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I answerthe phone once I’m outside the cabin. “Thorndale speaking.”
“Where are you?” Ryder mumbles.
“It’s not important,” I manage to say, my voice barely above a whisper.
Ryder’s scoffing tone cuts through my inner turmoil. “What do you mean it’s not important? Your father is dead, Thorndale. And they think you’re involved.”
“That’s the thing. I don’t know shit,” I lie. “I was hoping you would fill in the blanks. Why did someone try to attack me in my own apartment?”
“What?” There’s shock in his voice. Finnegan Gil might be wrong, and he’s on my side. Still, I can’t tell him where I am or what’s happening.
“Sorry, but I don’t have anything,” he says. “All I know is that they’re looking into everyone close to you and… they can’t find your family.”
“What do you mean?” I try my best to sound worried, but not concerned enough that he’ll be suspicious. After all, he knows I don’t give two fucks about most of my family.
“Magnus hasn’t been at the office all week,” he mentions my eldest brother. “Bach’s last whereabouts was the teacher’s lounge at Columbia.”
“Mag is probably fucking some blonde,” I respond since we both know my brother is a manwhore. “He is always off on some sexual escapade.”
“What about your sisters?”
I scoff. “I already told you to stay away from them. Gen and Elle are off-limits,” I say with a warning tone. “They don’t need someone like you.”
He chuckles. “That’s not what I mean, Thorndale,” he says with amusement evident in his tone. “I just wanted to know if you knew where they’re at, but then again I should know better than to ask you since you’re a shitty brother.”
He’s wrong. I’m a great brother to Magnus and Bach. Mom taught us to be supportive of each other. The rest of my siblings are… an inconvenience at best. I wouldn’t care who Elmira or Genevieve date, but I definitely need to make sure they’re not close to men like Ryder.
And though I can barely stand six of my eight siblings, I made sure Ansel got them here and away from the mess my father left behind.
“How about—”
“Before you continue naming all of them,” I interrupt him, my voice laced with frustration and impatience. “I’ll stop you right there and remind you that I don’t give a fuck about any of them. Therefore, I have no idea where Gael, Gen, Slade, Drake, River, or Elle are.”
“Well, just letting you know we can’t find any of them,” he informs me, his tone heavy with worry and apprehension.
“What are you implying? Are you telling me they might be dead or in danger?” I pretend to be in shock, masking my true emotions.
“Sorry, man,” he says, his voice filled with regret and sympathy. “Do you know who else is missing?”
“Is that a rhetorical question, or do you want me to start guessing?” I snap at him, clearly annoyed. “This isn’t the time to play the guessing game. You’re telling me that my family is in danger—and we know I was almost killed last night.”
“Lake Zimmerman went missing last night,” he says with a tone that sounds like, ‘take that, Callahan Thorndale. She’s gone.’
“What? What do you mean missing?” I demand, pretending to be anxious and fearful of her whereabouts.
“No one can find her,” he says. “I was wondering if you know where she could be since you two are… close.”
I try to keep my cool. “What do you mean by that?”
“Nothing. I’m just telling you what I know and wondering if you have any information,” he explains.
“I haven’t seen her,” I lie through my teeth, hoping that this doesn’t cost her her job or, worse, her life.
Nothing will happen to Lake. She’s staying with me until we get to the bottom of this clusterfuck.
“What if she’s a mole working for the DiGiacomo Family?” he suggests, and I feel a surge of disbelief and betrayal.
“Are you serious?” I snap, my voice rising with anger. “You think Lake could be the one responsible for all this? That’s absurd.”
