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However, his questions asking me if I knew who I was working for, or if I knew who I was hurting, or if I knew what I was really doing gutted me. Those were never things I thought about. I focused on the pros of my job–helping to make this world a better place even if I knew deep down that that was all bullshit.
Especially the way I treated my own little brother. It wasn’t my fucking fault that he was so trusting as to fall in line with that goddamn program. He was merely a means to an end, someone I needed to hand over the program. Recruitment and the legal side of things were my expertise but keeping Rhys calm and placated had been an added task. Slapping a restraining order on Owen had been more amusement than a solution.
The hardest part was trying to make Joey believe that I cared. I huffed in annoyance as I sat up, running my fingers through my hair. I loved Joey with my entire being, my soul, and my heart–but anyone else? I couldn’t be bothered. I didn’t even know why but it had always been like that. I tried to care and practice thosefeelings that everyone seemed to show to family members and people they loved. In truth, I never felt those things.
Everything was always a means to an end–except Joey. Rhys and I had been close once but when the program came into play, I just needed the data. Nothing else mattered. Owen was a problem, but not really on my radar. Rhys’ constant breakdowns and shying away made the task harder but not impossible. However, the fucking Kolas crew had shattered my plans and now I was paying for it.
If they had never shown up, I could have continued playing the nice brother who called Rhys to talk about his therapy appointments and if he was coming to dinner.
Begrudgingly, I pulled out my phone and sent Rhys another text.
Hey - call me or something. I’m worried.
I laughed at that and sent a follow-up text.
Hope that you’re having fun with your boyfriends.
Might as well stop lying to him that I knew where he was. I scrolled up and realized that each of the texts had been read but never responded to. There was no way in hell Rhys saw those and hadn’t texted back. Which meant those fucking men protecting him were checking all this shit too.
Well, good. They needed to know that I wasn’t as innocent as I looked.
I stretched, loving the crack that rumbled down my spine before I made my way to the kitchen. It felt empty without Joey here but in a way, I wasn’t mad that he had left. I had been selfish in keeping him at my side but this was the best option. Knowing that he was safe somewhere else, I could focus on the next mission.
Eggs were the breakfast champion of the day, only because that’s what I was in the mood for, a dollop of cheese insidemaking me smile. The smile turned into a rumbling laugh and then an all-out cackle as I remembered moments with Owen and Ada that had ruined my brother. Owen fucked up all the time but it was getting worse as the days droned on. Rhys was threatening to call off the relationship and once again, Owen had run to us for help.
I still had no idea how Owen had tripped and fell into Ada’s pants and produced Tia.
“ I’m not asking for you to talk to Rhys but he shut me out. Look, I just need…”
“Make him some food,” I pushed out, amused by Owen’s panicked reaction. The guy had burst in through Ada’s front door, terrified when he caught me laid out on Ada’s couch, Ada sitting at her dining room table, perfectly poised and in sync next to Ernest. He was a doormat for the most part but I didn’t mind him.
Owen glanced between the three of us and frowned. “What?”
“You might be fucking obsessed with my brother but I know him. He loves food. Apologize with that. Put some cheese in it.”
I was about to add more to that when a wild grin slid across the man’s face and in the next second, he disappeared out the door. Ada’s laugh brought me back to the present and out of the shock I had been bombarded with. “You realize that that shit stain is going to obsess over that as well, right? He has no self-control. He also can’t cook.”
I snorted. “You fucked the shit stain, remember?”
That cheese fiasco and trauma in Rhys’ life had been my own doing–not on purpose but it had worked out well until Owen went overboard. We had been so fucking close. Scooping a healthy serving of cheesy eggs into my mouth, I grabbed my phone again and punched in the number from the business card Maia had shoved at me.
I knew they were just waiting for me to call.
“Hello?”
“Liam. It’s good to hear your voice.”
“Is it? Who is this?”
“Umar. I should hope that’s enough information.”
The fucking CEO of Hawk International’s France HQ wanted to speak with me?“Yeah. Maia told me that you wanted to speak with me.”
A dark chuckle wafted through the earpiece. “She would have been correct. I would like your help in dealing with a certain… French issue.”
“My brother?” I nearly told Umar that Rhys wasn’t answering my texts but that wouldn’t bode well for me. Hawk International didn’t take kindly to failure. So far, the only person in my family whohadn’tfailed was me. I had helped recruit my brother and keep him on track. It was Rhys’ task to finish the program and Ada’s to collect it.
“Yes. I also hope you know that this is not a request. Should you be having second thoughts, I have eyes on a certain husband of yours who is absolutely not where he’s supposed to be.”
