Total pages in book: 77
Estimated words: 75062 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 375(@200wpm)___ 300(@250wpm)___ 250(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 75062 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 375(@200wpm)___ 300(@250wpm)___ 250(@300wpm)
“Shut up. Just shut up, will you?” he roared at me, his face mere inches from mine as he yanked my chair back into place. “There,” he said when we both heard the slam of car doors. “Told you,” Lucas said, shooting me a victorious look.
Stomach tightening, I tried to think past the stinging on my face and the bone-deep ache inside at who had hurt me.
I needed to focus.
I had to play to Colin now.
So I didn’t fight the way the tears started to blur my vision. In fact, as the footsteps got closer and closer, I went ahead and blinked hard and fast, making the tears slip down my cheeks.
“What is this?” Colin asked, coming to an abrupt stop as he moved onto the floor, his gaze going from Lucas to me strapped to the chair, looking as weak and pathetic as I could muster. I even forced my lower lip to tremble.
Though, objectively, it might have actually done it on its own.
“Colin, there is something—“ Lucas started.
“Did you hit her? Did he hit you?” Colin asked, moving a few steps into the room.
“I… I… I was leaving work,” I said, feeling another tear slip down my cheek.
“You were leaving work and your brother… grabbed you?” Colin asked, trying to make those things make sense.
Good luck with that.
“She’s been plotting against you,” Lucas said, pointing at me. “She just admitted it to me.”
Colin’s gaze moved between us again, brows furrowing.
“Plotting against me how?” Colin asked, looking at Lucas.
“She said she wanted to admit it all to you herself.”
Okay.
Here goes.
It was time to lie like I’d never lied in my life.
Colin’s curious gaze slid in my direction.
“I have no idea what he’s talking about!” I insisted, voice pitching upward, borderline hysterical. “He’s been pacing and ranting and raving. He thinks I’ve betrayed you, but—“
“You bitch!” Lucas roared, taking pointed steps toward me, making me stiffen until Colin’s hand shot out, pressing into Lucas’s chest, stopping him.
“Okay. You need to calm the fuck down,” Colin demanded, voice deceptively calm. “I can’t listen to you when you are acting like a lunatic,” he added, making Lucas shrink back and try to pull himself together.
“Okay. Sorry, boss, sorry. She’s just got me so pissed. She’s betraying you. And us.”
“Betraying me how?” Colin asked, taking another step closer to me, and I wasn’t sure of his intentions, but I figured he was slightly safer than my psychotic brother in the moment.
“She’s… she’s been trying to work with the Calgary Family.”
“I’ve never met anyone from the Calgary Family, Colin,” I insisted, and there was no way that was going to come off as false since it was the truth.
“It’s not easy to get in touch with that organization,” Colin said, tone sounding accusing as he stared down Lucas.
“No, she just thought she was communicating with them. It was me. I was pretending to be them. You know… to test her.”
“And how did you do that?”
“I slipped her notes.”
“Okay,” Colin said, brows furrowing. “And what did she do?”
“Well… she…” Lucas said, finally seeing how short-sighted that plan had been. It proved nothing that I read the notes.
“This isn’t looking promising for your claims here, Lucas,” Colin said.
“It’s more than that. She… she used my phone to track down who shot Cody.”
“The only wrong in that statement, to me, seems to be that you let her use your phone without getting permission.”
“But she… she…”
“Was looking into the murderer of my brother?” Colin asked.
“No! It wasn’t like that. It was part of a greater plot!”
“A greater plot,” Colin repeated, taking another step closer to me when Lucas looked away to pace again.
I could practically hear Colin’s gears turning. Because only crazy people used terms like “a greater plot,” right?
“Yeah. A greater plot. Against you. She’s been working with the mafia.”
“The… mafia,” Colin said, stiffening.
My stomach dropped at his reaction. Because it was the first time it seemed like he was giving Lucas’s ramblings any sort of consideration.
“That’s who killed your brother. And she has been tracking them down and getting them to help take you out.”
Colin’s gaze slid to me.
“I never found any proof of who killed Cody,” I insisted.
And that was true.
It was all just carefully collected breadcrumbs that led to the Grassi Family. And when I found the Grassi Family, I figured out who their enforcer or hitman or whatever you wanted to call him was.
It was all circumstantial.
“No. No, of course you didn’t,” Colin said, making both me and my brother stiffen.
“What?”
“It was all very convenient, wasn’t it?” Colin asked, something in his voice making my blood run cold. “All of a sudden, he was being courted by the notorious Calgary Family. Who wanted to work with him even though he was a nobody still. This organization was nothing before I came along.”
Wait.
No.
“You were the Calgary Family.”