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With all eyes on her, Wren crosses her arms. “No. You’re notforgetting your plans,Rhett. Absolutely not. You’ve been working toward this for ten years. Killing him won’t be enough. Not considering what he’s done. You’ve already compromised, and now you’re just going to give everything up?”
“I can’t let them get hurt.”
“No! You need this.” She gestures to me and Oliver. “All three of you need this. And I refuse to stand by and watch you make a decision you’ll regret for the rest of your life. You love Sammy too much to just let this go.”
“Sammy’s dead,” he says flatly.
“And her murderer deserves every single thing you’ve ever wanted to do to him,” Wren replies, her voice rising. “Torture him. Destroy his empire. Bring him close to death as many times as you want, andthenend it. Ludo deserves to feel an unfathomable amount of pain, and Rhett, you deserve to be the one to inflict it.”
I’m peripherally aware of the fact that my mouth is hanging slightly ajar. Oliver is staring at Wren with so much pride in his eyes that he can’t stop grinning. But then Rhett’s voice cuts through the room, cold and sharp.
“I’m not risking my brothers’ safety.”
“Then don’t,” Wren says. “Alter the plans so we can get Benny and Andrew to safety as soon as possible, and then destroy Ludo.”
“It’s not that easy,” Rhett grits out.
“Well,” Wren says, her voice wavering ever so slightly at his tone, “you three seem to be very good at doing not-that-easy things.”
Rhett stares at her, his jaw clenched. The air is as tense as a Hayes family gathering during the holidays, and I’m not sure how to break it.
“You once told me that I underestimated how much getting revenge for Sammy meant to you,” Wren says. “Maybe I did. But—”
“You didn’t.” He looks up as he says it, his eyes softening as they meet hers.
“Then don’t underestimate your own feelings now. Not when you’re so close to achieving everything you’ve been fighting for.”
More silence.
My heart is in my throat as I watch the two of them. They’re not necessarily staring each other down, but neither of them are looking away.
I understand Rhett’s concerns. Adding Wren into our relationship while we work to take down Ludo has put her in so much danger. We’re doing our best to shield her from anyone who wants to harm her, but obviously we’re not doing a perfect job.
Having to look out for two more people adds in a lot of extra complications. Potentially getting caught was already a huge risk. Now? We won’t survive if we lose someone else. And the moresomeone else’sthere are, the greater the risk. The problem is, I don’t think we can fully move on until Ludo is dead, either.
“We have to make it work.” I meet Rhett’s stare. “We have to. We’ll rework the plan as many times as we need, and for right now, we’ll prioritize the safety of the kids. But Ludo will suffer, and it’ll be at our hands.”
Rhett shakes his head. “If we get Benny and Andrew out of there, do you really think Ludo won’t put the pieces together? He’ll know it was us, or he’ll at least be suspicious. He’ll lock us out like that.” He snaps his fingers before dropping his hand into his lap. “We’ll never gain access to him again, and we could potentially have all his allies coming after us at once.”
“Then we get them out at the same time we enact our plan.”
“We don’t have a plan,” he says. “Not anymore.”
“Then we’ll make a new one.” Exasperation bleeds into my voice, but I can’t stop it. “I can’t let this go, Rhett. I can’t lethimgo. And neither can you, whether you’re able to admit it right now or not.”
“I can’t let it go, either,” Oliver says quietly. “I can’t watchyougive up. We need to end this, yes. But we need to end it properly. You’ll regret this so deeply, Rhett, and we aren’t going to let that happen. Please.”
“For the next couple weeks, we have a person on the inside,” Wren adds. “Aubrey may even be able to give us updates on how Benny and Andrew are doing. And she has access to a lot more information on Ludo than most people. We could do something with that, right?”
“Definitely,” I say. “If she can get us proof of Ludo’s crimes, that right there could be enough to shut down at least half his businesses. We could potentially get the FBI and the IRS coming after him at once. Hell, probably even local authorities, too. There are a lot of variables, though. How many political connections does he have? How many more will he gain after he marries into the Stallard family?”
Oliver perks up. “But his political connections could work in our favor. While the charges start racking up against him, he’ll stay out on bail, or he’ll be placed under house arrest. With his money and connections, there’s no way he’ll end up in prison.”
“Right.” My mind is whirring as I start piecing things together. “We can’t bring him back here if he ends up in the prison system. But we can definitely find a way to kidnap him and the boys from his home. It won’t be easy, but—” I grin at Wren, “—we’refantasticat doing not-that-easy things.”
“Bring him back here?” she asks with alarm. “Like what we did with Jordan?”
“No.” Rhett leans back in his chair. His face is still grim, but at least he’s stopped actively protesting. “We have a special area for Ludo downstairs.”
