Chapter 11 · Half a Ledger

"Danny, say something. Say anything." I had the phone against my ear so hard it hurt, and all I got back was road noise and a van door sliding shut.

"Nora—" His voice cracked in the middle, like he was folded up small on a floor somewhere. "He said if you tell Voss, they—"

The line went dead. Not hung up. Cut. A hand reached past my shoulder and took the phone out of my fingers before I could hit redial.

"Give it back." I turned on Luca so fast my hip caught the edge of his desk.

"You'll get him killed faster than any of my men will," he said, and set the phone face-down like that solved something. "Panicking on an open line tells whoever's holding him that you're the leverage. Don't confirm it for free."

"He's my brother."

"I know whose brother he is." His voice didn't move at all, which was worse than if it had. "I've known since the day you signed."

That stopped me colder than the phone call did. "You knew Danny owed money before I ever walked into this office."

"I knew everything before you walked into this office, Nora.