"Back home. Drinks? Don't say no. We need to talk." From Frank.

Lori left Gage's place after eating fajitas. She'd had a couple of hours to process what she'd just committed too, and then Frank shoved his nose back into her business. As much as she wanted to tell him where to go and what to do with himself, she also couldn't just drop him flat. Frank was dangerous. Cutting ties had to be done with care. Taking him down would take even more of it.

"Okay, I can be anywhere within an hour."

He sent her an address and a time.

She walked in with a cool and calm exterior. Internally, she freaked out, however, she'd learned how to get control over that a long time ago.

Frank was already at the bar when she arrived. He sipped on a drink then spun the glass in a circle—a mannerism she recognized as contemplative. When he had a lot on his mind, he was at his most frightening.

"Have you been waiting long?" she asked, taking a seat next to him.

"No," he said. "Maybe five minutes at most."

"How was the meeting?" For the time being, they'd have to speak in code.

He shrugged. "Predictable. Things are moving the way they should be, but I'm concerned my client is going to act carelessly. They're feeling over confident and speaking of taking reckless action."

"Where would you like to take our meeting?" she asked.

Frank put some money down on the counter, downed the last of his drink, and pointed to the street. "Anywhere on the move." He waited for Lori to stand by his side. She did her best to not bristle at his touch, but some things were harder to hide. "Still mad at me?"

"We can talk about that later," she murmured.

"Your priorities have always been refreshing." His tone didn't convey if he was being honest or sarcastic. Perhaps a little of both.

For the sake of harmony and keeping the peace, she let herself relax a bit under his touch. "A few developments have happened since you left. One of which is that I'm involved with Gage. I know that wasn't part of the plan, but that was the way things organically flowed." She'd been preparing this speech the whole ride over to the bar. "And I do like him. The hope is that I can sway him over to our side."

"A risky move," he said. "It's better than forcing something through violence or blackmail. They're necessary and powerful tools. Effective. Having a genuine ally on the inside, especially one who is Touched, wouldn't be a bad idea. If anyone is going to convince the masses, it'd be him."

"Yes." Not her true motivation, but it'd convince Frank to not attempt revenge.

He sucked on his upper lip. "Organically flowed. You do like him. Such a delicate way of saying you're falling for the guy."

"We'll see."

His arm fell from around her and moved so his hands settled in his pockets instead. "So that's it for us."

"We'll see," she said again, carefully. "Not like I'm counting on Gage and I to fail, but you know I don't try to set my future in stone. One moment at a time."

He nodded. "Makes sense, I guess. Find a new guy while you're still mad at me."

"And I'm going to be mad at you for a while," she stated. "Martie told me what you did to her. How the two of you became involved."

"I knew this day would come." He looked away. "Did I take things too far with her? Yes. She was drunk. That's almost impossible to read."

"Perhaps you shouldn't have assumed then," she said, her voice dripping with disdain.

Frank held his hands up in front of him. "A mistake I'm trying to sort through. I want to make it better and fix it. I do. Not sure how."

"Let her go."

"We need all the help we can get. Say what you want about her intelligence, but she's got the kind of heart and drive that is inspiring. Her pure soul makes her trustworthy. How can I just let that kind of an asset walk away?"

How was it that he always knew just what to say to make his actions seem justified?

She pursed her lips together, standing her ground. "Because she's too pure of a soul, you shouldn't involve her anymore. Martie isn't made for this kind of life. Let her try to find her happiness."

"With that Finn, guy?" He sounded so bitter. The ripe scent of jealousy wafted off of him. That was a very unFrank like thing for him to do.

Lori shrugged. "With whatever guy she decides is worthy of her. You want to make things right with her. That's how."

A low growl left his lips. "I know you're right."

"You just don't want to do it."

"Not when my mission is so close to being achieved." He almost had her convinced. Quickly, his whole demeanor changed, and his posture was back to being light and relaxed. "Tell you what, once we're done with this next stretch, I'll let you both off the hook. While you both entered into this voluntarily, I struggle with saying goodbye during these crucial moments. And since you're so tightly involved with the targets you were assigned, I think that's a fair request."

Lori clenched and unclenched her hands into fists. "Is this the sort of thing that is going to hurt those men?"

"No." He laughed. "The Aero slayers are used to your presence now. I have one more big meeting with them. From there, just play dumb when news arrives that the youngest son of the Aero Great Lord has been killed. Steer Gage away from that topic, away from any of that evidence, and keep him distracted. He's Touched. We don't want him using that power against us. Then, when the time is right, bring him over to our side. That's easy enough, right? You two can live happily ever after. I get what I want. You get what you want. Everyone wins this way."

"And Martie?" she pressed.

Frank dared to roll his eyes. "Martie will be let go once I have her accomplish a similar set of tasks."

She wanted to believe him, desperately. He'd lied too many times in the past to convince her that he was giving all of the details. "Killing the son of a Great Lord. That's definitely ambitious. And violent." She gave him a pointed look.

"My deal with his cousin involved taking him out of the picture. He's the only son of the Great Lord who will fight for the throne. As much as his brother claims otherwise, I'm not stupid. Jae is smart, charismatic and loyal." He shrugged it off like taking a life was hardly a big deal, let alone the life of a prince.

Lori stopped walking and waited for his eyes to meet hers. "Fine, I'll do this. I'm not going to promise Gage's sympathy to your cause, but I will keep him out of your way. Once these events take place, we won't be in your business. It'll be like we don't exist. How's that? A fair contingency plan in case he's stubborn?"

"Yes, that's fair. As long as he doesn't cause problems. Either of you."

"And you'll let Martie go too?"

"You're hung up on her, aren't you?" He smirked.

She sighed. "She's my friend, and she's easy to prey on. I want your word that she's going to be out of your clutches soon too."

"My clutches! You make me sound like an evil super villain!"

Because you are one. She definitely made sure to hide that thought. "You hold onto what you want awfully tight."

"Yes," he said. "I promise that I will release her from my grasp. After the slaying. Understood?"

She held her hand out for a shake. Plenty of time to work everyone against him. "Then we have a deal."