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“No!” My voice comes out as a growl this time. This idea she keeps pushing irritates me now.
“You don’t understand, Ronan, this man… he can’t find us,” Hanna tries to reason with me, her wide eyes pleading.
“How exactly did you get into business with him? I thought you vetted everyone beforehand,” I ask her, yet my eyes stay on Annika, who looks paler by the second.
“Our contact was an art dealer. Not uncommon. Trying to figure out who the buyer was turned no results, but their client list looked fairly safe. We agreed to keep working with them, and everything went smoothly, as it usually did, until the day we closed. Buyers always left these things to their dealers… buthecame. It was too late for us to back out once we realized who he was.” She pauses, taking a deep breath and rubbing her eyes. “He took a liking to us. Annika, in particular. This man… he speaks in constant threats, and the one he gave Annika, concerning the authenticity of the painting, was bad. Sexual trafficking bad.”
Before Hanna speaks the last word, Annika pushes her chair back violently, ripping away from me, her hand on her mouth as she sprints away into the corridor. I’m already on my feet, but Hanna stops me and follows her.
“We have to help them,” Finn says, palpable fear shining in his eyes as he looks at me.
“How deep are you both invested in… them?” Vincent asks, leaning back in his chair, arms crossed over his chest.
I don’t miss how Carter cocks an eyebrow at the question, like it’s a stupid thing to ask since the obvious is staring us straight in the face.
A part of me is in disbelief at how fast this woman crawled under my skin. It’s almost hard to admit it to myself, like it’s some sort of weakness. It’s been a few weeks, but somehow it feels like eons.
“Deep,” I answer in unison with my brother.
“It’s a big risk. This could make or break us.”
“It better fucking make us. If anything’s going to be our mark on the underworld of this city, breaking a man like him will be it. I don’t give a shit about a lot of things. I’ll deal, blackmail, steal, con, and kill, but human trafficking?! If there is anything our organization has to take a stance against on our goddamn turf, and hopefully beyond, this is it.”
“Agreed.” Maddox finally speaks, nodding as he looks to Vincent.
“We’re moving in different circles right now. Lower risk. We have power, but this will change our reputation,” I continue.
“We have to be careful, brother. We are doing this for them, not for our syndicate’s benefit. Hanna and Annika are the priority.”
Finn looks more concerned than I’ve ever seen him.
“We”—I point between the two of us—“are doing this for them. Our brothers might need more motivation.”
“We should be motivation enough,” he says with a chilling glare, yet it turns pleading when he turns to them.
I get it, but I think somewhere in my brain, there’s a bit of a disconnect between keeping Annika safe and not getting mybrotherskilled for my own selfish reasons.
“We would never leave you in a situation like this.” Maddox’s expression darkens.
“I’m going to keep Brendan, Tina, and Jian on his tail. We can use CCTV and traffic cams to track him and at least know when he’s in town.” Carter turns his laptop screen toward us to show what he has so far.
“We’ll have men tail him the moment he gets in. I’ll keep an eye out and get my hands on one of his guys. That will help us to find out their plan,” Vin continues.
“You might not need to. If you can get me one of their phones, I can try to sneak my way through their network. I might find out more that way,” Carter adds.
“Can’t we do both?” I ask.
There’s a pause, and I can almost hear the wheels spinning in their brains.
“Yes, we can.” Carter confirms with a nod. “But what about the girls? Is it wise for them to be here while all this goes down?”
I look at my brother, the question lingering between us. I know what I want to do, but I also know what’s safer.
“They should stay with us.” He speaks first, saying exactly the thing I want, but hearing it confirms my fears.
“I don’t think that’s the best idea.” I counter. If only there was more confidence in my tone of voice.
“But it is.”
