My lip curled, disgusted at the thought of what they would want me to do. “Not a chance.”
“Why?” he asked, like he already knew the answer.
I understood what he was getting at. “Because they aren’t my family. The one still in there bleeding out.”
“Exactly, and are you going to go kill the people who hurt our family?”
He flipped his knife, extending the handle to me.
“You going to be there with me?” I asked.
“Until the day I die. And don’t think this changes anything with you and Aiden. I’m still pissed he went behind my back and fell in love with my little sister.”
“He hasn’t said he loves me, so I think you are safe on that front.”
“I swear, if you are that naïve, Evie, we are going to have a thousand more issues to address.”
“I am not naïve.”
“Then don’t act like he didn’t risk everything to be with you. The fact that he’s taking this seriously is the only reason I have a shred of calm right now. And the same goes for you—if you’re screwing around and not taking this seriously, we’re going to have serious problems, because that will make all our lives a hell of a lot harder.”
“I am taking it seriously. Which was why I was so upset when you acted like an asshole about it. I thought you would tellmeto leave. Are you and him okay now?”
“Aiden and I are fine. I mean, mostly. Speaking of, are you still having an identity crisis, or can we go get him?”
I nodded, moving with him as he kept going.
He paused once, glancing down at his phone.
“I swear, this fucking group chat haunts my dreams with how much people are texting, but I let them know to get their asses over here and no one says a damn word.”
“Is that what we’ve been waiting on?”
Rook snorted. “I mean, that and your little meltdown. I thought it might help if I could get you out of there and bring in the guys to stop whoever it was, but apparently we are on our own this time.”
“Oh great, love that plan,” I said, sarcasm dripping as I tried to think of any way we could get Aiden out with Jack, Zack, and two bodyguards there.
We pushed through another set of doors and swept the space with our eyes, searching for any sign of Aiden or the Order members. The place was cavernous and half lit, every dark corner a possible threat.
“I always wondered why we didn’t look alike,” I said, a hiccuping laugh bubbling out of me.
“I just thought I was blessed with all the beautiful genes in the family. I’ve always felt a little bad I used them all up, but someone had to be the ugly duckling.”
“I’m about to put this knife in you.”
He grinned, kicking at another door. “There’s my deadly little sister. Which is good, because I need her. I’d like to remind you they have Aiden and he is currently in pain and bleeding because of these assholes.”
The rage hit me like a wall. “You’re doing this on purpose.”
“I am. Blood or not, Evie, we have one very important thing in common.”
“And what’s that?” I asked, testing the next set of doors in front of us.
“We can be fucking ruthless, and I have no doubt that every single one of them is going to regret having any sway in us being raised that way. Kill them, Evie. Nobody is going to live. They are never coming after us again.”
I nodded, knowing he was right. They played a part in who we were.
My hands curled into fists. They thought they could take everything from me. Rewrite my life, tell me who I belonged to, make me their puppet. Kill my parents and later hunt me down to collect what they thought was owed to them.
