Page 35 of Kortlek

Because she got into the wrong crowd, she managed to get a few friends. The friendships are more of a business transaction, but in this world where everything is illegal and costs money, having those friendships is beneficial. And Eva used a few contacts to find out about Jackson.

“The De Santis’ will fill you in better, but,’’ she pauses, yet again looking around, making sure no one’s eavesdropping. “This morning, they discovered a body. It was in the lake, and the torso was cut open, filled with rocks, then sewn back up. Some kids decided to swim and found it.’’

“Are we sure it’s Jackson?”

“So far, it hasn’t been confirmed. But my friend compared the injuries from the hospital chart with the ones found on the body, and yeah, it fits perfectly.’’

“Fucking hell,’’ I groan, gulping down the bourbon and ordering another one immediately.

“As far as Jackson goes,’’ she sighs. “He’s too clean. So, I dug deeper. He loves playing dirty in the ring, but he also likes to attend a lot of strip clubs. And wouldn’t you know it, he’s been banned from a couple due to inappropriate behavior.’’

“Of course,’’ I scoff, folding my arms in front of my chest.

“Have you heard of the New York Vipers?” She asks, almost hesitantly.

I raise a brow. “The what?”

“The New York Vipers,’’ she repeats. “Apparently, they’re some sort of a gang. New York is ruled by the Bratva, the Kalashnikov family, so they’ve been trying to get on Pakhan’s radar and get on his good side.’’

“Were they successful?”

Eva snorts. “Do you think Aleksei Kalashnikov has the time to deal with barely legal kids trying to play mafia?”

“Touche.’’

“Now, let me continue,’’ she sighs. “The New York Vipers are small. I’m talking like fifty members tops. They’re apparently trying to get into arms dealing, though no one wants to work with them thus far given that they’re at most twenty-five years old, and none of them are from a criminal family.’’

“Are they a problem?”

“They might be,’’ she looks at me, her expression serious. “Jackson Stone was a part of the New York Vipers. Take a wild guess who else is a member.’’

“Just spit it out.’’

“Wyatt Chambers.’’

My body goes rigid, and an immense amount of rage threatens to spill. My jaw is locked tightly, eyes narrowed at Eva. She seems almost apologetic to even have to speak about it, giving me a couple of moments to process the information.

“That bastard’s been banished from New York by Arlo.’’

“He changed his name, legally, and snuck back in. He goes by Karl Brown now. He did have some cosmetic surgeries, but undoubtedly, it’s Wyatt Chambers.’’

“How do you even know about Wyatt?” I ask. My tone is low, and the words are barely above a whisper. I’m not doubting Eva, but if the outside world knows about Wyatt and Aria’s past, and it reaches Aria’s ears, she’ll go back down the rabbit hole, and I’m not sure she’ll be able to handle it again.

“Everyone knows,’’ she breathes out, almost reluctantly. “After leaving New York, apparently, he told anyone who would listen to the history of him and Aria De Santis. Although, I’m assuming half was fabricated and done to make him look better.’’

“What did the motherfucker say?” I demand, clutching the glass of bourbon. If I tighten my grip just a bit more, it’ll break.

“I’m not too certain of the specifics. Just that he didn’t deserve the hell Aria put him through and that he’d make them all pay for what they did to him.’’

I tighten the grip, and the glass breaks. The remainder of the liquid splashes on my thighs, the little glass shreds falling all over. Eva gasps, immediately grabbing a napkin to wipe the blood on my palm. I didn’t even notice the glass cutting into my flesh.

Wren, the bartender, hands me a new glass and a napkin to press into the wound and stop the bleeding. In comparison to any other wound I’d gotten in my life, this is barely a scratch.

My eyes are focused on Aria, her back turned to me.

It doesn’t take me long to figure out that Jackson didn’t want to get to Arlo. He used me to get through Aria. But why? At the time, the two of us were… friendly, at best. Sure, I’ve fantasized about fucking her brains out and getting her pregnant, but none of that has happened. In fact, nothing remotely intimate has happened until the night in the kitchen when I hugged her.

But we’ve rarely been seen together in public, and when it did happen, it was always a group setting. It was a rare occurrence for the two of us to be seen alone. It simply never happened because we had no reason to be.

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