His lips form a line and he looks away from me. “There’s so much you don’t know and it makes this all that much harder.”
I tug at my binds until the rope digs into my flesh. “Then tell me! What don’t I know?”
In an instant, his brown eyes look back at me. “Josie, your father is the head of a syndicate, just like my father is, except we deal in being hitmen, and your father deals in everything else. Our great grandfathers started it. The Bancrofts and the Kotov’s. They saw a way they could help each other out instead of going to war. That’s why they made the promise. So that our families would never mix in ways that could cause a problem. It’s a give-and-take relationship. We do what we need to to get our business done and we make sure to stay out of each other’s way.”
My mind swirls with all the information. He runs a syndicate? “Like the mafia?” I can hardly get the words to come out of my mouth.
He nods. “Yes.”
A laugh comes from deep inside of me. “You’re insane if you think I’m going to believe that, Cason. My father would never do something like that. I’ve known the man twenty-two years and I’ve never noticed anything like that. Fuck you!”
He points a finger at me. “You watch your mouth, you can be angry, but you can’t speak to me like that.”
More tears course down my cheeks and a sharper laugh comes out, I’m scared, but the words still pass my lips. “Or what? You’re going to kill me? You sure as hell made it look like it was easy for you last night. Go die in a shit pile! I can’t believe I ever trusted you! You’re a psychopath, probably a delusional serial killer.”
In one motion, he stands and moves the chair to the side. “Fine, you can lay in here until you’re willing to listen. When you are, you can be let out of your binds for a little while.” He shoves the tape back over my mouth, and turns on his heel to stride out of the room and slam the old door behind him.
I scream through the tape, arching my back off the bed as I try to free myself. I catch a glimpse outside the window on the other side of the room and spot trees, a lot of them. He wasn’t lying about one thing, it does look like we’re in the woods. No one can hear me, and no one is going to come and help me.
His words turn over in my head. My father is a criminal. Cason is a criminal and a killer. There’s no way any of it can be true. I would’ve figured it out by now. There’s no way they could’ve kept it all a secret from me for so long. My mind can’t handle any of this. How can my entire life be a lie? From my father legitimately owning so many businesses to my love for Cason. I guess the last one isn’t a lie. I did have feelings for him, but the version of him I fell in love with was a lie. How did I not see any of it?
* * *
I have no way of knowing how long it has been since he left me in the room gagged and tied up. The sun has shifted and it looks like it’s getting darker. My arms and legs have pins and needles moving through them from not being able to shift and move them. I have to pee and my bladder is about to burst, the pulse inside it is going to give way at any moment and I’m going to piss myself and this bed.
Footfalls thud outside the door and it opens. I look toward it. Porter, Cason’s younger brother pokes his head in followed by Beckett, and Silas, his other brothers. I scream and try to reach out to them to signal for help, but they just blink at me and whisper something to each other that’s so low I can’t make it out. They close the door and tears return to my eyes as I sob. They’re just as nuts as he is.
My bladder gives and I sob harder as the hot liquid pools in my sweats and I can’t stop it.
Chapter Seven
Cason
Porter shakeshis head as he sits down at the table with Beckett, and Silas. “You’ve seriously fucked the dog on this one, Cason.”
My father sits across from me rubbing at his temple. “Shut it, Port. This is a special case. Had she’d been anyone else he would’ve taken care of it the right way. Killing the daughter of Michail Kotov would’ve fucked all of us.”
Porter grounds his jaw. “This wouldn’t have happened if he would’ve been paying closer attention to his surroundings. He should’ve sensed her there.”
My dad growls at him. “That’s enough, Porter!”
Porter stands from the table and moves to pace around the small room, running his hands through his hair. He has so much of our mother in him, including her short fuse.
I look at Silas. “Did you get some clothes from Rosalie for her to wear while she’s here? Where is Ros anyway?” It’s strange not to have our little sister here. She’s the same age as Josie. The two practically grew up together. They didn’t get along much after a certain age. Ros turned tomboyish and cut-throat and Josie remains sweet and innocent.
At least she was until last night. I’m afraid I might’ve tainted her forever. I can’t get the look of hatred she gave me out of my head. She’s never looked at me like that. I want her to smile at me and offer me something sweet to eat.
Silas nods, his light blond hair falling into his eyes. “She wasn’t happy about it but gave mostly PJs and comfortable clothes. I doubt Josie is going to have to dress to impress while she’s here, right?” He puts a duffle bag on the table.
Dad sighs. “As for where she is, she’s in Texas on a job. Trying to get intel on a kingpin there and get into his inner circle so she can get close enough to kill him.”
Ros and Josie really are night and day. Would Josie be more like her if she’d grown up knowing the truth about her family? It had been Michail’s choice to shelter her from all things that he dealt in and went to great lengths to make her believe the lies he told her. Then again, she had no reason to not believe him, and if someone doesn’t know crime is happening around them, they won’t question odd things.
“Even if she wasn’t Michail’s daughter, I wouldn’t be able to kill her. I fucking watched her grow up, that would be like if someone ordered me to kill Ros.” Not entirely the same, I can’t let on to him how I feel about Josie. As far as he’s concerned I view her as a little sister still and nothing has changed about that over the past year.
He nods. “I know, son. I don’t think any of us would be able to do the job.”
Porter scoffs. “Speak for yourself. I’ll go do it right now.” He pulls his gun from his holster.
