“I would advise you to think twice before speaking to him again,” I say.
Aldis nods, then stands and bows his head before leaving the office as quietly as he came in. The door shuts with a click, and I lean back, closing my eyes. Phoenix moves more directly behind me and puts his fingers to my temples, rubbing them until some of the pressure eases.
“James believes Rhys, and I do too. I don’t think it would be wise to send in Ari. He’s restless and hungry.”
“No,” I say softly. “No, that’s—”
Phoenix sucks in a breath, cutting me off. He swears under his breath, and his hands drop to my shoulders. “She knows.”
I sit up a little straighter. “What?”
“Alice is in with Rhys right now. She knows.”
I leap up, my heart between my teeth, and I take only a second to remind myself that the peace would only last so long.
Chapter 4
ALICE
I don’t really meanto stalk James, but at the same time, I do. It’s the look on his face when he gets the phone call from Phoenix that tells me something important is happening, and the ugly little gremlin living inside of me whispering that all of this is a lie won’t shut up.
So, I wait until Ari’s in the bathroom, and then I sneak down the hall and head down to the place that was once my prison. I think they put Rhys there because they knew I’d never go down there of my own free will. I hate the sound of it, the smell of it, everything. If anything can rip me back to a point where I was certain I was about to die in a horrific way, it’s walking down these stairs.
I can hear James talking as I get closer to the door, so I hurry to the far end of the hall on the opposite side of the stairwell, then press my back against the wall, deep in the shadows, to listen. I can only hear James speaking—sort of rapid-fire, almost like he’s nervous. Rhys gives a couple of grunts, but I can’t make out any words, and James just keeps going.
“…time. He made a promise to your father that he can pick you up alive, but he didn’t guarantee what state you’ll be in, so it’s in your best interest, mate. You want me to tell him yes?”
I hold my breath and wait.
“Good man,” James says, then pauses, and when he speaks again, he sounds genuinely sorry. “I didn’t want this for you, you know. I always liked you. If you hadn’t been such a dumb shit about everything, we could have helped.”
I hear footfalls after that, and then the door swings open. It casts me in dim light, so I throw myself back and wait, but it’s obvious James hasn’t seen me because he turns on his heel and heads for the stairs. I wait for the top door to open and shut, and then I race for the cell door and tug on the handle.
I don’t expect it to open since it locks with a little keypad, but it does, with a soft little snick that I grew so used to hearing whenever James would visit. The smell is the first thing that hits me—stale, sour, almost rotting. The lights are low, but they’re on, and the man on the bed is filthy.
He rolls his head to the side, and his dark eyes narrow on me, and I can immediately see a resemblance between him and Kane. It’s in the line of their jaw, and their pronounced cupid’s bow, and the little dimple in their chin.
I hesitate, knowing that this room is being observed at the very least by Phoenix, and then I clear my throat. “I’m Alice Romano.”
His jaw works for a second, and then he says in a rough, barely there voice, “I know who you are. Leo’s sister.”
My gut twists. “How many people know?”
“No idea,” he whispers, and I step closer. I don’t want to get too near him. Whatever they’ve done to him, the smell of it is churning my stomach, and the hormones are making my reactions worse than usual.
“Why are you here?”
He laughs, the sound brittle. “Betrayal. I got off lucky, but I’m sure you saw what they did to my men.”
I didn’t. Kane made sure to keep me away from Ari’s playroom until it was cleaned up, and while I know that he likes to play screams through the house on a speaker like some serial killer’s symphony, Kane’s forbidden it for now. In all honesty, I don’t know how I’d feel listening to a man tortured to death, but it doesn’t terrify me the way it probably should.
This man is watching me for a reaction, though, so I shrug. “Leo escaped. Why didn’t you?”
“I wasn’t fast enough, and I forbid him from coming after me.”
Lovers. I can tell just from those few words that they’re lovers. I glance toward the door. There’s no chance in hell the boys don’t know where I am now, and I need to hurry. “What did you and Leo do?”
“Nothing. Yet. We want to take down your brother, but he had to see you first.”