Page 91 of Cruel Ice

“Fuck,” Declan breathed as he understood just how deep the betrayal had really been. “It’s always about family, isn’t it?” He could see it now. In the angle of Cade’s jaw. The eyes were a different color. So was the hair. But the jaw was the same. The shape of the eyes were the same…

He just hadn’tseenit before.

“Like father, like son, am I right?” Declan mused.

“Declan?” Marley’s trembling voice.

Do not look at her face. Not yet. You have to kill these two bastards and get her out alive.

He also had…dammit, he had to keep standing. A hard task because Jameshadalways been a good shot. And when Declan had tackled Marley earlier, the bullet meant for her—it had gone into him. Blasting into his abdomen. His suit coat covered the injury or, hell, maybe it was getting soaked with blood. The pain had been red-hot at first. Surging through his body. But now it was a steady throb. Pulsing as the blood left him and weakness wanted to slither through his veins.

Keep standing. Kill the two men you thought were friends. Save the woman who is your fucking life.An easy enough to-do list, huh?

Because suddenly the past didn’t matter. No, no, itdidstill matter. Getting the truth about his mother mattered, but it didn’t matter more than Marley. Nothing mattered more than her.

“Thought this was supposed to be an easy scene,” Cade muttered. “Set it up to look like Declan found Marley with the cop. He killed her in a jealous rage, and then Declan and the copshot each other. Put a nice little bow on the scene, and we weredone.”

James’s hand was inching down toward his ankle.

Did the bastard really think Declan had forgotten that James kept a knife strapped there?You’re the one who told me how important it was to always have a weapon on you, James.He’d learned so many lessons from James over the years.

“Cade, you were on my suspect list,” Marley said. She didn’t sound scared. More angry. “I really wanted to be wrong about you.”

“He’s my father,” Cade retorted. “Sorry, but family comes first. Told you before, I realized that this world is not black and white. We have to make our own shades of gray. And like Declan just said, it’s about family.”

“Not exactly.” Declan got the big picture. “It’s also about the money. Just so you know, that’s all it has ever been about for James. Let me guess…he’s the one who found you, isn’t he? He’s the one who convinced you to come and work for me? While he was doing all of that convincing, did James tell you thathewas a hitman for my father? Hell, he could have even been the one who killed your mother!” A total bullshit guess designed to throw off Cade?—

“He killed her because shelefthim!”

Sonofabitch. His guess had been right?

“She went to the Feds. She stole me from him!” Cade’s voice rose. “And she lied to me for my entire life. She told me that lame bastard who raised me was my dad, but she was lying. She’d cheated on him—cheated and then hid me from my real father. I knew…fucking knew when my niece got cancer. We did all of these tests. My sister and I—we were onlyhalf-siblings. I hated not knowing who my real dad was—or where he was. Or who the hellIreally was.”

“So you went off to battle. You learned about your shades of gray and you got really good with weapons and your dear old dad finally came to you.” Marley’s voice held disgust. “Got a news flash for you. James didn’t pull you into his world because he missed his son. He did it touseyou! I’m betting he always knew about your existence. He didn’t care. He still killed your mom when the time came. And he left you alone for years.”

“You don’t knowanything,”Cade jerked her. Hard.

“He’s getting you to do his dirty work!” Marley claimed. “You just told us hekilled your mother?—”

“Shut the bitch up!” James yelled. “Now, shut her?—”

That’s it. Done.“No one calls her names. Enjoy hell,” Declan told him.

James let out an inhuman shriek. He jumped to his feet. Tried to, anyway, but mostly stumbled as he drove his knife toward Declan’s stomach.

Declan fired.

One shot to the heart.

Because you fucking broke my heart, you lying piece of shit.

James stumbled back. His eyes were wide open. Stunned. “S-son?—”

“I’m not your damn son.”

“I am!”Cade roared.

James fell to the floor.

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