Page 76 of Claimed By the Bratva Brothers

Again, she stills, horror and fear engulfing her.

“Oh God. What do you want with me?”

“I promise we’re not going to hurt you, Shelby. We need your help.”

She scoffs, her brow furrowed with skepticism. “And you couldn’t just ask me? You had to do all this?”

“Be honest. Had I simply come up to you and introduced myself, would you have been willing to help or would you have gone running for the hills?” I pause to observe her awkward silence as she averts her gaze for a second. “Yeah, that’s what I thought. Listen, Shelby, you need to understand something. You’re protecting the wrong people.”

“Oh, no, don’t think for a second that you can manipulate me like you manipulated Lyric.”

“Lyric loves us, and we love her,” I reply. “Nobody manipulated anybody. What happened between us just happened, Shelby. Love is love. Surely, you can understand that better than most, given all the water that you’ve been carrying for Matthew Phelps, of all people.”

“That’s not a fair comparison, I—”

“Jack Bowman kidnapped Lyric. He’s holding her hostage until my brother and me and our friend surrender,” I cut her off.

Shelby’s jaw practically hits the floor. “Wait… what?”

“Here,” I say, showing her the image and text message that Max received. “This was sent to us a few hours ago. And we know for a fact that the address is where we’re going to die, unless we get ahead of this and play it smart. Shelby, Matthew Phelps is not a decent man. He, much like Bowman and Smith, is a criminal, and likely a murderer by proxy.”

“I don’t want to hear it!”

“It’s the truth and you know it. I see it written all over your face. You know what kind of person he is. And you’re conflicted because Lyric is such a good and kind human being. It probably made sense to you that her father, despite his political panache and sharp debate skills, would also be a good and kind human being. I get it, I really do. But Lyric herself gathered plenty of information proving otherwise. And I know she wanted to talk to you about it.”

“She did. Earlier today,” Shelby lets a sigh roll from her chest. “Oh, God, I saw her. She was worried about you guys, about me, about how it would all turn out.”

I nod slowly. “Bowman is using her as leverage right now. To get to us.”

“Does Matthew know? I need to tell him!”

“He can’t do anything about it. Bowman and Smith outnumber and outpower him right now. He is useless. But you, Shelby, you can help us.”

“How?”

“I’m betting that you know which closet it is that Matthew keeps his skeletons. I need proof that he’s a part of this conspiracy. That proof will put Bowman and Smith in the same pot. I need evidence to show the guys at Quantico before I accuse their entire Chicago field office of egregious acts, decades-long corruption, bribery, racketeering, and God knows what else. I need proof Shelby, so that I can get to Bowman and Smith before they do something awful and irreversible.”

She narrows her eyes at me. “They want the three of you in jail for life. How is that awful?”

“What part of ‘they kidnapped Lyric’ didn’t you understand?”

Shelby stops, briefly glancing at her bare feet.

“How did it get to this?” Shelby asks herself, tears streaming down her cheeks. “It doesn’t make any sense. It’s out of control. Matthew would never—”

“Don’t think for a second that he will ever go against Bowman or Smith,” I say. “They will never be punished for taking Lyric away, even if it’s just for a few hours. They’re depriving her of her freedom, Shelby. You can’t let them do that. You have to pick a side—Lyric or her father. What will it be?”

“This is insane.”

“You’ve known Lyric for years. You’re best friends. Or you were best friends. As far as she’s concerned, you still are, Shelby. What about you?”

“She has always been like a sister to me. I would never even think about hurting her or letting anyone else hurt her. I just can’t believe her father would do something like this.”

“You have to believe it. Look back on every interaction you’ve ever had with Matthew,” I insist. “Look back, try to remember. How many times has Matthew said or done something that gave you pause. That made you worry or doubt him, if only for a second?”

Shelby gives me a pained look. “Too many times. I just chalked it up to politics.”

“But it wasn’t just politics, was it?”

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