“Brother,” Riley says. “You look like shit.”
I scoff and offer a crooked smile. “You’re commenting on my appearance when Drew has been captured by the cartel. A little cold, even for you.”
He narrows his eyes, surprised I know, probably. “Meeting room. Now.”
When we’re completely alone, Riley extends his hand to a chair. “Sit,” he orders. When I don’t, he adds, “that wasn’t a question, Jesse.”
I sit, and he pulls a chair in front of mine and sits, our knees almost touching. Leaning forward, I smell a whiff of alcohol. Midday? Oh, he’s really fucking pissed. “Tell me everything or I’ll slit your throat right here.”
“You’re going to slit my throat anyway,” I return.
Closing his eyes, he rubs a hand over the scruff on his chin and below his nose. “Talk, Jesse. How did you know about Drew?”
I can’t lean back to get away from him anymore. “Why do you think I tried to kidnap her? I knew this was their plan. I was trying to save her, brother.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
I pause. Trying not to let my emotions show. It’s hard when Riley’s are on display so vividly. He looks tortured. It’s my weakness. It has always been my downfall. “I knew you wouldn’t agree with where I wanted to take her.”
He narrows his glassy eyes. “Where were you taking her?”
“You were right,” I admit, closing my eyes. I don’t want to see his judgment. “I was taking her to her sister. To Bethany.” My voice shakes as I say the next words. “To use Drew as bait.”
He nods once, closing his eyes, like the fucking Godfather making a final decision or something equally as devastating. “I trusted you with her.”No, I gave her to you, I think. From the get-go, I knew Riley would attach himself to Drew. Not only is she his type to a T, but her innocence is also unrivaled. It was unexpected that a hooker possessed the one quality that is coveted. The women on our team are shrewd and the furthest thing from innocent. “There’re only two options here,” Riley growls, rage simmering in his eyes.
“I wasn’t going to hurt her.”
“A man was gunned down and died on top of her. Wouldn’t you say that was a close call?” he asks. It’s not my fault she had more guards than I thought she would, I muse.
I exhale slowly. “It had to look a certain way.”
“Because you really didn’t fucking think I’d find out the truth? You really didn’t think I’d want to avenge a guard’s death? She had nightmares and woke up in a cold sweat. You didn’t think telling me about this was a good idea? Leaving me in the dark about the cartel planning to kidnap her before I sealed her position in our family was a better idea? We could have figured something out. She’d be here, and I wouldn’t be giving you an ultimatum.”
“What ultimatum?” My stomach feels sick.
“Find her, save her, bring her back.”
“I didn’t hear an ultimatum.”
Riley grins. “You know what it is already. Or else.” Two words.
“That’s impossible.”
“Nothing is impossible. I gave you the world. I gave you a clean fucking start. I gave you my name. You could have left everything in the past. You made promises to me. To betray me like this means death on the spot. I’m not killing you right now so there are some things that aren’t impossible.” His eyes glaze over. “I can’t leave this place to do it myself, but you can. They don’t know your face like they know mine.” He starts rattling off details about the kidnapping. Where they broke a fence to get in and where intel thinks they took her. The why is easy. Money. The factions of the cartel that don’t fall under Astor leadership are extremely dangerous. Men without leaders are soulless and maniacal.
“Riley Astor in love,” I deadpan. “With a common whore to boot. Life seems stranger than fiction.”
He throws a right hook to my face. Warm blood trickles down my chin. I grit my teeth against the pain. “Making revenge your only goal in life is even stranger.”
I don’t tell him I fell for Drew. I don’t tell him that I don’t want to hurt her. He’ll find that out eventually, but he’s right. This is the closest to revenge for my son, Wyatt, that I’ve got. Now it won’t matter because Riley is sending me on a suicide mission. “Did they call with demands yet?”
“No,” he says, hanging his head, eyes closed. “I promised I’d protect her. Fuck!” His roar echoes in the expanse of the room. His pain etched into every syllable. “We should have sent her away. Like the others.”
“But she isn’t like the others, is she? The others didn’t mean shit. There’s no way you could have sent her away. Don’t play these games with yourself.”
“I can’t keep her safe.” Shaking his head, he stands and paces the room as I nurse my lip with my fingers. It’s dripping onto my jeans. “Even if you manage to bring her back, it will happen again.” Another scream. He picks up a vase and throws it against the wall. Water and flowers crash against the wall and then slide to the floor. “She was with mom when they took her. Most of the guards were in or around our meeting. They knew she’d be unprotected. Less protected.”
“Where was Reggie?”