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Once the truck is out of sight, I run over to the guy on the ground, dropping to my knee in front of him. Snapping branches and crunching leaves let me know Nik’s car is close. He pulls out of the trees, runs out of the car, and stops next to me.
“Lieutenant Nogueres,” I say, raking a hand through my hair. For years, the guy busted our balls every chance he got, looking to send my brothers to the clink for any little dipshit thing he could get on them. But not too long ago, he ended up saving my brother Taras’s ass when he was chasing down our family’s biggest enemy. I guess he figured saving Taras was the lesser of two evils. After that, Nogueres pretty much left us alone.
I straighten up. “You got a read on the tracker?”
Nik pulls out his phone and scrolls through a few screens. A minute later, he nods. “I’ve got them. They’re still driving.”
“Ironic that we wanted him dead for all those years, and now that he lays off of us, he gets popped.” I stare down at Lieutenant Nogueres, my lips twisting. For so long, we’ve been dodging death jabs that were launched at us from our own inner circle, namely my dead brother, Dima. This guy actually saved us, and now he’s gone.
I fist my hair, pacing in front of Nik’s car. “This doesn’t make sense. Tyson wouldn’t want to hurt Skyla. He wants to marry her because of what her family’s influence will do for him. That guy wanted to hurt her.”
“What are you saying?”
“I don’t think it was Tyson who sent those guys. He knew I took her, but how the fuck could he have found her here?”
My lips pull into a tight line.
You never really know a person’s true colors until the shit hits the fan.
An icy chill grabs hold of my gut.
Even if you’ve known him your entire life.
Chapter15
Skyla
My head lolls to the side, the leather seat cooling my cheek. Crippling pain explodes across my forehead. I slowly crack open my eyes and bring my fingers to the area of the throbbing ache. Wincing, I pull my hand away from the golf ball-sized lump.
White and red lights flash across my eyes, blurred by my squinting out the tinted window. I take a deep shuddering breath, but the agony intensifies like someone is swinging a hammer at both of my temples.
What the hell happened?
Bass pumps through the speakers as the truck zooms down a traffic-congested road, the pounding beats like clashing gongs in my ears. Slowly, I twist my head away from the window. The last thing I remember was being in Zak’s truck and leaving Nik’s house. Now I’m in a truck going God only knows where.
“Who are you?” I manage to rasp the words despite the agony assaulting my head.
A dark-haired man with beady, menacing eyes glowers at me from the passenger seat. “Someone who’s gonna make sure your family is punished for the crimes your father and his business partners have committed.”
“I don’t understand. What crimes?” The pounding in my skull muffles my words, almost drowning them out completely.
The man turns around in the seat and I recoil. With thick, dark eyebrows, eyes black as the night sky, and a full beard, he has the kind of ominous look that makes my gut wrench and my heart thrash. His hate-filled gaze sweeps over me. My skin crawls under his invasive glare. I clutch the sides of my robe tight around me as if the silky fabric can protect me from whatever the hell is going on in his mind.
What the hellisgoing on in his mind?
“You can have all the money in the world and still not have everything, Skyla. Not even close. Because people like your father, Nathan Van Dyne, and their other partners like to take. And when they take, they cause pain.” His voice drops to a low growl. “And this time, it will be me who takes from them.”
Tears sting my eyes. “Why am I here? I didn’t do anything.”
The man flips around in his seat. “It doesn’t matter. I could easily kill the men responsible, but that’s too easy. They need to experience the kind of darkness they’ve unleashed on other innocent people. Kylian knows all about that pain now.”
I choke on a breath, clutching the side of the seat. “My brother. Oh my God, that was you at the hotel today. Is he—?”
The man twists to look at me again, one eyebrow lifted. “Business is war. There are always casualties.”
“You fucking bastard.” My voice shakes. “Why are you punishing us? Whatever my father did has nothing to do with me or my brother.”
“Maybe not, but it will hit your father hard. Just like your sister’s death did.” He shakes his head. “People get so damn greedy. They never think about consequences. And those are the people who need to suffer.”
