Chapter Fifty
Zane
“I can’t believe the fucker was right there!” Ivar roared. “With her!”
“Now you believe there’s a reason why they were after her.” I scoffed, the tension snapping too fast between us.
“Reason?” he spat, charging closer. “The only reason is that she’s hiding something! And you’re too fucking blind to see it!”
My chest tightened, fury flaring. “What? You think she set this up?”
“Yes!” he bellowed, “because every time, Zane—every fucking time—it comes back to her! And you don’t see it because you’re too wrapped up in her to think straight!”
We were nose to nose now, the thin line of air between us thick.
“He was right there, under our noses, and you didn’t see it because you only see her.” He rasped, low and contained just for the two of us to hear.
My fists clenched, my muscles tensed everywhere but didn’t answer. Then Mike shoved himself between us, planting a hand on each of our chests and forcing us apart.
Kai was following in his father’s footsteps, preparing to take the lead one day. He’d be the next best big thing we could get our hands on, yet I hadn’t even noticed him there.
And if Kai was there in person to take Chloe, that confirmed it that the attack wasn’t random.
But the pieces weren’t fitting the way I needed them to. Something about all of this didn’t add up, and Chloe… fuck, she had to know more.
Jane approached us, her eyes narrowing between the three of us.
“You called?”
“Take some men with you and get Chloe home,” I said without hesitation. “Stay with her until I get back.”
Jane gave a nod, not needing an explanation, before slipping into the interrogation room as our conversation continued.
A moment later, I watched Jane escorting Chloe out of the warehouse. Chloe glanced back once, our eyes locking for a brief second before she disappeared through the door. My gut twisted with an unfamiliar sensation, but before I could dwell on it, Carter approached with a folder in hand.
“This is all I got on Bruce Gallagher and his club,” he said, handing it to Ivar. “Found some interesting stuff about the guy’s business, but nothing linking him to the Red Scorpions so far.”
Ivar’s brow furrowed. “The fuck are you digging into that club again for?”
“Because it’s where it all started, and we might be missing something,” I explained. “Scum like them always find a way to find each other. And we both know how small New York can be when it comes to that.”
Hours passed, and by the time Andy drove us back to the estate, night had already fallen. I was completely lost in my thoughts, replaying the way Chloe had looked at the photos earlier, until Andy’s voice snapped me out of it.
“Boss…”
His tone was grim. His gaze locked on something ahead, and when I followed the trajectory of his stare, my heart stalled.
Dark smoke was coiling into the night sky from an overturned SUV in the middle of the road—one of ours.
My stomach dropped.
I didn’t think. Didn’t breathe. Just moved.
I was out of the car before it even stopped, my boots slamming against the pavement as everything around me seemed to slow down.
One of my men lay sprawled on the asphalt, motionless. Another was slumped behind the wheel, blood trickling from a head wound.
Andy rushed to them, checking for signs of life.
Ta-dum. Ta-dum. Ta-dum.
The relentless thud of my heartbeat echoed in my ears as I rounded the SUV.
Jane was lying on the berm, a gun still clutched in her hand, her chest a dark pool of blood from multiple bullet wounds. She was unconscious, barely breathing.
A cold, dark fury settled deep in my chest like nothing I’d ever felt before.
I kneeled, putting the pressure on the wounds I could reach as my eyes scanned the scene, searching everywhere.
But my vision blurred with rage, red-hot and ice-cold all at once.
My stomach rolled.
Chloe is gone.