Page 33 of Mine to Keep

I glanced at JJ, who had a small smile on his face.

“We took apart that whole organization. Perhaps you remember Harper Reese?”

My eyes widened. I’d followed that whole storyline religiously. I remembered I was with a client, the TV was on, and a shadowed figure had come on, exposing an entire ring of terrorthat had been happening under everyone’s noses and from there it all unraveled, but no one had ever found Harper Reese.

“I do, but he’s in the wind.”

“No,” Nick whispered. “He’s dead.”

Holy shit.“And…that was you guys?”

Nick nodded. “This is what we do. Police can’t always help. In my sister’s and parents’ case, they were part of the problem.”

Was I going to faint? “I need to sit down.”

“Do you think he’ll throw up?” I thought that was Mason, but I concentrated on getting to a chair and sitting.

“I know this is a lot to take in.” Nick was kneeling in front of me.

I just stared at him, unblinking.

“Please say something.” He squeezed my knees.

“I…” I looked at each of the men in the room and said the only thing I could. “You’re a family of assassins.…You kill people.”

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

Nick

In my heart,I knew Matt’s reaction to the news we’d unloaded on him was normal. Honestly, screaming and running away would have been more likely. But he sat there, staring at each and every one of us. He paused at JJ, brows dipping slightly in sympathy.

JJ spoke softly, “Matt, I understand this is a lot, and you probably have questions, or want to run or?—”

“Why are you telling me this? I mean, I get it’s because you think I need help, but these secrets, your lives. Why?”

“Because I didn’t think you understood how capable we are and how we could end this for you.” I gently brushed his leg only for him to flinch. I stood and stepped back to give him space.

“You’re talking about killing someone who is just making me feel uncomfortable. That’s insane.”

Angel sighed. “We didn’t say kill—you said it, Matt. We want to help you, whatever that might look like. Thing is, we don’t help just anyone. It’s brought to the table, and we vote. Majority wins. Nick and JJ called for a vote, asking for us to step in if youwanted our help. It was unanimous. This person, whoever they are, is showing signs of escalation. We don’t want it to get to the point where you’re half-dead before the cops step in or you let us.”

Matt swallowed, he moved his attention from Angel to Four. “And if I say no, will any of you make sure I never leave this house alive?”

Four didn’t react, he didn’t answer him at all, but I did. “No, Matt, we aren’t going to kill you. Jesus. We wanted to be transparent. We’ve helped people, and our intention is never to kill…Okay, sometimes it is, but only if there’s no other way.”

“And you’ve evaded the police?”

Why’d he have to ask these questions that made me feel as if he weren’t on board?

“When we were back home, we were wanted by the police, but they never had proof. The new mayor wanted the corruption and the violence to end. It was out of hand, and powerful people were at the helm of the destruction. She turned a blind eye, and we made things right. But like you heard, we had to leave there,” Gabe said matter-of-factly.

Matt nodded. “Uh-huh, and here?”

“I found Four in an alley, covered in dirt and blood. He’d been abused, brainwashed, and was in bad shape. When we dug deeper and saw all those children in such situations, we had to intervene. Harper Reese was almost untouchable. He hid things so well, no one could find them. We exposed him, and most of those people were arrested.” There was so much hope in JJ’s eyes for Matt to understand.

“Except for Harper Reese.” Matt looked at JJ, but it was Shep who answered.

“He kidnapped JJ, had him beaten within an inch of his life. You read the medical report, you saw what he had done to hisbody. I couldn’t forgive that…I wouldn’t.” Shep’s voice was dark and unforgiving.

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