Page 53 of Forbidden Pawn

I take her other hand, but when I try to pull her away, she stops me again. Confused, I turn to look at her.

“They killed my father, Ryker!” she cries, her face twisting in anger. “They have to pay for what they did!”

I freeze, baffled by what she just said. I thought she believed me to be responsible for his death?

“What are you talking about?” I ask.

“They told me everything,” she says, her voice trembling with emotion. “One of the Cortesi men told me right before you got here. He said it like he was proud of it. He said that they were the ones to get rid of Peter Collins, who… who was my father.” Her voice hardens. “They didn’t pull the trigger, but they sabotaged his business and left him in ruin. They may as well have killed him themselves.”

She’s talking so fast that I can barely keep up, and when she stops, her eyes widen as if she just remembered something. And she did. She realized that she’s just revealed her long concealed lie to me. Grace Reid doesn’t have a father named Peter Collins, after all.

Her lips tremble. “I’m—“

“I know,” I hurry to say.

She frowns at me. “You know what?”

“About your father,” I tell her. “June, we really need to get out of here.”

Her mouth falls open. “How do you know my name?”

“Your bro—I mean the Reids told me,” I say. “They told me everything.”

She stares at me for a few precious seconds, and I crowd her against the wall of the building when a loud bang startles her. It sounds like the Reids used one of the grenades they brought, or at least I hope it was them who threw that thing.

“They destroyed my father’s business and drove him to—” she chokes against my chest, her voice muffled and her body moving as she tries to wring herself out of my protective hold. “He… he ended his life because of them.”

My heart aches with a fiery sting when she says that. I never thought of the ramifications that this business may have forthe innocent people we drag into it. The landowners, property owners, or proprietors of legitimate businesses. I may not be responsible for what happened to June’s father, but I may be guilty of causing the same to other families. I swallow the thought and force myself to stay in the moment.

I grip her shoulders gently, searching her eyes. “June, you’ll get your revenge. But right now, we need to get out of here.”

“No!” she insists, her fists clenched. “They have to pay, Ryker! I want to—”

“Not now, not here!” I cut her off. “We have to get you out of here first.”

I grab her right arm and pull her along, pushing through the fear in her eyes as we start to run. She groans as I pull her with me, but no longer tries to stop me.

As we round the corner of the house, I stop dead in my tracks. The Reid brothers and their team have rounded up the Cortesi, tying them up and lining them against the wall at the front of the house. It’s only then that I realize the gunfire had gone silent while I was talking to June.

She breaks free of my grip and runs toward the Reids; her face set with conviction. I follow quickly, determined to stop her from doing anything stupid. I don’t want blood on her hands, not like this.

“Stop! All of you, stop what you’re doing. Right now!”

The men freeze, glancing between each other, and June hesitates as well, looking back at me with a puzzled look.

“You don’t want their blood on your hands,” I say, stepping closer, keeping my voice firm. “Trust me. There’s another way.”

She bites her lip, her gaze shifting over to Matteo, the Cortesi leader, who’s slumped against a post with a graze wound on his leg and a swollen, bruised eye already darkening. He looks defiant, but a hint of fear flickers in his eyes as he notices the wrathful expression on June’s face.

“They will pay,” I say softly, sliding my arm around her shoulders and pulling her close. “We’ll make sure of that, June. I promise you.”

She stares up at me, eyes wide, her face a mix of anger and shock. I can feel the weight of her emotions pressing against my own—grief, betrayal, fury. I tighten my grip, silently assuring her that vengeance isn’t off the table.

“How?” she asks, a deep line emerging between her brows. “What are we going to do to them?”

Chapter 42

June

---