Page 11 of What Lies Within

He doesn’t need to say it. I get it. My goddamn dick twitches at the thought too.

She was full of vengeance and fire, and I don't know if that was for her, for Maddie, or us. Maybe all of it? Whatever the mix, the goddamn result was pure art.

“Minion’s keepin’ me updated,” I fill in. “Said we’d meet them back at the clubhouse.”

“Confident they’ll get her back without issue?”

I nod sharply. “Fox may be cunning”—a man who lived up to his name— “but he’s not smart. He’ll think he’s got time. Time and the upper hand. He won’t have anythin’ more than a handful of people there with him.”

“Unless Terry’s bank-rollin’ it.”

I shake my head. “If he wanted to do that, he’d have just taken her himself.”

“True.”

We both turn our heads and watch the woman fidget with the grass between her feet. She doesn't look our way, seemingly unconcerned with what we do or who's around. Rae's somewhere far, far away in her head—somewhere I'd rather she wasn't.

“Come on.” I nod her way as I start to walk. “We got work to do here before we head back.”

Digger follows quietly behind as I approach Rae, my boots swishing through the lush grassy clearing. She glances up as we approach, her face unreadable in the dim light.

"What you thinkin'?" I look down at her and banish the brief but crystal-clear vision of her on her knees for other reasons.

“Are we going to get her now?” She stands, brushing her hands off against her ass. “Is Maddie okay?”

“Brothers are ridin’ out to get her as we speak.”

“They’ll give us updates as they get them,” Digger adds.

“We’re not going too?” Her brow pulls.

“They’re closer.” I swallow the thickness in my throat, fist my hand with the re-kindled frustration at the predicament. “We’ll meet them at home.”

“What do you think he’s been doing to her?” Her hands find her upper arms, stroking up and down.

“Fuckin’ hope for his sake nothin’.” Knowing we’re blood gives me some confidence, but there’s always that kernel of fear that maybe this is one of those times I’m proved wrong. Fox wasn’t ever the friendliest uncle to Maddie, but I always saw that as a product of his childless life. He didn’t knowhowto parent a kid. But maybe that was me seeing the best out of the situation.

"Don't panic yourself thinkin' of things that ain't necessarily true," Digger offers. He steps forward and stops her traveling hands, sliding his wide palms up to cradle her neck. "We have confidence in our brothers to bring her home safe, so that means you can, too."

She nods, audibly swallowing. “Okay.”

“You did good, baby,” he assures her. “You knew how to get Connor to panic, and that’s what we needed. His fear made him talk.”

“Hisegomade him talk,” she corrects. “He’s not afraid of pain or losing a finger. He’s afraid of losing what makes him special in his father’s eyes.”

I frown. Digger must too, given the way he drops his hands to let her explain.

"Connor struggled at school," she says. “He's not book-smart, so he needs to be street-smart. Terry's only use for him is the way he wields those knives. Connor will never take over the business, and he knows that. He'll only ever be his father's right-hand man, his guy who does the dirty work."

It's fucking sad. "He has that little faith in him?"

"Connor didn't say much about his family." She shrugs. "Just that his mother had passed and that his dad is a workaholic. Listed all the ways Terry makes him mad. I didn't figure the rest out until right near the end."

Until she saw it firsthand, more like.

“He kept you a secret from him,” I say.

“Yeah.” Her chin drops, and it’s there unspoken.

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