Chapter 18
Chapter Eighteen
KIT
Kit laughed. The sound harsh in the silence of the cabin. Not because it was funny. Because it wasn’t.
Tony? His brother.
“No.”
Because it was impossible. His brother loved him.
"No, you've got this all wrong."
Everyone stayed silent.
“Tony wouldn’t do that. He’s my brother. He wouldn’t do that to me. Angel…whatever, they got it wrong.”
Mo and Jace stared back at him.
“I’m sorry,” Mo started. “This has been verified—”
Kit turned frantically to Red. His Daddy was the one person who wouldn’t lie to him.
"Tell them, Daddy…Red. You know Tony. He wouldn’t do this."
Red squeezed his hand, but he didn’t give the answer Kit desperately wanted to hear. That’s when Kit started to understand.
This nightmare was real.
“You don’t just come in here and blow up my life—again—without proof. You can’t accuse my brother of something so horrible without proof.”
“Kit,” Red started.
Kit yanked his hand away. He recognized that tone. He wasn’t going to get the reassurance he needed. Red was going to tell him his brother who’d brought him up had betrayed him.
Mo took a deep breath. “Craig brought Tony to CDR. He denied it at first but finally he admitted everything. The club was struggling. Tony has run out of money. Making an insurance claim would save the club and Tony’s presidency.”
Kit shook his head. “No, no, no, we have plenty of money. Our parents were millionaires.”
Out of the corner of his eye, he was aware of the stunned expression on Red’s face. Yeah, no one in the club knew that. Tony had insisted that Kit kept it quiet and he’d never told anyone, not even when Red asked.
“We’ve checked his financials. All his accounts are empty, the club’s accounts are heavily overdrawn, and he’s maxed out on credit cards.”
Kit stared. “This has to be a huge mistake.”
“I’m sorry, Kit. We think he planned this as a way of getting out of debt. He could walk away from the club and start again elsewhere.”
“How do you know this wasn’t real.”
Mo licked his lips. “There’s one more thing.”
“Tell me,” Kit snarled.
“There are one set of accounts he couldn’t touch yet.”
The words were careful, Mo’s regard intense. Kit knew he was missing something, but he couldn’t work out what it was. Then it hit him and his jaw dropped.
“You mean—?”
“Yes, the only money left untouched was in your accounts. He couldn’t take your money. And he tried. We have proof of that.”
Tony tried to steal from him?
“But, all he had to do was ask me. I’ve barely touched my inheritance. He knows that.”
“Your money alone wouldn’t have been enough. We think he planned to make the insurance claim, then kill you and as your only relative, all the money would go to him. He would be financially secure. He could vanish and no one would know about his problems. He took out life insurance on you too.”
Kit couldn’t get the words out; his mouth didn’t work. He licked his lips and tried again. “He tried to kill me.”
If Tony wanted him dead, then Kit couldn’t keep up with the denials in his head.
But this madness destroyed him. His own brother, who’d brought him up and loved him ever since he was a child, tried to kill him?
“But why all this? CDR. You. This doesn’t make sense. Why something so elaborate?”
“I don’t think he planned for it to go so far.
He knew CDR and the Biker Daddy Bodyguards.
It was a short-term expense for a long-term gain.
It was going to be a couple of days at the club, pretend chatter to convince people you were both in danger, and then the cabin would be torched while you were in it and he was out somewhere.
Only you ran away. And whoever was making the threats sounded sufficiently real to convince Craig to pull the plug and evacuate you both. ”
Kit was aware of Red pressed up against his side. But he couldn’t touch him, not yet. He felt betrayed and alone. Even with Red beside him, he felt more alone than he ever had in his life.
His stomach churned uneasily and stood.
“I’ve got to go.”
Kit pushed back the chair so hard it toppled over and bolted for the bathroom, reaching it just in time before his stomach rebelled and he collapsed on the tiled floor in front of the toilet. He retched miserably for what felt like an eternity.
Then an arm went around him, and Red murmured, “Lean against me.”
“No, no, no.” Kit struggled to get free but he coughed as he puked and tried to pull himself away.
“Stay still, boy,” Red ordered, “or you’ll choke on your vomit.”
He didn’t care at that moment, but he desperately needed something solid in his life and that was the man holding him.
An hour later, Kit sat at the top of the stoop, breathing fresh air for the first time in a couple of days. There was no threat. Tony was at CDR. He was free to go. But he’d gotten as far as the steps.
The temperature was mind-blowingly cold, his breath frosting even under the afternoon sun, but he wore an oversize jacket, hat and gloves he’d found. He didn’t care about the cold.
He was alone, Red talking to Mo and Jace about what would happen next. Kit couldn’t process that. He was numb, the cold just adding to the effect. His tears were gone. He didn’t feel sick. Just numb at Tony’s betrayal and that was somehow worse.
The door creaked behind him but he didn’t look up. Neither was he surprised when Red sat down beside him, dressed as he was.
Kit asked the one question that he’d turned over again and again.
"Did he ever love me?"
“He loved you, I’m sure of it. He was always so protective of you. But debt is a hard thing to handle and he was drowning in it.”
Kit knew how protective Tony was. Overprotective most of the time. But right now, none of it felt real. His childhood, family, even the brotherhood in the club. It all felt fake.
Red took Kit’s hand in his, clumsy in the thick gloves. “I can’t defend Tony. This is all so surreal at the moment. I won’t excuse what he did, but your brother loved you, I’m sure of it.”
“It didn’t stop him terrifying me, uprooting me, and driving me out of my life.”
“I know, my sweet boy. I know.”
Kit stared at the endless snow-covered trees. “Then why? I don’t understand any of this.”
Red sat beside him. The silence went on for an eternity. Finally he heaved a long sigh. "Because loving someone doesn't stop them being stupid and selfish."
Then Kit said the thing he was actually afraid of. “Everybody leaves me.”
Red went still, clearly understanding this wasn't just about Tony. Or even his parents. This was about the two of them. Because Red had promised forever, but now the situation was different.
Kit turned to look at him. "You're leaving too, aren't you?"
Red hesitated.
Only for a second.
And that was enough.
“I think I want to go home,” Kit said, his voice so calm, even as he died inside. “Please can you arrange it. I’m going for a walk.”
Kit stood and walked away, leaving Red sitting there.
His Daddy didn’t come after him. Kit noticed that.
He crunched through the snow, his head down, one foot in front of the other, barely paying attention to where he was going.
“At least you have clothes on now.”
Kit turned to see Lucinda standing behind him. “Uh, sorry, I didn’t hear you.”
“You’re not very good at running away.”
“Are you following me?”
“Yes,” she admitted. “I’m curious to know why you’re out here and not in the cabin with your Daddy.”
Kit flushed a little. He wasn’t used to having a Daddy, if he still did, let alone discussing it with a woman, an older woman at that.
“I’m not in any danger now.”
She raised an eyebrow. “Oh?”
She was clearly waiting for an explanation.
“It turns out it was my brother trying to kill me, not a Mexican cartel. Isn’t that wonderful?”
His voice cracked embarrassingly and he had to clamp his jaw shut to stop himself crying.
Lucinda regarded him for a moment before understanding dawned. “I’m so sorry, Kit.”
“You’re probably used to drama like this.”
She shook her head. “My drama normally is the Mexican cartel. We don’t usually deal in family betrayal. You must be devastated.”
Kit couldn’t hold back a sob. This stranger was giving him comfort in the middle of a snow-clad forest. He hated it and needed it at the same time.
“What happened to your hands?”
“Psycho bitch kidnapped me and added a little torture in for fun.”
“Mexican cartel?” He was only half-joking.
“My personal assistant.”
Kit stared at her. “Wow, you must have been a real bitch to get that treatment.”
Her smile bordered on wicked, clearly not offended by his tactless comment. She winked at him. “So they say.”
“How did you get away?”
“Rescued by Josh Cooper and Cal Ross. You’ve met them, I believe.”
Kit grimaced. “They’re the ones who just threw another grenade into my life.”
“Yes, Mr. Cooper is very good at that.”
"How do you get over something like this?"
Lucinda was quiet. Finally, she sighed. "You don't, Kit. You never get over it."
Kit looked at her and she held his gaze.
“You learn to live with it, and when you can’t you come to a place like this to decompress.”
“Is that what you’re doing?”
She grimaced. “I’m trying. I’m not very good at doing nothing.”
“Nor am I.”
"The whole time she had me I thought I was going to die."
Kit stopped walking at the sudden confession. “What was her name?”
“Chyna Moles. Except it wasn’t. She stole that from a grave.” Lucinda kept going. “She killed so many people. She slaughtered my best friends. But the torture wasn't the hardest part.”
Kit glanced at her. Lucinda stared into the distance, not seeing him, maybe lost in the trauma of her past. He didn’t know what to say.
“What was?” he managed finally.
Lucinda's smile was humorless.
“Discovering all the people in my organization who helped her do it.”
Kit couldn’t help flinching at the bitterness in her voice.
“Your brother made his choices," Lucinda continued. “He chose to sacrifice you.”
Kit flinched again. “He's still my brother."
"He is.”
Well, that was blunt.
Kit frowned.
Lucinda stopped walking.
"What happens next is on him, Kit, not you." She was still, looking around, her expression alert.