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“I’m not leaving Arturo at the mercy of—”
“Use your contacts to find him. They will go through you because I don’t know how many of my lines of communication are compromised.”
“I could coordinate better if I was there.” I should go. I could find my brother and forget all about the fantasies I’d begun to have about staying at the ranch permanently, about Rhys truly being mine.
“I won’t have you even more at risk. If Franco finds you, he’ll kill you.”
“My life is in danger every time you give me an order. I’m good at not being seen.”
“I won’t have another son’s life in danger.”
I’d never been spoken of in the same category as Arturo. My father doted on the boy even more than his older brothers.
“You don’t have to pretend I matter like he does.”
“How dare you question my love for you?”
What? When he’d shown me nothing but scorn?
“Stay where you are. And only call me on this number when you know something else. I’m counting on you.”
He hung up before I could say more.
A dangerous mix of emotions swirled in my stomach. Before I could give into that turmoil, I called X and told him what I knew.
When our call ended, I needed Rhys. My father would explode if he thought I’d told anyone he hadn’t personally vetted. Exposing our weaknesses to X was bad enough, but if he found out I’d told Rhys, he’d come up with some heinous punishment for such a betrayal.
Did I care anymore? I’d been wrapped up with Rhys in the most intimate of ways. Intimate and filthy and absolutely wonderful. I’d never let myself get this close to anyone, but how far was I willing to go. How much could I dare to open up to him? He might have relented in how he feels about me, but he still hated what I did, what my family did.
Without making a conscious decision, I started walking toward the barn in search of him. He was the one person who could get me through this.
When I entered the barn, Rhys looked up, and his eyes widened. He set down the pitchfork he’d been using and hurried over to me. “What’s wrong?”
“My father called.”
“Come on.” He led me to the office, and I sank down on a chair, thankful my legs had brought me that far.
Rhys paced in front of me.
“What kind of trouble are you in?”
“It’s not me. It’s my brother Arturo. He’s my stepmother’s youngest child. He’s only thirteen.”
“What happened to him?”
“Franco has him. We don’t have proof of that yet, but he disappeared, and that must be why. My father refused to go along with one of Franco’s insane plans, and this morning, Arturo wasn’t in his room.”
“Oh my God.”
“And my father chose now to try to act like he cares about me. He told me to stay here and use my contacts to find Arturo. Now he trusts me to do something more important than any of the tasks he’s micromanaged me through so far, and I just don’t know what the hell to think about it.” Jesus, I was about to have a complete breakdown in front of Rhys.
“Do you want me to kill him for you?”
“Franco?”
“No, your fucking father.”
I looked up, and my eyes had to be huge as I stared at him. “What?”
