Cole

rag. She wasn’t looking in my eyes. She was only focused on my skin. She brought the rag to my shoulder and began moving it lightly down my arm. As she got to my hand, she paused. A line marred her forehead, and she let out a deep sigh. With gentle hands, she picked up mine and examined it, turning it over so she could see better in the light.

There was a draft in the room. She brought the washcloth to my knuckles as I looked around. I was on a cot, tucked into the corner of a small bedroom. A single light bulb hung from the ceiling. I could see into the open closet door. Only a pile of blankets was inside.

Heavy footsteps sounded in the hallway. They grew louder, and I tensed—until they moved past the door.

“You’re awake?” Carol now looked at me.

I must’ve moved my hand. I tried to nod, but it hurt too much. I felt half paralyzed when I croaked, “What did you do?”

Shame darkened her eyes, and she hung her head. The washcloth fell from her fingers, hitting the floor. She cursed and bent to grab it. When she sat back up, she placed it on the table next to the bed. Grabbing the bucket, she rose. “Hold on. I’ll be right back.”

I wanted to plead with her not to tell the others. Don’t let them know I’m awake! Don’t let them hurt me again! But no words came out. I couldn’t get them out, so I lay there and waited, feeling like an opened wound.

She came back moments later, kicking the door shut with her heel. She placed the bucket beside me, pulled out a new washcloth, and brought it to my cheek. I held my breath, waiting for the cold and knowing it would add to my agony, but it didn’t. Warm water greeted me instead, and I was relieved for the first time since being captured.

“Thank you,” I finally got out, wondering if I should thank her for anything. My voice was a mangled mess.

She didn’t respond. She washed the rest of my cheek, then moved to the other one. She bathed my jaw, and up to my forehead. After cleaning my nose, she sat back and dropped the rag into the bucket. Her shoulders slumped and she looked down. “This is all my fault,” she said softly. “Every part of it.”

My throat swelled. I didn’t think it was from physical pain. I couldn’t talk anymore.

“I was their eyes and ears on you,” she continued. “No one else.”

She met my gaze, maybe for the first time ever. The sadness in her eyes—it should have moved me. It didn’t. I had no compassion for her.

“Liam gave me a key to the house, and after he died, they asked me to check on you every now and then. I didn’t know why. I thought they were worried about you, and that seemed so kind of them.”

Who is them? The Bertals?

She moved the washcloth up my arm. I closed my eyes, clinging to her words to block out the burning sensations.

“We weren’t a part of them,” she said. “Bea always wanted her kids out of the family business. She said it was foolishness. The only way out was a hot bullet, she used to say. I didn’t know she did their bookkeeping, not until she died and everyone got their inheritances. Liam got the biggest one. She loved him the most, and there’s another part coming to you.” She looked up, a half-smile on her face. It was so haunted, it didn’t look like a smile at all. “If you get out of this alive, I mean.”

She rested her hand on my forehead and moved my hair to the side. “I’ll get you out of here alive. I promise, Addison. I’ll do it for Liam.” Her voice grew watery. “I have to make my son proud, because I know he’s ashamed of me. He has to be. I would be. I am.” Her eyes grew fierce. “I swear I had no idea why they wanted me to watch you. They never said a word. I was just supposed to report if something weird happened, and you moving to The Mauricio was weird. That’s when I found out.”

Found out what? My mouth opened. I tried speaking. Still nothing.

“They think Liam—no, they know Liam had a Bertal as a patient. It was before they realized Liam was estranged from us. Everything went to the shitter after that.” She met my eyes again. “There was a war going on back then, and they couldn’t determine whose side Liam was on.” She swallowed before adding, “The trouble started when Cole Mauricio came back. There’d been peace for a while, but he killed four of our men. That was it then.”

I remembered what Cole had said. “They sent four men… They died. I lived… I came back, and I killed more.”

“We got pulled into a war we didn’t want, not at first. We were pissed. Oh yeah. They were pissed. And more of our men died. That Carter Reed, he killed almost all of us. The families all thought he was coming after us, like—”

–like they had for Cole’s family. They killed my dad first… My mom was the next week. Then his three brothers. His older sister. His two younger sisters, the twins. One after another, week after week.

I wasn’t crying, not for her. Her hand went to my neck, and she began to wash there. The tears that slid down and fell on the top of her hand were for Cole, for the man whose family she’d helped murder.

A seed started to grow in me. It was small, but it was powerful. It was my hate for this family, the one Liam came from.

“Anyway.” She huffed, clearing her throat. Her hand lingered on my collarbone, but I didn’t think she really saw me. “They’re worried now that you told. That’s why we sued you. I didn’t want to. We knew Liam bought that home with his inheritance. We had no say in that money. Bea made sure of it. But they needed access to your bank accounts. That was the whole reason, and they have computer guys. I don’t get it. They tried to explain it, but none of it made sense to me. They just wanted your bank statements, see if you got paid off by Mauricio, if that was why you were living in his building.”

Who was they?! I wanted to know their names, their positions. I wanted to know everything.

“They couldn’t find anything, said there were no suspicious transactions.”

What? No. I couldn’t speak. I couldn’t defend myself. Instead my hands curled into fists, and my nails cut into my skin. The pain lessened some of the other pain. I kept digging them in.

“I kept telling them no,” Carol said, pleading now. “I know you have every right to hate me, too, but I still love my boy. I wouldn’t have done that to you, but they made us. They threatened us, threatened the rest of our kids. We had to. I’m so sorry, Addison. We had to.”

She sat back, her hand falling to her lap. She held the washcloth, and it formed a wet spot on her pants. She didn’t seem aware of it. “When they couldn’t find any incriminating transactions, they went through the house. I tried to tell them there’d be nothing. I knew you took everything personal with you, or it went to your parents.”

New horror filled me. I opened my mouth, trying to ask if she’d told them that, but only a whispered scream burst out.

She looked up. Her eyes rounded, and she shook her head. “Oh, no. I didn’t tell them that. Just that the dog went to them. They wanted to know, but no way. I wouldn’t put your mother in harm’s way like that. I told them you put your stuff in storage, but I didn’t know where. That’s what they were looking for. They wanted to find a key or where you stored it all. They didn’t find anything, like I knew they wouldn’t.”

A lost look entered her eyes. “And when they couldn’t find anything, they said there was no other option.” She looked at me again. “That’s why you’re here. They made me get close to you. No one else could, and I knew I only had a little window. You were going back there to stand next to Mauricio himself. He put guards on you. They’ve been watching you for a while, but always at a distance. Did you know that?” She nodded to herself. “They blended in, but we figured out who they were. For once, none of them were by you. I had to move, or it wouldn’t have worked. I think maybe it shouldn’t have worked. I should’ve taken the needle myself, made something up, said you overpowered me, but I knew it wouldn’t work. They would’ve just killed you if I hadn’t helped them take you this way.”

She put the washcloth in the bucket, and her hand covered mine. She leaned close. “I’ll get you out of this. I’ll fix it. I promise. But, Addison, you have to tell me—what did Liam say to you?”

I shook my head.

“He must’ve said something. Why did you move into The Mauricio? Of all buildings, why that one? There was a reason. You went there on purpose. You have to tell us why. What did Liam tell you about the Bertals? What don’t I know?”

I had no response. Even if my vocal chords had worked, I still wouldn’t have told her a thing. There was nothing to tell. I lifted my shoulders and tried to shake my head again, side to side.

Carol sat back. “You have to know something.”

I didn’t.

“Addison—” She shot forward again. “You have to tell me. You tell me; I tell them. We’re both safe. They said that. He said that. If you tell, they’ll consider you family again. Everything will be fine. They’ll protect us. Mauricio will never find us. Even Carter Reed, if he joined that family again, he won’t find us either. We’ll be safe. We could even go together—you, me, Hank. They wouldn’t hurt my other children. They’d be safe, and we could be safe too. Just tell me.”

I didn’t know! If I could speak, I would’ve been shouting it. I. Don’t. Know!

She held still, reading my eyes, before slumping back in her chair. “You really don’t know, do you?”

She was defeated. She finally understood that I knew nothing. Liam never said a thing.

Her hand rested at the base of my throat, but she was talking to herself now. “This isn’t good. They’re going to kill you. They won’t believe you. If you didn’t tell them anything, then why did you move in? It wasn’t a coincidence. Nothing’s a coincidence.” She focused on me again. “Why did you move in there?”

I lifted my hand, pretending to write something in the air.

“Oh!” She shot up out of her chair. “Hold on.” And she was gone. She returned with a computer, which she placed on my lap, helping me sit up. The wifi was disabled. I couldn’t send an email.

“Here you go.” She brought up a blank screen and moved her chair around so she could see what I typed. “Tell me how you ended up living there.”

My friend was approached, I typed.

“How?”

She was given a phone number. We called to look at it, and I loved the building. I paused, frowning, then added, I thought the house was haunted with Liam’s ghost. I couldn’t stay there any longer.

“Who was approached? Was it Sia? Was she the one?”

I pulled my hands from the keyboard. I wouldn’t answer.

“Addison, come on.”

I shook my head.

“They’ll want to know. We have to tell them.”

I typed out, No fucking way! Piss off, bitch.

Carol pulled away. “You don’t have to be rude.”

My hands were sore, but I extended my middle fingers. Both of them. When she saw, I moved them around in the air. She wasn’t going to get Sia’s name from me. My hands went back to the keyboard. I was going to type that they could kill me before I’d say, but she murmured, “Maybe he’ll know. I bet he’ll know.”

Dorian.

Fear rushed through my body. I was paralyzed for a moment, then I lunged, as best as I could, and tried to type again, but Carol pulled the laptop away.

She tucked it under her arm and leaned close, pressing her lips to my forehead. “I’m so sorry, Addison. I know you love this friend, but he’ll know. If it was Sia, he’ll know, and if it wasn’t, don’t worry. She won’t be harmed. I have to tell them.”

I tried to hit her with my head, but she moved away. I couldn’t do a thing to stop her. I was still tied down, just to a bed instead of a chair.

She went to the door and looked back. “I’ll make them free you. Get ready. You’re going to go home with Hank and me. We’ll disappear together. Everything will be fine.”

But we wouldn’t be. We were so far beyond fine that there was no going back. She was deluding herself, and after she went to him, he would kill Sia. He would kill me, and he might even kill Carol herself.

No, we weren’t going to be fine.





COLE





The tip came in through Ken.

He wasn’t told who took Addison. We already knew that. He was told where she was, and we didn’t hesitate. We were moving within the hour. I was in the weapons room when one of my men gave me the news I’d been expecting since Addison was taken. He coughed. “Sir, Carter Reed is at the door.”

I stopped, knife in hand, and looked at my soldier. He fidgeted in the doorway, and I knew he wanted to run. Right now I wasn’t the nice boss, the boss who joked around sometimes, the young boss everyone underestimated. I was the assassin the Bertals had created, the weapon Carter himself helped hone.

I was the fucking head of the Mauricio family staring back at him.

“You’re new,” I said.

His eyes narrowed before he nodded. “Yes, sir.”

“You’ve killed before?”

Another jerk of his head. “I have, sir.”

I pointed my knife at him. “And if they attack right now—if Carter’s actually a traitor and he’s going to try to kill me, what do you do?”

To give him credit, he didn’t hesitate. He rolled back his shoulders and tucked his hands behind his back, spreading his feet evenly. “I’d kill him instead.”

The door to the room opened and Carter walked past the soldier, but he paused and glanced at him. “You would, huh?”

The soldier’s eyes went wide. His Adam’s apple bobbed up and down. “I would. Sorry, sir.” His eyes flicked to mine. “Other sir, I mean,” he corrected. “But I would. I’m loyal to the head of the Mauricio family and…” He hesitated, glancing to me again before returning to Carter. Their eyes met and held.

My respect for him went up a notch.

“You are not in the Mauricio family in the official capacity anymore, Mr. Reed, sir.”

Carter was holding back a grin, but he wasn’t here to goad my soldiers. He was here for a whole other reason, and as I remembered that, the moment passed. I tossed my knife in the air, caught it by the handle and sent it soaring past my soldier. It stuck in the wall behind him.

He’d gone still, his eyes not even moving to the knife.

I gestured to it. “Take it. You’re going to need more than a few guns tonight.”

He stepped to the side, grabbed the knife, and yanked it out of the wall. He nodded to each of us before stepping out into the hallway.

Carter waited until the door closed, then turned to me. “You got his ear. Did you know that?”

I threw him a look. Of course I knew. I wasn’t feeling particularly talkative. “What are you doing here?”

His eyes narrowed, looking over the assembly of weapons I spread on the table. “Are you ready to do this?”

“To do what?”

I knew. He knew. I wanted him to say it.

“Start a war.”

There it was. “Like you did?”

“That was different.”

“How?”

He crossed the room and stood on the opposite side of the table now. He lowered his eyes, studying me. “Do you love her?”

Emotion flickered in my gut, hardening everything again. I scowled, picking up another knife and shoving it into my shoulder holster. It hung beneath a 9mm. “You started a war for the woman you loved.”

“I did.”

“You finished a second one, too. For her.” My eyes cooled. My jaw hardened.

“I did.” Carter was waiting.

“So, you flew all this way to ask me if I love Addison?”

“Don’t go to war if you don’t,” he said quietly. He leaned forward on the table. “She’s theirs. They took one of their own. You broke in to take one of theirs—that’s how they’ll spin this. Are you ready for the fallout afterward? Businesses will be affected. Lives are going to end. Families will be torn apart. You could die. She could die. Are you ready for that?”

“She could be dead already.” I waited, keeping myself controlled. There was another question still coming.

He asked it. “Is she worth this?”

A second passed between us. Another. And a third. I waited, and so did Carter. He’d said his piece. This was why he’d come, to test me. I leaned forward, my weapons ready to go, and said what needed