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“Yeah, but I didn't think he would be that easy to knock down,” I admit.
“Yeah, well, he's getting old. He should have retired by now,” he comments.
“Why hasn't he?” I ask, genuinely curious.
“Rose refused to challenge him,” Malik replies.
I find it odd that she would have to challenge him when she was trained for the position. “He wouldn't just hand it down?”
“He did,” Malik says. “Rose refused it.”
Confusion gnaws at me, as I know how much Rose wanted the position. I'm also shocked that Sage wants me to stay after I hurt Andrei. I wonder if it's just wishful thinking that I felt the tug of the one-sided bond with Rose and if I should even fight for her, especially since she went to protect Vince.
My mind wanders back to the night with Vince, recalling fragments of what really happened. I try to piece it together; I had been so sure he was dead. And where has he been all this time?
“So, are you going to tell me?” Malik finally asks.
“Where do you want me to start?”
“What was the deal you had with Vince?”
ChapterTwenty-Four
Casen
I look away, swallowing hard. Vince has always been a closet drinker, and he even dabbled in drugs after we lost our family.
“Remember the issue with the accountant? Just before Jonah came to us?”
“It wasn't the accountant, was it?” Malik asks.
“No, it was Vince. I helped him cover it up, thinking that was the end of it,” I sigh heavily. “Those rogue attacks before Jackson's pack attacked and wiped us out…” I trail off. Malik seems confused for a second.
“What about them?”
“Vince owed money to some rogues. They were supplying him. When Jackson attacked the pack, we thought it was them at first. Vince and mom had a huge fight the week before. Dad found out and was going to tell Anthony and Andrei after mom got some weird calls threatening her. But then Jackson attacked.”
“I don't understand,” Malik admits.
“After the attack, the Reaper Wolves threatened you.”
“Wait, Reaper Wolves?” Malik asks, I nod.
“As in the ones that Sage… those Reaper Wolves, and Rebecca?” I glance away. Malik growls.
“Continue,” he says, shaking his head.
Vince panicked. We couldn't lose you. We should have gone to Andrei, but Vince intercepted one of Andrei's checkbooks when it came into the post office. He forged Andrei's signature to cover his debt. I found the checkbook under his mattress. I helped him cover it up and pin it on the accountant. He put the last few down as petty cash withdrawals.”
“How does that link to Rose?” he asks.
“When he didn't get clean after learning he was her mate, I threatened to tell Andrei unless he rejected her. He agreed.”
“But he didn't want to?” Malik asks.
“No, he said he rejected her.” Malik's brows furrow, and I hold up a hand. “On the day I…” I grit my teeth, “Don't ask. It'll be explained another time.”.
“You found out he didn't reject her,” Malik answers, and I nod. “So then, what happened?” However, I hear a door slam in the distance, making me jump. I peer down the rear of the yard toward Rose's house, to see Casey. Malik stands up, and so do I when I see her climbing out a window, her little legs kicking air, before she drops to the ground and runs up the side of the house out of view. I look at Malik. He swigs from his bottle. “She goes to the park,” Malik tells me. My brows pinch.
