Page 95 of Root

Fuck this pig. He’s my way in, but I need time.

My fingers itch to type ‘leave my brother alone or I’ll end you all’, but it’s an empty threat. I can’t do that, and there’s no one I can turn to. It’s Jack’s mess, and I have to get him out.

Maybe you’re just a useless cunt living it up.

I suck in a breath. I can get in with the Smith Family.

Do it. Soon. Show us progress. That you’re in. Or snip chop and fucking death to the waste of space Brutus.

I want to hurl my phone across to the other set of cupboards, but I just clench it tight in my hand.

This will take time. It doesn’t matter if I want to do it or not, I have to.

And I need to hurry that time along. Somehow.

I wish I didn’t like Rush.

I wish he was everything I thought he was when we met.

But hot, flirty, smart-mouthed and fucking smart is bad enough. Add to that being part of the soaked in crime Wilder family led by a man who’d kill me in a moment and without hesitation is even worse.

And he’s so much more.

“Fuck,” I say. “Shit.”

I wipe my eyes and I’m horrified to find my hand wet when I pull it away.

“Fucking bastards!”

“Talking to yourself is a sign of crazy. Lucky for you, I like crazy.”

I whip around.

Rush stands there, no shirt or shoes, just the tie he’s hung, undone, around his neck. He takes one look at my face, then the phone. Finally, he meets my gaze.

“Do you want to talk about it?”

I want to tell him everything, wrap around him and share the burden. “No.”

“Who—”

My phone starts to buzz. It’s a call and it’s a private number.

I scramble to my feet and answer. “Hold on Rush, I have to take this.” Then, I put the phone to my ear. “Hello?”

“I’ll make this quick.” A gruff voice I don’t recognize rumbles down the phone. “Maybe you didn’t know, so I won’t hold it against you.” I hurry to the other side of the kitchen. “Rumor is Wilder killed his wife’s father, and her previous husband. Get evidence.”

Rush is staring at me, his gaze burning into me. I turn away. “But—”

“The man disappeared, and Wilder married the cunt. Get us evidence. It’ll bring him down.”

“I need time to heal.”

“Not too much.”

The phone disconnects and my vision blurs. This is bad. This is… Shit. How do I do this? Even if I need to buy time to save my brother and lie, how the hell do I do this? I can’t go through things here easily, and I doubt Nikolai will keep a notebook stating I did it.

No, but…there’s evidence. Always. Right?

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