Page 66 of Ruthless Reign

Dead air on the other end. “Did I know what?”

“Who the fuck is Aodhán, Becca?”

“Hardin, what happened?”

“Who. Is. He?”

A soft sob on the other end, the sound of it made my fists curl.

“Becca.”

“He’s Séamas’ son,” she blurted, her voice frantic. Broken. “But I swear I didn’t know. Not until today and I was going to tell you but?—”

“He shot Kaleb.”

She gasped, as if she had any right to be surprised. She knew. My Hawk. She fucking knew about this guy and she didn’t tell us. How long had she been talking to him? Why?

Fucking why?

I wanted to believe her. Wanted it so badly it hurt. Maybe she didn’t know until today. Maybe this guy meant nothing to her. Maybe she wasn’t working with the enemy.

And maybe pigs could fucking fly.

“What do you mean?” she asked, and I could hear the desperation in her watery voice. It sounded so real. “Is Kaleb…is he okay?”

“I don’t kn-kn-know.”

Fuck.

I wiped a palm over my mouth, taking in a tattered breath.

“It’s my fault,” she croaked. “This is my fault. He said—he said something was wrong.” She sniffed, and I felt fire under my skin. “I just thought he meant?—”

“Who?”

“What?”

“Who said?”

I swear to fuck if she says his name…

“Aodhán.”

My phone shattered against the brick exterior of the hospital, splintering into a thousand tiny useless pieces.

“Hardin?”

Pope’s wary voice met my ears and I looked down the sidewalk to find him and Zade hustling to the entrance. “Is Kaleb okay? Where’s Damien? We need orders. Everyone is standing by.”

“Find the son,” I growled the order and neither man balked that it came directly from me. “I want his fucking head.”

The Rover idled outside of 82 Frederick Drive.

Ava Jade would forgive me for stealing it in the middle of the night. My eyes burned like they were filled with canyon dust. I couldn’t remember the last time I cried like I did on the way here. My ribs hurt from hyperventilating. My hands felt stiff from clutching the wheel.

But it didn’t matter how I felt while Kaleb lay in a hospital bed fighting for his life because of me.

No.

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