.

“For the past three years, yeah,” Ashlynn noted. “With this visit, I mean to ensure he’s not havin’ any concerns in understanding where we stand on a few issues.”

Max spoke again. “Judge Roberts has been known to battle with his conscience from time to time.”

“I think it’s in the water,” Ashlynn muttered.

Leyton coughed when Ashlynn’s amused gaze slid to him, and he was suddenly grateful that Max wasn’t there in the room with them.

Holy fuck. The woman was going to be the death of him.

Max either ignored the comment or didn’t get it, because he continued, “Following up with Roberts, especially now, is critical. Moroso’s younger brother has an upcoming appeal. We’ll use it to our advantage. Ensure Roberts knows it’s denied.”

“I’m goin’ with you,” Leyton told Ashlynn. There was no way he was going to allow her to go without him. Not at this point. “We’ll head over now.”

And that way, Leyton could still follow through with the meeting with Moroso. Provided the asshole actually showed, since he hadn’t been too thrilled that he had to deal with Leyton instead of Max.

Not that Leyton could blame him. There was a good chance that meeting wasn’t going to end well. Especially not for Moroso.

Chapter Twenty-Eight

Could it get any worse than this?

Bored—not to mention irritated beyond belief—didn’t even begin to describe Jase’s current mood. For the past hour, he had stood at the back of the overly decorated room in Judge Erik Roberts’s gaudy mansion, pretending not to pay attention to the conversation taking place in front of him while he fingered the trigger on his Sig, keeping his eye on every way in and out of that single room.

Usually he didn’t mind listening to Ashlynn handle her business, as this was par for the course, but this guy had officially gotten on Jase’s last nerve. Roberts—sixty-five if he was a day—had spent half the time whining and bitching like a petulant child, complaining to Ashlynn that he couldn’t do this anymore. Whatever this was.

“I can’t keep doin’ this, Ms. Adorite,” Roberts repeated, sounding like one of those used vinyl records his mother had favored when he was small, including the irritating crackling of his voice.

Fucking hell. He was doing it again, and Jase wanted to pick up the vase sitting on the table beside him and chunk it across the room, aiming directly for Roberts’s head.

Ashlynn crossed one long leg over the other. “As I said, Erik, we need you.”

Roberts didn’t appear convinced. “This is too much,” he reiterated. “You’ve screwed up my life.”

Ashlynn didn’t seem at all happy about that statement. “I think you handled that part all on your own.”

The judge got to his feet and started pacing the room. Leyton went for his gun at the same time Jase lifted his.

That earned them both a glare from Ashlynn.

“But I’m clean,” Roberts insisted, wearing away the thick Berber carpet as he moved back and forth, back and forth.

Ashlynn reached for her purse, then retrieved her phone. She tapped the screen a few times, then held it up for Roberts to see. “I’d have to disagree, Erik. I think you’d like me to believe that, but the pictures don’t lie. That sure looks like coke you’re snortin’ up your nose.”

“Shit.” The judge glanced into the next room, seemingly worried that someone would hear. Made Jase wonder who was there.