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“Ryker, goddammit!” I bark as Gage swerves around traffic. “We don’t have time for your fucking around!”
Ryker isn’t an easy personality, but he’s our friend and confidante. We’ve been on the same side of countless deals, so I’m failing to grasp his glitch here.
He balks. “Your girl had something I wanted, and I dropped her necklace off at a jeweler.”
“And you let her go? Un-fucking-believable,” I drone, gearing up to tear him apart, limb by limb, with my bare hands. “Without fucking calling me?”
“I did,” he sneers. “Youtold us as far as she or anyone else was concerned, you four don’t exist. Remember? So—”
“Fucking bullshit!” I bellow, punching my fist into the dash, not even caring that my knuckles are cracked and bloody again.
“Let me lay it out like this, Wells.” His pitch deepens with indignation. “Remember when I wanted to finance everything for Mercy’s escape, and she begged you to take her on pro bono so she could do itherway? I’m sure you do because that’s whatyoufucking did. I know she’s taken care of, but you kept me out of it. Consider the favor returned.”
“She was a victim of abuse and desperate for control,” Tysnaps. “Fucking different! That was a matter of integrity and compassion. This is spite!”
“Fuck off, man. It wasn’t spite.” Ryker grunts, rearing for a fight I should have seen coming. He’s been livid about Mercy, but this is too goddamn far. “Your girl might not have been physically beaten, but that hollow look in her eyes was unmistakable. Like I said, I followed your lead.”
Motherfucking prick.
“Difference is,” Liam growls, “Ty has eyes on your girl, Mercy, at all times.”
“You fucking sent ours off alone, asshole,” Gage adds as he veers into the far lane, weaving between cars as horns blare around us, his knuckles blanching on the steering wheel.
“Fucking hell. I gave her three hundred grand, my number, made sure she was armed, had a safe vehicle and a burner phone. I didn’t call you because I don’t know what the hell you guys are messed up in. Your girl had shown up here, asking forme. If she wanted you, she would’ve hung near whatever the fuck she burned to the ground.” Despite the accusation inside that observation, his tone has tempered considerably.
But I don’t have the patience for this bullshit. The Noire brothers, especially Ryker, don’t give assistance for free. Ivy paid for that help one way or another.
So, I don’t dance around it. “What the fuck did she give you?”
No hesitation. “Hailey Holden and a smoking gun.”
Ty gasps. “How the hell?”
How in the hell is right? Jesus Christ, Ivy is running circles around us all. A goddamn cyclone. Why was she even digging for that?
“She’s brilliant and a little scary.” Ryker’s boisterous laugh fills the car. Looks like the Little Storm won him over, which explains his attitude. He’s not just spiteful regarding Mercy; he’s protective over Ivy. “Kinda fucking crazy in the best sort of way. I already set what she gave me in motion. I fuckingownMonroe Montgomery,and Dalton is finished. Ivy earned her place with me, so if you’re trying to bleed my loyalty, it’s already spent.”
“Loyal?” I choke on a dubious roar. “Jesus Christ, youknowshe’s being hunted.”
“So does she,” he says with serene confidence. “My money’s on her.”
We’re pulling into the hangar, so I suppress my urge to threaten his life and move us forward. “Give me what you know so we can protect her. Plate number? Direction? Appearance changes? Anything.”
He rattles off the plate number before tacking on, “She was planning to buy a new car. Don’t know where she’s headed. Brown hair now. Everything else the same. Skinny jeans, black sweater, and boots. She left you a note at the jeweler, and she’ll be hacking into the security system there. We’re also monitoring it for any suspicious activity or shady customers. She wants to see who’s after her. Doing your fucking job for you. That girl has skill.”
My anger toward him dissipates as I hear his words, laced with the loyalty he mentioned. And pride. For my wife. I might not appreciate him letting her go, but he looked out for her nonetheless, and I can’t fault him for being dragged under her spell.
“We’ll be there in about four hours,” I tell him. “You’ll detain anyone inquiring about the ruby necklace?”
“Will do,” he says. “Already planned on it.”
“Thanks.” I’m about to end the call when it strikes me in the pit of my gut that he sat across the table from Ivy, shared a meal, maybe a laugh. He quite possibly wiped a tear away and wrapped her in a consoling embrace. Jealousy rages like lava surging through my veins. And worry. “Hey, Ryker, you said she was hollow?”
“She stormed in here like a Mafia princess with nothing to fear—all feisty and arrogant. High-roller confidence. But after we had dinner with Rena, something broke. She was … I don’t know what kind of bullshit you’re all messed up with, why you ghosted her, but you fucked that shit up good, brother.”
He isn’t wrong, and it doesn’t matter that it was all for her.
I still let her break.
