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As Zeke and Cole’s bodies fall limp, the men carry them out of the bar, toss them both into the trunk of the Escalade, and they speed off into the night.
“The girl,” Arsenal points out. “Where did she go?”
Gigi.
I switch the lockdown mode off on the app and make my way to the back office. Flinging the door open, I find a terrified Gigi, curled up on the floor next to Spencer’s desk with her knees pulled up to her chest, sobbing.
“Gigi,” I whisper.
“Riot, oh my god!” she jumps to her feet, wiping her tears as she throws herself into my arms. “Are they okay? Please tell me they are okay. Cole, he told me to run, and I - I…”
Gripping my hooded sweatshirt, she presses her face into the thick fabric and cries. I wrap one arm around her, rubbing soothing circles on her back. Arsenal walks into the office and puts his hand on my shoulder.
“I just checked the perimeter, nothing. Riot, what’s going on? That definitely wasn’t Dante. He’s not that organized.”
Pressing my eyes closed, I rest my chin on Gigi’s head and try to mentally prepare myself for the shitstorm that’s about to rain down on all of us.
“Arsenal… I need Hannah.”
“He fucking did what?!” Hannah screams at me, chucking her glass tumbler of vodka against the wall of her apartment. Glass shatters and the remnants of liquor run down the drywall, “You have to be fucking kidding me Riot?! And you knew? And you just what, decided this was a good goddamn idea?”
“Hannah, I,”
“Nope!” she raises her hand between us, interrupting me, effectively shutting me up. “I don’t want to fucking hear it Riot. This is the dumbest fucking thing you could have done. Have you told Travis?”
“No, I didn’t want to put him and Spencer in danger.”
“Newsflash!” she snaps, “We are all in danger now. I had this covered. None of us were on the Syndicate’s radar. I can’t fix this Riot. Zeke effectively started a war we can’t win, and I’m running out of favors to call in.”
Hannah rubs her temples with her fingertips as she paces back and forth, wearing a hole in the floor of her living room. Stopping, she turns to face me and plops down on her couch.
“Someone get me another drink,” she mutters.
It takes all of 60 seconds for Arsenal to disappear and return with another glass of vodka. As he slips it into her hand, he presses his lips to the top of her head and takes his place standing behind her, resting a hand on her shoulder. To look at them, you’d never know Hannah has nothing to do with running the Reapers, because the Reaper brothers treat her like their queen.
Hannah may be pissed, and Travis may have let her out of the organization free and clear, but she’s still Brotherhood at heart. I’m heavily banking on her loyalty and love in this moment, because she is quite literally the only one who can help me right now. No one else knows the Syndicate the way she does.
“Hannah, please. I can’t live without them,” my shoulders fall, and I drop onto the loveseat opposite of where she’s seated.
“I heard rumors that after we took out Grant and Evan, they didn’t bother to put replacements in place. Instead, the remaining two from overseas flew in to restructure. These two, they are fucking ruthless Riot. I only know them by name. Cyrus and Wren. But their reputations precede them both.”
Closing her eyes, she pinches the bridge of her nose as she takes another sip of her vodka.
“What was Zeke looking for? Why was he prying into their surveillance?”
Taking a deep breath I lower my eyes to the floor. I’m about to betray his confidence, and it kills me a little, even though I know it’s necessary to ensure I get him back.
“Zeke had a sister. Foster sister. I’ll spare you the details because, it’s just too fucking much, but… Their foster dad sold her. About ten years ago. Her name was Ellie. Zeke saw her name when Spencer turned over the thumb drive. I only just found out about all of this.”
“Ellie?”
“Yeah.”
“Ten years ago?” her brow furrows as she glances at me questioningly.
“Yeah.”
She mutters something under her breath, but I don’t quite catch it and just as I’m about to ask her what’s going on, she pushes up to her feet.
