Page 49 of Ruthless

“Then why put it in Cindy’s name?” That’s one thing I haven’t been able to figure out. With the dirt Asher’s managed to dig up, we have a pretty good idea who did this, but I wait Isaac out to see if he’s going to lie to me some more or not. The investment story is a matter of semantics. I know what he means by it and what he’s been doing down in Florida to get that kind of money. Not that I give a fuck about how a man makes his living. Fuck if me and my brothers don’t toe the line of what’s legal or not, so I’m no one to judge. But if his lies hurt me or mine, we have a problem.

Isaac’s body tenses up at the mention of his girlfriend, and a part of me feels like a bastard for twisting that knife deeper, but I need him to be straight with me. “Why do you think?”

“If I knew, I wouldn’t be asking.” My patience is running thin with him. Not only do I still have to have a conversation with Asher about who I saw in Finn’s office—a conversation I have put off as long as I can, but the faster we get out of here, the better for us all. I won’t feel safe until we’re back at the house, and then we can get to the bottom of this. And exactly what we signed up for with this job.

“Big brother is always watching. I wasn’t going to risk them pulling me back in and using that as leverage to do it.” He digs his clay-stained sneakers into the wooden floor as he stands up away from the wall, finally coming clean and letting me know without words what I’ve suspected all along. He was laundering money. “It still managed to fuck me in the end.” He shakes his head as his eyes drift off into the distance before landing on Kennedy. “They still managed to take what I treasure most.”

It’s a bit of a relief to know that I was right about Isaac all along. He’s not dirty. He’s just trying to make a life away from the shit that is our past. Still, his words hit too close to home. Kennedy and I have had too many close calls for my liking lately.

I’m about to ask him another question when a white blob zooms past me and stands at Isaac’s feet.

“Thor!” Kennedy’s face lights up seeing that damn dog.

Isaac bends down and picks him up. “Cute dog. Yours?” He scratches behind Thor’s ears, and the little shit’s tail wags back and forth like a whip.

“No,” I grind out through gritted teeth. I’ve been so caught up in getting answers from Isaac that I forgot Kennedy has no fucking door, and anyone off the street can come in. Hence why that little shit managed to get in.

“It’s my neighbor’s,” Kennedy offers by way of an explanation.

“Hello?” Mrs. Baker’s voice calls from the living room, and everyone stills. All eyes shoot in the direction of the front door. Fucking hell, this shit just keeps becoming more and more complicated.

“Goddammit.” I pinch the bridge of my nose to keep from losing control.

Thor squirms against Isaac’s hold, and he sets him down. I follow after the furball, hoping to keep Mrs. Baker from entering and noticing the clusterfuck that is Kennedy’s apartment.

When I get there, she’s standing at the doorway. Thank fuck she’s got coke bottles for glasses and can’t see that well. Or at least I hope not. Still, her gray eyebrows pinch together, letting me know she can make out some of the disaster that was Kennedy’s apartment.

“Mrs. Baker.” I fight to keep my voice neutral and not let on to the chaos surrounding us.

“Oh, hi.” The wrinkles around her mouth disappear as she smiles. “I was hoping you could help me put up that gate, so this little prankster will stop sneaking out and causing trouble. My grandson still hasn’t gotten around to it.”

My fingers clench. Her grandson sounds like a lazy piece of shit. One thing our parents taught us was to respect our elders. We dropped everything anytime one of our parents or grandparents needed us.

Her head peeks around me, and her brown eyes widen. “What happened in here?”

“Redecorating.” Isaac comes up behind me and offers her a smile that’s all teeth.

“Who are you?” Her head tilts to the side as she studies him like he’s the most exciting thing she’s seen all day.

Thinking fast, I say the first thing that comes to mind. “He’s the decorator Kennedy hired.”

“I sure am.” Isaac shrugs, immediately catching on and slapping me on the shoulder much harder than needed. The fucker. I don’t get off on lying, but the last thing I want to do is scare the shit out of an old lady who lives by herself. Something tells me that letting her know about a burglary that happened right under her nose wouldn’t go over so well.

“So that’s what all the commotion was about yesterday.” Her attention swings back to me as Thor wiggles against her hold.

“Commotion?” My eyebrows cock as her words have me standing up taller.

“Oh yes. It was pretty loud too.” She narrows her eyes in Isaac’s direction.

“My apologies, ma’am.” Isaac places a hand over his heart and does his best to look humbled by this news, even though I’m sure his mind is spinning a mile a minute like my own. He always was quick at thinking on his feet. That’s part of what made him so good at what we did.

“You’re new.” Her brown eyes widen over my shoulder, and I know that she’s just gotten her first glimpse of Asher without glancing back.

“Ma’am,” is all my older brother says, but that’s enough.

She nods her head, causing the gray bun on top to move back and forth, and then glances back at me, waiting for an answer to her earlier question.

“Now isn’t really a good time.” I move to shut the door, but then she gives that same soft look my mother used to give me.

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