Total pages in book: 114
Estimated words: 107670 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 538(@200wpm)___ 431(@250wpm)___ 359(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 107670 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 538(@200wpm)___ 431(@250wpm)___ 359(@300wpm)
His stance wide and confident, Hector gave Nick a smile that oozed smugness and superiority; it made Jesse’s wolf snarl. “Nick,” drawled Hector, “to what do I owe the pleasure?”
“I have some things in my possession that I thought might interest you,” replied Nick.
Hector’s eyes narrowed. “What might they be?”
“After our last conversation,” began Nick, rubbing at his jaw, “I just couldn’t help wondering why you hated shifters so much. I don’t like unanswered questions, so I decided to look into it. I was surprised to find you were once part of a pack. I was even more surprised to find out you were once accused of taking part in gang-raping and killing a female juvenile from that pack.” Hector’s guards cast him sidelong glances; it was evident they hadn’t known about that.
Hector tightened his fists but then seemed to make a conscious effort to loosen them. “Accused. Not found guilty of.”
Derren tilted his head. “Is that why you hate shifters? They blamed you for something you never did? Personally, I can completely understand that kind of rage.”
“At first, we thought maybe that was it,” Nick told Hector. “But some things just didn’t add up. So we did a little more digging. I can’t say I was really all that surprised to find out that you were one of the boys who assaulted and killed that girl.”
There was a beat of silence as Hector went completely rigid. “You’re wrong.”
“I’m not. Of course, I’d have an easy time proving that if the wolf who blackmailed your family, leading to you losing all the things you believe you deserved, wasn’t dead. His testimony would have been very useful.”
Hector seemed surprised by the mention of the blackmail. “Is that what you have in your possession? Testimonies of people who once pointed fingers at me?” Hector scoffed. “Lots of boys were falsely accused.”
“Testimonies?” Nick shook his head. “I have something even better. I have photographic evidence.”
Hector did something Jesse would never have expected him to do: He burst out laughing. “Photographic evidence?”
“We have the photos Jerold used to blackmail your father,” claimed Nick. “If you back off and sign over that land behind you to me, these photos will never be shared with the world.”
Hector shook his head. “No, Nick, you don’t have those photos. I know that, because I have them.”
The words were like a bomb.
“You killed Jerold,” said Ally.
Hector smiled at her. “Well, of course. I couldn’t trust that he wouldn’t use what he knew against me the way he did my father.”
“You killed the other boys in those photos too, didn’t you,” she added.
“I can’t have witnesses running around telling tales, can I?” Hector’s eyes sliced to Nick. “I will say you have a good poker face.”
Nick’s jaw tightened. “I can still share what I know. Even without evidence, those accusations could cause many problems for you. Do you really think your business associates will be okay with this kind of attention?”
Hector sighed, as if bored. “I’m on charity boards, I make donations to children’s hospitals, and I have a high standing in society. Do you really think those accusations would be believed? Of course they would bring me negative attention, but that’s better than no attention at all, isn’t it? I have an excellent PR team that could easily spin the whole thing.”
Breathing hard, Shaya said, “Maybe you’re now the one who’s bluffing.” Jesse didn’t believe he was, and he doubted his Alpha female truly believed it either.
“I expected that you wouldn’t fold to my demands easily,” continued Hector. “But I think you now realize you are out of options. I suggest you focus on making arrangements to leave instead of sending my employees to lie for you. The little kestrel paid for her disloyalty. Unlike you, Nick, she didn’t have a good poker face.”
“You killed her?” Something in Shaya seemed to snap, but Nick obviously sensed it because he grabbed her before she could launch herself at a laughing Hector. “You’re dead,” she hissed. “I’ll make sure of that, one way or the other.”
Hector glanced at his watch. “I have somewhere to be. And you have a lot of arrangements to make. Let’s declare this meeting over, shall we? We’ll see each other again soon.” He spun on his heel and walked to his BMW, whistling. His guards followed, weapons trained on the Alpha pair.
Jesse, Roni, and Marcus sidled up to the others, watching as the BMW disappeared.
“It never occurred to me that he’d have the photos,” Eli said, shoving a hand through his hair.
“He always seems to be several steps ahead of us,” Jesse ground out.
“Probably because he’s experienced with this kind of thing.” Ally leaned into her mate with a sad sigh. “I can’t believe the bastard killed Ellie. She was sixteen.”
Shaya’s lip trembled. “We told her to lie for us and now—”