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Hunter’s cell tone breaks the conversation, and he jams his hand into his pocket like a madman.
“Leave it,” Torian demands. “I don’t want any interruptions.”
“I need to answer this.”
“How much do you need it?” Torian faces him. “Do you need it more than your next breath?”
Hunt bares his teeth, his shoulders tense as he pulls his hand from his pocket and lets it rest at his side.
Luca hangs on the periphery, slowly inching his way toward me, his arm behind his back and in close contact to his weapon.
“Start from the begi
“That’s not how this went down.” Hunter follows, all three of them approaching me like a death squad. “She did this on her own.”
“I disagree. She’s not the violent type.”
I smother a laugh. The knife she had at my throat proves otherwise, but I’m not going to argue.
“You’re after power,” he accuses. “And you probably think me and Layla are the only ones left to deal with.”
“You’ll have to get through me first,” Luca snarls at me. “And my brother, too.”
“You’re fucking paranoid.” I drop the insult like a bomb. “Why the hell would I want to take over? I can’t handle the level of psycho you’ve already forced onto me. Why the fuck would I want more?”
“My restaurant was targeted, my sister was discovered while in hiding. Now this.” He throws an arm wide, indicating the hospital. “It’s no coincidence you’ve been there every step of the way.”
“Your sister has been there every step of the way.” Hunter increases his pace and steps in front of him, blocking his path as the ringtone reignites. “I don’t know the story like Deck does, but she’s the common-fucking-denominator here. Not him. Or me.”
I glare at the back of Hunter’s head. I glare so fucking hard through the anger.
I know he’s outing her because she’s the least likely to be punished. But it still feels like he’s being a bigger snitch than I’ve ever been.
“What story?” Torian shoves by him. “Tell me.”
I keep my trap closed. I don’t even open it when Luca settles behind me and the butt of his gun sails toward the back of my head.
My vision blackens with the blunt impact. My knees give out.
I stumble to the asphalt, falling at Torian’s feet while ringing resounds in my ears. This time it isn’t the cell phone, the trill noise having disappeared again.
He peers down at me and grips a fistful of my hair. “What has she done?”
I chuckle. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
Hunt curses. It’s the prelude to Torian’s fist finding my jaw.
My head swings with the impact. The pain clouds my thoughts. Then the fucking phone releases its siren call again.
“He needs to answer that.” I spit blood from my mouth. “It’s probably Keira. You can get all the answers you need right from the source.”
He has to answer the fucking phone.
I need to know she’s okay.
The constant appeal for co
“I don’t want the story from her,” he drawls, releasing my hair. “I want it from you.”
“Answer the fucking phone,” I roar.
The ringtone vanishes, and I slump into the silence.
“Eventually, I’ll call her,” he taunts. “But I want to hear your version first. That way I can see which puzzle pieces match.”
I chuckle and hang my head, no longer capable of looking the son of a bitch in the eye. “Why? Do you think she’s going to lie to you? Don’t you trust your own flesh and blood?”
“If she can lie about being pregnant, I’m sure she can lie about anything.”
Jesus Christ. If he’s known this entire time, why didn’t he greet me with the accusation? Why wasn’t a gun placed to my temple the second we stepped within reach?
This asshole’s poise and tactics are beyond my fucking comprehension.
“Come on, Decker, don’t you recall what I told the nurse? I take a vested interest in knowing everything, which includes my sister’s health. I know she’s taken measures to ensure she can’t conceive.” He steps closer, the toes of his polished black shoes taking up my vision. “I’ll ask one more time—what’s the story Hunter is alluding to?”
I promised I’d protect her.
If that means I need to keep her safe from her brother, then so be it.
At the moment, he thinks she finished a job someone else started. He doesn’t know her involvement in the hit and run. He has no clue what caused the restaurant drive-by.
For now, her secrets are safe, and I won’t change that.
“Why don’t I tell you my story instead?” I raise my chin and meet his gaze. “I think you’d be more interested in my secrets.”
“Decker,” Hunter warns, “stop messing around.”
Torian glances between us as the cell trills again.
“Fucking hell, Decker.” Hunter raises his voice over the sound. “Keira’s responsible for the hit and run. She paid a guy to do the job. He’s the same guy who shot up the restaurant. And he’s the same reason lover boy here is panicked about her safety. She’s being blackmailed.”
Torian scrutinizes me, trying to find the truth through the shock. “Is that true?”
“Call. Her.” I enunciate the words slowly.
This time Hunt’s phone isn’t the one to break the silence. Torian’s ringtone rings gently from inside his jacket.
“Answer it.” I move to stand, only to be shoved back down by Luca. “Answer your fucking phone.”
He doesn’t budge. He holds my stare, asserting his authority despite the danger to his sister.
“She’s in trouble,” I beg. “I know she’s in fucking trouble. Just answer the phone. I’ll tell you everything after you speak to her.”
He reaches into his suit jacket and pulls out the device, glimpsing the screen for a second before he co
Sarah?
I focus on Hunt, his concern just as visible as mine is overbearing.
“Who is this?” Torian’s voice turns stony. “What do you want?”
I push to my feet and swing out a heavy elbow when Luca tries to stop me. “Either shoot me, or stop riding my fucking ass,” I snarl. “I don’t have the patience for your shit.”
“What do you want?” Torian repeats. “Touch her again and I’ll—”
Again.
My heart lurches at the word.
Touch her—again.
Someone has hurt her. Is hurting her.
“Where is she?” I reach for the phone only to have Hunt grab my wrist.
“Back off,” he warns. “Let him talk.”
Torian turns his back to us and takes steps in the opposite direction. “Where, Drake? Tell me where she is.”
Drake? There’s no second guessing who this unknown asshole might be. He’s the guy responsible for the blackmail. The hard look in Hunt’s eye says he thinks the same thing.
“Give me the phone.” I stalk after Torian. “Let me speak to him.”
“Airport Way? Which warehouse?”
“Torian, give me the phone.” I make another attempt for the cell, and this time nobody stops me. Not even Torian. I snatch the device from him and plaster it to my ear. “Drake? Keira?”
The line is dead.
“I need to go,” Torian says to Luca. “Take them back to the restaurant. Keep them there until I arrive.” Then he runs toward his Porsche.