Chapter Forty-Four - Joshua
CHAPTER FORTY-FOUR
Joshua
I sit at the head of the conference table with Donovan, Alec, and Kade filling the other chairs. I can’t shake the dread churning in my stomach.
The screen before us is paused, but I already despise the scene it depicts. Elise is sitting on Ryder’s lap, arms wrapped securely around his neck in the same way she’s done to me a dozen times. She doesn’t look nervous or afraid. In fact, she’s perfectly composed, staring straight into the camera.
Despite knowing I’m going to hate every second of this, I nod for Kade to press play.
“Joshua,” she draws out my name, the sound full of pity. “By now you’ve seen some questionable security footage, so allow me to clear up any confusion.”
She turns her head away from the camera until her lips are pressed firmly to Ryder’s. Bile rises in my throat when one of his hands rests on the small of her back, and the other weaves itself into her hair, pulling her in closer.
I know her so well that I can practically feel her moving against me now. Her full lips pressed to mine, her possessive arms locked around my neck, her hips pushing into me like she can’t get close enough.
For the second time since Elise came into my life, I show weakness in front of my men. I stand, turning to look out the window so I don’t have to see it.
It’s too damn long by the time she speaks again.
“After you let Tripp assault me, it was Ryder who nursed me back to health, and we couldn’t stay away from each other after that.”
“Unfortunately, we still had to deal with you,” Ryder says.
“You had this delusion that I could somehow fall in love with you.” Elise breathes a laugh. “So, Ryder and I decided our best option was to bide our time. I’d play the loving girlfriend, and he’d play the loyal friend.”
There’s a brief silence, but I don’t let myself turn to see it.
“Tonight, while I was distracting you with our argument, Ryder was gathering every file from your database. So, I’ll make this simple—bring one million dollars to the address attached to this video, or I’ll hand the drive over to my father before Ryder and I skip town.”
I’d laugh at the ridiculous request but can barely breathe.
“Maybe if you didn’t have your head so far up your own ass, you might’ve seen this coming. Did you really think I could love an egotistical, maniacal snake like you?”
It’s like the word flips a switch, forcing air back into my lungs as I whirl around to face the screen.
Elise looks down at Ryder like he holds the entire world in the palm of his hand, but it’s the slight tremble of her lip that catches my attention.
“We’ll see you soon,” Ryder bids, and the screen goes black.
“Play it again,” I demand.
“Sir, I think we should—”
“Play the damn video!” My shout reverberates off the walls, and the video starts again.
It’s just as difficult to watch them kiss the second time, but I force myself to keep my eyes focused.
“So, Ryder and I decided our best option was to bide our time. I’d play the loving girlfriend, and he’d play the loyal friend.”
A relief like I’ve never known before washes over me when I see it.
The pause is brief—practically imperceptible—but it’s everything. Ryder’s shoulder slides downward ever so slightly, but he knew it’d be enough for me to notice.
Our sign.
When you work with someone as long as I’ve worked with Ryder, you don’t need to communicate with words or looks. That subtle change in posture is all I need to see to know that something is wrong.
And if the narrowing of Elise’s eyes tells me anything, it’s that she’s figured it out, too.
The whole thing happens in two seconds, too fast for anyone else to notice.
As the rest of the video plays, nothing is out of the ordinary until the very end.
“Maybe if you didn’t have your head so far up your own ass, you might’ve seen this coming. Did you really think I could love an egotistical, maniacal snake like you?”
The move is undetectable if you don’t know what you’re looking for, but I do. Her eyebrow lifts at the word snake.
Donovan sits up straighter. “That’s our Kemps sign.”
“It’s Mason,” I say.
We watch the video one last time, and I point out the evidence.
“Why the hell would Mason make this? And how?” Alec asks.
I pull out my phone and dial a number, putting it on speaker. It rings twice before she answers.
“Moreno? Is everything okay?” The velvety tone that compliments Ryder’s so perfectly doesn’t sound distressed in the slightest.
The genuine confusion gives me pause, and I wonder if I have this all wrong.
“Rachel, where are you and Lyla?”
“Home. Why?”
I share a look with the capos. Donovan glares, brows tightly knit and jaw ticking. Kade sits utterly frozen aside from his steady breaths. Alec chews on the end of his fingernail, and his chair moves with the incessant shaking of his leg.
They’re just as perplexed as I am.
“Some family business—nothing to worry about. I just wanted to make sure you guys were okay.”
“All good here. Thanks for calling, Moreno.”
Kade straightens his back. “Ryder,” he mouths.
Rachel didn’t ask about Ryder.
If family business drove me to call Rachel, she’d have to guess Ryder was involved somehow, so why didn’t she ask if he was okay? Ryder and Rachel may have a complicated past, but there’s no denying that they care about each other.
Something is off.
“Call me if you need anything,” I tell her.
“Of course,” she says, ending the call.
My capos and I are on our feet in an instant. “Alec, send someone from the Sacramento base to Rachel’s house to check on her and Lyla.”
“Yes, sir.” And he’s out the door.
“Kade, prepare eight cars and as many escape routes as possible from the address on the video. Don, get twenty-five of the best soldiers we have ready to go within the hour.”
They don’t hesitate for a second, and I very dangerously allow myself one moment to believe that we may be onto something.
“Mr. Moreno!” Alec bursts into the garage, sweat dripping down his face with his heavy breaths. It’s been only twenty minutes since our meeting, and Kade, Don, and I are almost done prepping the cars we need to transport all the men coming with us.
“The house was empty. Rachel and Lyla are nowhere to be found.”
Damn it.
As great as it is to have found Ryder’s motive, this is far from good news. This means that Mason not only has Ryder and Elise at his disposal but Rachel and Lyla as leverage.
The list of things I want to do to Mason spans well beyond anything I did to Tripp.
No one takes my girl.
And I will do whatever it takes to get her back.