Page 50 of Forbidden Pawn

One of the henchmen chuckles, before he adds: “Maybe we should get her a doggy collar.”

My stomach twists at the words, revulsion surging through me. I have to get out of here. I realize I have to say something, anything, to protect myself. Maybe it would buy me some leeway, if they know that I’m not the real Grace. It’s a risk I’m willing to take.

Taking a breath, I speak through the cloth, struggling until one of them finally kneels down before me and pulls it out with one rough yank, giving me a chance to speak.

“My name’s not Grace,” I say, my voice rough and unsteady but gaining strength. “The Reids and I, we played Ryker. I made a deal with them and took her place to get my revenge on him. I hate him as much as you do. He killed my father.”

The words spill out of me before I can stop myself, but even as I speak, I can feel that they have lost their meaning. After everything that has happened and seeing how Ryker risked his own life when he was trying to defend me, I can no longer say I hate him, despite everything. Every fiber of my being is worried about him, but I know I can’t let them know about that worry.

The room falls silent, and Matteo’s eyes narrow, curious.

“Oh, is that so?” he says with a mocking lilt. “Why should we believe that bullshit?”

“It’s the truth,” I maintain. “The Reids don’t care about me. If you kidnapped me to blackmail them or whatever, it won’t work. They won’t come for me.”

“They would have told us,” Matteo insists.

I frown at him. “Why would they? They didn’t know you were after their sister, right? They thought they were helping you get Ryker. And did you not notice that they weren’t the ones to protect me? He was.”

Shit, I should not have said the latter. I can tell by the way Matteo’s eyes widen when he realizes what I just said.

“Why would Morris protect you if you’re trying to kill him?” he asks, slowly stepping closer. I shudder with every step that brings him closer to me.

“Because he doesn’t know,” I say. “And I don’t want to kill him, I want to… get him arrested.”

All the men erupt with such a loud, roaring laughter that I can’t help but flinch in fear for a moment.

“Adorable, isn’t she,” Matteo says. “Getting a man like Ryker Morris arrested. Good luck with that little girl.”

“Men like us don’t end up in prison,” one of his henchmen adds, raising an eyebrow at me.

“And you think he killed your father? Who was your father?” Matteo wants to know now. He’s towering right in front of me, his thick arms crossed before his chest as he glares down at me.

I hesitate, biting my lip, knowing I need to give them something to believe me.

“Peter Collins,” I say truthfully. “He was a very successful—”

“Real estate mogul,” Matteo finishes for me, his face unreadable.

The blood drains from my face.

“How do you know that?” I ask, caught off-guard. How could he possibly know my father?

“Guess Morris wasn’t smart enough to keep his name out, unlike us,” Matteo says with a cold smirk, casting a look at his men, who snicker in response.

“What do you mean?” I ask. “What did you have to do with my father? Did you help Ryker?”

His next words that stun me into silence.

“Help Ryker Morris? No, we had nothing to do with that man, even though we told the Reids otherwise,” Matteo says. “But I remember Collins Property Solutions. We worked with them, or well, we made him work with us.”

“He laundered quite a bunch for us,” one of the other men chimes in. “Before it all fell apart, that is. Man, that was a pity.”

A pity? My mouth falls open. I can’t believe what I’m hearing. I knew my father got wrapped up with the wrong people, but my research led me to Ryker’s money laundering operation. It was his name I found on the documents during my research, and it was his company’s name that was tied to the project that killed my father’s business back then.

“Such an annoyance, so much money lost,” Matteo goes on, his tone casual, almost amused. “It sucked for us, too, you know.”

I look between their smug expressions, my heart hammering. “What are you saying?”

---