Total pages in book: 96
Estimated words: 91809 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 459(@200wpm)___ 367(@250wpm)___ 306(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 91809 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 459(@200wpm)___ 367(@250wpm)___ 306(@300wpm)
“The only people I want in the Rogues are those who choose to be in it. Those that accept my rule and want to follow me.”
“Oh, well, that’s everyone here,” Dean said, looking around. My heart shot in my throat when he grasped my fingers and kissed them. “We’ll follow you anywhere.”
“Stop that,” I snapped, cheeks flaming. “Stop all of that. It won’t work.”
Dean slinked back, grinning away. “I’m sure I don’t know what you mean.”
The fuck he didn’t. Damn, the guy was good, but that didn’t surprise me. On the surface, Dean’s family money came from washing machines. In the dozens of secret, offshore bank accounts, they filled their coffers from his mother’s true business—employing and training an army of grifters.
Men and women who charmed, seduced, fucked, and married some of the most powerful, richest people on the planet. They learned their secrets, helped themselves to their money, then faked their deaths and moved on to the next target.
From Alistair’s notes, Dean was planning to take over the family business but not be a part of it. He’d train the next wave of grifters but wasn’t going to be one himself. That was the only reason I didn’t send everything Alistair had on him to Katie. One second in the presence of the real him, and he had me thinking about falling in love with one more Rogue. If he turned his charm toward marrying Katie for her money, she was toast.
“Fuck what he says,” Iris snapped, propping her hand on her hip. “I will not follow you, thank you very much. I doubt anyone here other than that pussy hound will. Thanks for dragging me out of bed at seven in the morning, but I’ll be going now.”
She turned to leave. Most of them did.
“By all means, go,” I called. “If you don’t want to make a shitload of money, that’s on you.”
Iris halted, though she didn’t turn around. “I already have a shitload of money. Try again.”
“The Royals all have a shitload of money too, and yet they saw the benefit of joining the Royal line. They knew the connections they made from family to family would push their businesses and legacies to new heights.
“Years ago, the Rogues formed with the same idea. Those on the darker side of the street would band together. Protect each other. I don’t have to tell you that the Rogues haven’t lived up to that idea.
“Everyone is so separated and secretive. I bet this is the first time you’ve all met each other.” I weaved between them, moving in front of Iris and the others, making them look me in the eyes. “My dad tried to change that. He instituted the flag system so that we could help each other, but even that no one wants to use unless the situation is desperate and they’ve lost all hope.
“While we’re fractured and not speaking to each other, our enemies grow stronger. They pick us off one by one like Everleigh did”—I flicked to Iris—“to your older sister. When she had her stalked and beaten to force her to hang the flag.
“And you, Dominic,” I said, turning to a short, freckled guy standing near Dean. “When she had your mother kidnapped and held in a dirty, rat-infested cellar, hoping that when your family gave up on the cops finding her, you’d hang the flag and bring Alistair here.”
Dominic shot forward. “Everleigh was behind that? How do you know?”
I held up my phone. Yes, Wolfgang blocked me and Saylor from the site again, but not before we downloaded and screenshotted everything. “It’s all right here. The T.O.D. Club came back six years ago, and Everleigh’s been using it as her own personal hit squad for the last three.
“I have every reprehensible dare and truth she used to mow down innocent people and destroy their lives in the name of revenge. But why didn’t the Rogues know any of this? Some knew about the club, but they didn’t tell the others. Some knew about the false flags, but not the rest.
“It was so scarily easy for her to come in and play us against each other because we didn’t know we were being played.
“No more,” I stated, rising higher on the bank. “We’ll turn the Rogues into what the Royals should be. The hierarchies and people stepping on each other to get to the top are gone, but the retribution when someone comes after one of us is not. We’ll all have each other’s backs. We’ll all make them pay.”
Iris stared at me long and hard. “Everleigh was behind the attack on my sister? You can prove this?”
I tossed her my phone. Why not? I wasn’t there to hide Everleigh’s secrets.
Iris’s eyes widened as she read the anonymous messages that went back and forth between Everleigh and Mitchell Zedra. He carried out the beating, but she told him where she’d be... and how many bones to break.