Page 56 of Ruthless

“And you believed them?” The lines on his forehead deepen as he takes in everything on Asher’s desk.

“No, but there were things that didn’t add up. The beachfront property. The money. The account in Cindy’s name. None of it looked good.” A tightness builds in my chest as I think back to the picture they painted. Against my better judgment, I fell for their shit.

“Fuck you, man!” A vein pops out the side of his neck as he glares up at me before going back to the papers. “Y’all are a piece of work. You already knew everything I just shared.”

“Had to make sure you’d tell us the truth.” Asher shrugs, giving zero fucks on Isaac’s opinion.

“Fucking Savage.” Isaac shakes his head at my brother.

“What the fuck was I supposed to think, Isaac?” I know damn well if things were reversed, he’d be thinking along the same lines as me. He’s just too pissed off to admit it to himself.

“That you know me, and you know I’d never betray our country like that. I mean fuck, Z. A traitor? Really?” He runs a hand down the side of his face, scratching at the stubble as the full weight of it all sinks in.

“You’re right.” I hang my head, feeling like complete and utter shit. “I should have known better. I’m sorry, and I’m going to make it right for both of us.”

“How?” Isaac paces a few steps and then stops and slams his hand against his chest. “They killed my woman!” His eyes gloss over at the mention of her, and I can’t blame him, but he’s not the only one with something to lose.

“And they shot at mine!” I punch my chest as my temper flares to life at the shit Kennedy’s been through.

Axel whistles, drowning out the rest of our argument. “Yo! Can y’all save who has the bigger dick for later, so we can figure out just what the hell is going on?”

“It doesn’t make sense. If they knew we were coming to bring him in, why would they take care of it themselves?” Asher asks the very same thing that I’ve been wondering myself.

“That’s a good question. We need to find out just how deep this rabbit hole goes.” Isaac’s jaw sets as he stares each of us down.

“We do, but not right now.” Asher pushes off the desk, and he’s getting ready to head out, but our conversation can’t wait any longer.

I offer him an olive branch in the only way I know how. “You look like shit.”

“Feel like it.” Isaac lets out a hollow laugh.

“Ax, can you take him inside our place to clean up? I’m gonna hang back for a bit.”

Axel’s eyebrows pinch together as he studies me. He knows something’s up. “Sure.” He glares at me one last time, and I know he will ask me about it later, but he does as I ask.

I wait for the sound of the front door shutting so that I can break the news to Asher. If he finds out that I knew and didn’t tell him, he’ll be pissed as fuck, and I don’t blame him, but that’ll only distract him from the other shit we have going on.

“Something on your mind?” Asher cocks his head to the side, waiting me out.

I toy with the end of my beard and struggle with the best way to tell him what I’ve got to say. There isn’t a good way to deliver this type of news, so I just lay it all out there for him.

“When Ken and I were at Finn’s, he had a visitor.” My tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth as I watch my words sink in. I almost wish Axel’s dumbass was here for a diversion.

“Who?” Asher narrows his eyes at me.

“Rosenberg.”

Asher’s whole body goes rock solid like I just dropped a bomb with that one word, and I may as well have. “What the fuck was he doing there?”

“Turns out he’s one of Finn’s and why he never came after us for what we did.”

“And you’re just telling me this now?” He grinds out through his teeth.

“I didn’t want to just spring this shit on you.” I glance down at his clenched fists and cock my eyebrows at him. “And judging by what I saw earlier, it was the right call.”

“We’re fine. Charlee’s just being emotional and shit.” A muscle jerks in his cheek, letting me know I hit the nail on the fucking head with my earlier observation. I knew Ax struck a chord at breakfast when he said that shit in front of Charlee, but I’ve been too busy dealing with my own problems to give it much thought.

“I hate to give Ax any credit, but he’s right, man. You’re not fine, and you need to figure your shit out before it’s too late.”

---