Page 133 of Dmitri

“Our boy’s life could be on the line,” Vault growls. “Sayeverything. It doesn’t matter if you think it’s important or not, just tell us what you know.”

Nodding, I mentally scramble to figure out where to start. “Kaleb’s crew was recruited through the foster care system.” I can’t believe I’m doing this. It’s only forgivable because this isn’t about me and my safety. It’s about Addie’s and Dmitri’s.

I’d die for them. The thought strikes me like lightning, making goosebumps spread down my limbs. And Iwilldie for them once Kaleb finds out I’ve snitched. At least I’ll go to my grave knowing I did the right thing for once.

“His mom was our case worker.”

“For all of you?” Ryker asks.

“Yes. There used to be more of us, but they’ve either died or gone to prison.”

Dmitri swipes a hand over his mouth and leans back in his chair.

“When he was seventeen, Kaleb took over for his father, running product up here from Miami.” My mouth dries up. “A few years later, he started sending me out to deal with mutuals who dealt in cartel stuff because I’d earned my position with them.”

“What’s that mean?” Ryker asks cautiously.

“It means Kaleb brought me in as his second-in-command and I had to get initiated.” My heart jackhammers. “By letting them take turns on me.”

Dmitri’s chair creaks as he stands, but Ryker shoves him back down and holds him there. “Let her speak.”

“It’s okay,” I say, numbly. “It was just one time.” That single night of pain and humiliation, the terror beyond belief, is fuzzy in my mind now. I remember staring at Kaleb while it happened, clinging to him mentally until I somehow tricked my mind into imaging it was him touching me, taking me, and not the others. It made going back again and again, with a smile on my face and a gun in my hand, worth it. I could look them in the eyes with no fear. And within a couple years, it was no longer an act. They didn’t intimidate me anymore. In some fucked up way, I’d earned their respect and they started to only deal with me.

See, babygirl? I told you to trust me. Do exactly what I say, and you’ll climb to the top with me. Ride or die, right? It might hurt, but I won’t let anything really bad happen to you.Shutting my eyes, I force Kaleb’s voice out of my head.

“They didn’t like working with Kaleb because he wasn’t predictable enough and insisted I was the only one they met with because I could be trusted.”

I once overheard Emmanuel say Kaleb was a necessaryevil or he would have blown his brains out years ago. At the time, I would have done anything to save Kaleb from eating a bullet. Now, I’d love to feed him one myself. I suspect Kaleb’s got something on them big enough to keep their relationship going, which is odd considering Kaleb’s on the lower tier of the food chain in the cartel world. After a couple years of being the liaison, I stopped meeting with Emmanuel’s men, on Kaleb’s orders, and Corey took over the meetups. I also heard rumors that Emmanuel’s crew got popped by the DEA and are either in prison, hiding, or dead. I keep all of this to myself though.

Ryker arches his brow. “Which cartel was this?”

I shake my head, unwilling to give them up. “They’re not relevant to this. And it’s safer if you don’t know.”

That takes Ryker aback. “Safer for who?”

“You.” I’m not on Emmanuel’s side, but I know limits, and that’s definitely a hard line. “I’m not risking any of you unnecessarily.”

Dmitri glances over at Ryker and they share a look I don’t understand.

“So, like I was saying, Kaleb’s mom is the one who put us all in Kaleb’s reach, which I’ve only just recently put together how calculated it truly was once Dmitri told me Addie is his half-sister.”

Now that my eyes are wide open, it’s easier to put all the pieces together. Nothing was a coincidence in my life.

A harsh laugh bubbles out of me thinking about how foolish I’ve been. “I remember feeling so special when me and Kaleb spent time together. He’s a charmer. Elusive. Cruel and sweet. To a kid like me, he was a god.”

I bet Ace and a few others would agree with me. No one likes Kaleb now, but it didn’t start that way. He was a savior for us to latch onto. Now he’s got so much dirt on all of us, we’re stuck with him forever. And he’s too unhinged for anyone tochallenge and survive.

“In the beginning, he would have us do small jobs for him. If we failed or refused too many times, his mother would eventually show up at our houses and threaten to relocate us.” A shiver runs through me. “The very real threat of being placed in a home that’s worse than the one I was already in made me compliant fast. No sooner would she threaten me, Kaleb would sneak into my room that night or the next day, taking my side. He’d trash talk his mom and say how unfair and horrible she was. But then he’d somehow talk me into doing whatever it was I didn’t want to do. He’d spin it as doing him this big favor and say he needed me and would promise that he’d never ask me to do something if it wasn’t really important to him. He’d say he was scared his mom would take me away from him if I didn’t do it and that he couldn’t protect me if he couldn’t reach me.”

“How old were you when that started?” Vault asks.

“Almost thirteen.”

“Christ,” Ryker scrubs his face and starts pacing.

“They were small jobs at first. Scary and thrilling. And every time I finished one, Kaleb would come to me soon after praising me and saying that he’s so proud of me.”

“Positive reinforcement,” Vault mutters.

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