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“Anything else from the video footage? I know people have been watching it all week.” So what if I’m deflecting. I’m not going to start having heart-to-hearts in a fucking hospital room while Eve is sleeping on top of me.
The asshole rolls his eyes while leaning back in his seat.
“We know it was Ben instead of Benny who planned the massacre shooting at your house, but I don’t think it was ever intended to kill you. I don’t even think they wanted Drake dead. I do, however, think they spooked Drake on purpose so he’d lead them right to you. They planned it all out, got things in place, and then forced him to come to you, knowing how paranoid he is. Drake doesn’t do a lot of shady info over the phone, something everyone knows about him. It makes sense, considering they showed up right after he did.”
“Why do I feel like we’re trying to crack the fucking Da Vinci code?” I groan.
“Because this shit is all kinds of woven together and fucked up. Your girl was a wild card that set Ben over the edge. After she went to you, whoever was holding his leash lost control over him. Ben’s mom supposedly ran out on them four years ago, because the woman thought he was sick and twisted like his father. But he alluded to actually killing her on the video. That’s fucked up. Your girl has been the only female in his life for years, so he has an unhealthy obsession with her.”
My jaw grinds, and his lips twitch. It’s like he’s trying to piss me off. Not fucking smart.
“Ben wanted to quit playing the long game when there was suddenly a sense of urgency,” Axle goes on. “With Eve stuck with our crew, he lost his patience. He organized the attack, using his loyal followers from the Hell Breathers. Even set Drake up to play the unknowing pawn who led them to you. Then, from what I can gather, he planned for them to piss you off enough to attack back—since you have a volatile temper and react immediately instead of thinking. Your reputation makes you sound stupid, by the way.”
The amusement is back in his eyes, and I flip him off. When he snorts out a laugh, I adjust Eve, feeling my eyes grow heavy.
“Is most of this conjecture, or is it said word-for-word on the video?” I ask.
“Most of it is what we’ve pieced together from the conversations Mikey and Ben had in front of the camera. Some parts are verbatim, other parts are educated guesses. It’s an elaborate scheme by two masterminds going in two different directions. Ben is tired of being someone’s lapdog. He’s unpredictable right now. The longer we’re in the hospital, the easier it is for him to get to her. I’m surprised he hasn’t made a move yet.”
“How did Aaron come to us?” I ask him randomly.
Eve doesn’t react, so I know she’s really asleep.
Axle’s eyebrows go up, but he shrugs. “Your dad hired him. Why?”
“How did Pop find him?”
“Hell if I know. Sledge probably knows. Again, why?”
“Just curious,” I say on a sigh. “Eve’s tangled up in this, and there are just too many coincidences surrounding her. I’m curious if someone put her on this path, even if it was by mistake. Someone got Aaron involved with us, even though from what she’s told me, he was a good guy with good morals and values before he came to us.”
“She’s probably already a target to the second mastermind,” Axle says on a heavy breath. “It’s because of her Ben went a little crazy and killed the slow, subtle game they were running.”
“Back when all that shit went down, I tracked down Marks after he left our clubhouse that day, and he played dumb in the middle of the diner where I’d found him. At least I thought he was playing. He acted like he had no clue what I was talking about. He swore he didn’t steal a dime. The next day, every dollar missing was back where it was supposed to be. I knew that fucker had something to do with it then.”
“Then he went missing,” he points out.
“Yeah. He did. But he wasn’t too damn far away. He managed to hide his entire life from us, yet he couldn’t hide the eighty million he stole until he could get away with it? And he came to work the day after it was stolen? It didn’t add up back then, but I thought he was just a stupid fuck. Now I realize he was a genius and had a family he cared for. He lived at home, Axle. He was briefly separated from his family, but he lived at home during a chunk of the time he worked for us. He knew when we were tailing him, and he went to his shitty apartment instead of his nice home. So how does a genius do something that stupid?”
