Page 168 of Split You Open

“What? Why?” I demand a little too sharply for my Anchor’s liking.

It earns me a glare.

“Because she was using him to gather intel for a foreign organization while he was still in the military. She was a threat. He knew but didn’t care because he loved her. After I eliminated the threat, I told him that I was the one who took the job but that it was nothing personal.” To Blair he adds, “She was the last job I took before I came looking for you and your mother.”

Nothing personal? My teeth gnash together as I glare at Anchor. That hit sounds pretty fucking personal to me.

“So, this asshole’s been holding a grudge all these years?” Rhett asks. “He was just waiting for an opportunity to get back at you?”

Anchor nods. “Exactly.”

“Lovely,” Ledger drawls. “Santi, can you find a location for this guy? We can⁠—”

“No need to do all of that,” Dad interrupts. “I can bring him to us.”

I frown. “How?”

“Because I am currently holding his daughter and second wife hostage.”

The table falls deathly silent.

Tension skyrockets around us as we process this information. None of us are what I would consider “good” people but this? My stomach rolls in protest at the thought of bringing a mother and child into this.

Ledger leans forward, planting an elbow on the table and pointing at his friend. “You have his family, Anchor?”

Anchor gives Ledger a look full of disdain. “Do you have a better way of luring Arnon out? He has the financial means to send people after us for years. He’ll come on his own if I threaten his family, though.”

Santi raises his hand, waving it wildly above him. “I just want to put my two cents in here and say, that’s fucked up.”

“Life is ‘fucked up’,” Anchor counters coolly.

I shake my head. “This is too far. There’s got to be another way.”

“There isn’t,” Anchor drawls. “All I have to do is put in a call and he’ll come running.”

Ledger shakes his head, his teeth bared. “Where are they?”

“Safe.”

I bristle at Anchor’s nonchalant shrug.

Santi shakes his head. “There’s always another way. We don’t have to stoop so low. Like, I can threaten his company’s existence by unearthing whatever fucked up thing this bio-chemical company is working on.”

“How do you know if there is any?” Rhett asks.

Santi gives him an exaggerated knowing look. “It’s partially funded by the government and on the company’s About Page, Mallard is shaking hands with three different billionaires. Given that there is no such thing as ethical billionaires and with the government’s involvement—it’s practically a given that they’re up to no good. They just wrap up their projects under the guise of ‘helping the world’.”

Anchor shoots Santi an approving look.

“If you can unearth anything helpful go for it. I still have his family as collateral.”

I scowl at him. “And what happens to them afterward?”

“They’ll be released.”

I don’t believe that for a fucking second.

I open my mouth to tell him just that but then I catch Ledger shooting a pointed look at Blair. It’s subtle but I know they’re communicating something. So rather than let Anchor catch on that there’s another plan being formed I say, “That’s fucking sick.”