Page 17 of The Vipers' Vow

He sighs. “Lex claims you were investigating what happened to my Reagan. That you care about her a whole lot. From our short meeting the other day, I’m inclined to believe you do.”

I don’t have to force the wobble into my voice, the thickness that sits at the base of my throat when I think about Reagan and what happened to her. “He’s right. I do care. Between you and me, Mr. Olsen, it’s the entire reason I came to Verona Falls. I wanted to find her. I didn’t know what had happened to her. When I found out, I was utterly devastated. I thought I’d been an only child my whole life, and learning I had a sister was a dream come true. Then I found out she was already dead—that she’d died before I’d even learned of her existence.” My eyes fill with tears, and I blink them away. Maybe I’m doing the wrong thing opening myself up to a man like Jarl Olsen, but I’m telling the truth. “I made it my mission to find out who did it to her.”

“And have you?” he asks bluntly.

“No, but I believe one hundred percent that it wasn’t the Vipers.”

“Of course you do,” he says, disgust in his tone. “You’re screwing them, and like all women, you have to romanticize sex into something more so you don’t feel like a whore. You make them the good guys they are not. Lex dropped you in it to save his skin. Asked why I didn’t take you instead of him. How do you feel now?”

The words are like a slap to the face, even though I don’t believe them. I ignore his goading and focus on what he wants.

“I will find out about Reagan,” I repeat. “If we … if we worked together … there are things I need. Records. Of hers. I think they were wiped, or some of them were. I had her file but …”

“How did you get her file?” he asks.

“I broke into the dean’s office.”

“Risky,” he says.

“Like I said, Mr. Olsen, I want to find out who did this to her. I lost my mother, and now my sister. It matters to me.”

There’s a long pause. “Bring me my cross, and find out who killed my daughter, and I’ll let you have your precious boy toy back.”

I stare at Saint, my eyes wide. This is more than we could have hoped for, but it’s also bad. Really bad. I’m nowhere near finding out what happened to her. If I don’t figure it out, will he harm Lex? There’s also another huge hurdle we have to jump over—getting the cross back from my dad. Mom had warned me before she died that if my dad ever found out about what Jarl Olsen did to her, there would be a war. I can’t see how the hell I’m going to get what I need without my dad finding out.

Maybe it would be a good thing. Maybe what Jarl has done by taking Lexshouldbe enough to start a war? My dad and his men are tough and scary as hell. They know how to handle themselves. But if that happens, people are going to get hurt. Maybe I shouldn’t give a shit about Jarl—and I don’t, really—but I also understand his pain and anger, and I don’t want to see anyone else dead.

“Can I speak to him,” I hesitate and then add, “please?”

There’s a long pause, hollow footsteps sound, and then Jarl’s voice distantly says, “Your girlfriend is on the line. Tell her you’re alive and well.”

The cell phone must be passed over to Lex, because the next voice I hear is his.

“Vani?”

I let out a sigh of relief. “Lex, my God, are you okay?”

Saint leans his hands on the table in front of him, eyes closed at the sound of his brother’s voice.

“I’m fine, bit bruised, but I’ll live. Is everyone else safe?”

“That’s enough. This isn’t a chit chat,” Jarl growls down the line, clearly having yanked the cell back from Lex. “Get me my cross and give me someone to fucking pay for what happened to my daughter, and I’ll give you this piece of shit back.”

“I will. Just don’t hurt him any more.”

“You don’t make the rules. Remember that. You’ve got forty-eight hours.”

He ends the call.

I turn to the two men, and I smile.

“What the fuck are you grinning at?” Saint demands. “We’ve got to figure out who killed Reagan in forty-eight hours. That’s impossible. You just made shit worse.”

I want to slap him for being such an asshole. “I bought us time,” I point out calmly.

Zane nods and mouthsshe’s rightat Saint.

Saint blows out a long breath. “Fine. You two get ready to go to the club. I’ll find out what I can here, while you’re gone. Try to find out where the fuck my brother is. The longer this goes on, the harder it will be to hide it from people and my father.”

---