Chapter 37
Ryker
My head is throbbing when I open my eyes again, a dull ache pulsing at my temples. I blink a few times, trying to remember what happened. The first thing I notice is Jack and Tyler next to me. Jack’s pacing up and down, and Tyler sits slumped in a chair, both of them looking worse for wear.
I try to sit up, but pain shoots through my shoulder. A graze wound, I suspect. It would hurt a lot more if I had actually been shot. My head’s pounding like I was hit by a train and the world is spinning as I sit up, but otherwise I seem to be unharmed.
“Where is Grace?” I ask, my voice rough, panic rising as I look around the unfamiliar room. She’s not here, it’s just the three of us. And we’re not at the lake anymore. I’m lying on a cot, surrounded by wooden walls and dusty furniture, with a single light bulb hanging from the ceiling. We seem to be in a rundown log cabin.
“One of our safe houses,” Jack explains when he catches my puzzled gaze.
“Where is she?” I ask again. “Where’s your sister?”
Jack stops pacing and looks at me, his expression tight.
“We’re safe here,” he says, completely ignoring my question.
“I didn’t ask about me,” I snap. “Where’s Grace?”
Jack lets out a long sigh and runs a hand through his hair, while Tyler shifts in his seat but doesn’t meet my eyes. Something’s off, and it’s making my blood boil.
“Did something happen to her?” I ask, panic rising in my chest. She can’t be dead. She can’t.
“Look, it’s complicated,” Jack starts, his tone grim. “We were struggling to keep control. The Cortesis forced our hand. We needed to fulfill our obligations to you, but things were slipping, and we were desperate and—”
“Where is Grace?” I roar, loud enough for Tyler to startle in his seat.
“She’s alive,” Jack says. “At least I’m sure she is.”
“What does that mean?” I probe.
“Like I said, we were in a tough position and we—”
“You made a deal with them?” I spit, disbelief and anger churning in my gut. “You made a deal with them to betray me and get out of your debt?”
“It wasn’t our first choice, trust me,” Jack says. “We never trusted them a hundred percent, but we were out of options, and this seemed like a promising way out.”
Tyler sits up, rubbing his face with a weary hand. “But they played us.”
“Turns out they weren’t really interested in you.” Jack grits his teeth. “They said if we hand you over to them, they’d leave our territory alone and deal with you. Said they were having some trouble with your operation years ago and wanted you out.”
“I don’t even know them!” I exclaim.
“We know that now,” Jack says. “We thought you were just feigning ignorance when we mentioned their name, but yeah… they were the ones who were lying. They were after us and our operation. They’re trying to take over our operation by forcing us to hand it over.”
“By blackmail,” Tyler adds, throwing me a meaningful look.
I stare at them both, trying to piece together their pathetic excuse for a plan. But they still haven’t told me what happened to Grace.
“Where is Grace?” I press, the panic in my chest clawing at me.
“They took her,” Jack says, his tone flat, like it’s nothing more than a minor inconvenience.
“What?” I bark, pushing myself upright despite the pain. “They took her? Where?”
“They’re aiming for ransom, I think,” Jack says, shrugging like it’s no big deal.
“No,” Tyler cuts in, shaking his head. “This isn’t about money. They’re trying to force us to give up. They took the girl because they’re trying to blackmail us.”
“The girl?” I repeat, my confusion mounting. Something about the way he said it—so impersonal. Like she didn’t matter. “How can you talk about your sister like that?”
Jack and Tyler exchange a look, and I’m starting to see through the cracks in their story. My gut churns with suspicion, a suspicion that has been there from day one, but that I was so keen to push aside the entire time.
“What the hell is going on here?” I demand, my voice low and dangerous.
Jack sighs heavily. “Okay, listen. We weren’t quite honest with you.”
“Oh, you don’t say,” I snap, my patience running thin.
Jack hesitates, then glances at Tyler. “Grace… she’s not who you think she is.”
“She’s not our sister,” Tyler finally reveals—and the words hit me like a punch to the gut.
“What do you mean?” I snap, my mind spinning.
“Her name’s June… June something,” Jack says, sounding almost casual about it. “We made a deal with her.”
“A deal?” My voice is bitter, and I feel like someone has pushed all the air out of me. “What kind of deal?”
Tyler shifts uncomfortably. “She thinks you’re responsible for her father’s death. She needed to get close to you, to get revenge for him and take you down.”
I don’t believe what I’m hearing. My pulse races, and betrayal cuts through me like a knife. I knew she had secrets, but I did not see this coming. What was she planning? To kill me? To ruin me?
And for something I didn’t even do?
“I killed nobody,” I hiss, clenching my fists. “Why would she even think that? Who was her father?”
Jack and Tyler both shrug, as if it doesn’t matter. And to them, it probably doesn’t.
“To be honest, we never asked,” Tyler says. “We were just happy to have someone help us buy some time.”
“To take me down,” I finish for him, my words coated with bitterness.
Jack raises his hands, trying to smooth things over. “No, not exactly. This was about getting those Cortesi assholes off our backs. We had a deal with them. June had nothing to do with it.”
“She didn’t even know,” Tyler adds.
“So, you betrayed her, just like you betrayed me?” I want to know, fighting with every fiber of my being to keep it together.
“I guess you could say that,” Tyler says, sighing. “But we never meant for her to be harmed! We just made a deal with her to take our sister’s place for a while. She would have a chance to get close to you for her own revenge, and we wouldn’t have to send our sister into your harms to buy us some time to get things done with the Cortesi. We planned to drive to your house and get her after…”
He clears his throat and averts his eyes.
“After they killed me, you mean,” I finish for him.
Jack shakes his head. “The Cortesi are many things, but not murderers.”
I almost burst out laughing at those words. “Are you fucking kidding me? They were ready to kill us just now!”
“But they didn’t, did they?” Tyler interjects. “Even though we took down two of their own.”
“They were still breathing when we left,” Jack adds. “Let’s hope they live. I really don’t want for things to get worse. This was never meant to include the death of anyone.”
“Except for mine,” I add for consideration.
Jack looks at me, his expression serious. “That was never part of the plan, I swear! The Cortesi said they simply wanted to take over your money laundering operation and promised to leave us alone if we brought them to you. They got information about this water property deal and tried to poison Mr. Stern’s mind, but it wasn’t working as well as they’d hoped.”
“Information?” I ask. “So, the mole in my ranks has been working for them?”
The Reids exchange a look that tells me they don’t know what I’m talking about.
“All we know is that the Cortesi deceived us,” Jack says eventually. “They pride themselves on not being murderers, but they’re big on hostages and blackmailing.”
Tyler nods, agreeing. “I guess that’s why we’re all still alive.”
“So, that means they took Grace—I mean, June—to blackmail me?” I ask.
“No, they want to blackmail us into giving up our operation,” Jack clarifies. “I doubt they even care about you at all. It’s our operation they’re after, and they think June is our sister. They heard about our pawn deal with you and wanted to get to her.”
Fuck, and I delivered her right into their arms.
“But how would they know that I’d bring her along?” I ask, to which they both shrug.
“Honestly, after what just happened, I really know nothing anymore,” Jack says, sounding defeated.
I take a breath, trying to calm the storm inside me. “Okay, but where are they now? Where is… June?”
Saying her name feels weird to me. I always had a feeling that there was more to her than she let on, but I never expected her to be an entirely different person. A person with such a beautiful name, June.
The brothers exchange another look. It’s like they’re trying to figure out how much to tell me—or how they should go about it.
“We have an idea where they might have taken her,” Jack says, his voice careful. “They’re not the only ones with reliable informants. And… we have a proposition.”
I narrow my eyes. “I’m listening.”
Jack takes a step closer, lifting his chin. “We’re offering you a truce. Help us take the Cortesis out for good, and we’ll help you get the girl back. And in return, you’ll abstain from any kind of retaliation for what we did to you.”
“What we tried to do,” Tyler chimes in. “It’s not like anything really happened to you.”
“You mean except for getting shot at,” I remind him, nodding toward my shoulder, that was patched up rather sloppily by them.
There’s nothing I want more than to get June back, but can I trust the Reid brothers now? They’ve lied to me once—what’s stopping them from lying again?
“We need each other,” Jack presses, as if he could hear my thoughts. “You won’t be able to get her back without us. We know a lot more about them than you.”
I hate that he’s right. My gut twists with anger, but I know that I have to work with them to get June back.
“Fine,” I say, my voice tight. “We do this. But if you screw me over again, I swear I’ll—”
“We’ll get her back,” Jack interrupts. “Trust me, Ryker, the Cortesi screwed us over pretty badly, and there’s nothing we want more than to take them out. We’re in this together now.”