Page 3 of The Madman's Nightmare
The two men I had just killed wouldn’t ever be discovered, but they gave me little peace. There was still someone hunting me and I feared who could get caught in the crossfire.
“I told you this was going to bite us in the ass,” James remarked as we watched the concrete truck pull out of the field.
He turned to look at me and my eyes were locked on the field. “I know you did, but I thought we were doing the right thing by letting them have their lives. I never thought it would come to this.”
He cranked the vehicle, and I felt him look at me before he put the SUV into drive and pulled away from the field. Silently,James drove through the night and the entire time, memories of those days, long ago, when I was rising in power flashed before my eyes.
It was a nightmarish kaleidoscope of death and destruction. I was young and had something to prove. Not only to the world, but to my father as well. He had sold me to Marco when I was twelve years old, casting me out as he chose my older brother to lead the family forward. I never had the taste for power, and shortly after I turned eighteen, I killed Marco for daring to think Elise was a pawn in his game.
And James, Bradon, and Kendra were by my side as I tore through the Flats, removing the people Marco had tasked with running his criminal enterprise. Not to say I was clean as a whistle, but I wouldn’t ever make money off the flesh of others. And I took pleasure in destroying anyone who thought women and children were a commodity.
James had warned me that bringing the siblings into our inner circle was going to be a mistake, and as the years wore on, I started to see his point. Slowly, I began to untangle them from our lives as Elise graduated high school and started college. I was so close to having something legitimate, something I could make money from, that I had to devest myself of the anchors of the past.
“Where do we start looking” I finally asked James as we got closer to Pierce Bluff.
“I’m going to need to bring some other people into this if you want to find them before either of them makes good on their threats,” James suggested.
“Who do you have in mind?” I reluctantly asked, knowing this task was bigger than he and I could do alone.
“Skid, obviously, and I was thinking Aubrey.”
“Your sister Aubrey?” I asked and saw him cut his eyes to me briefly before looking back at the road. “Why would you want to drag her into this?”
“Because she is one of the best hackers I’ve ever seen,” he answered.
I laid my head back onto the headrest and thought about his request. Ultimately, James wouldn’t go against me if I said no, but this could cause more problems than it solved. Aubrey and Elise were friends, and I didn’t want her to feel she needed to choose sides.
Closing my eyes, I sighed into the silent vehicle as I conceded. “I want to speak with Aubrey before you tell her too much. I don’t need her running to Elise before I know anything.”
“She wouldn’t do that, but I’ll set up lunch tomorrow at the office so we can get started.” He paused then added, “You know you have to tell Elise before she discovers Kendra’s little secret.”
I felt the backhand remark straight across my heart, but James wasn’t trying to be hurtful. He was looking out for me and Elise’s best interest. But if Elise was hurt from anything I did in the past, when I was young, reckless, and hellbent on power and revenge, I feared she would push me out of her and the boys’ lives.
And losing them would be like losing the air in my lungs or the blood in my veins.
I wouldn’t survive without them.
Chapter 2
Elise
Today
For the last few weeks, Devlin and I had been so busy with work and the kids that we hadn’t had any time to ourselves. We slept in the same bed, and he held me as I fell asleep, but more than a few times, I’d opened my eyes and saw he was staring at the ceiling, lost in thought. When I asked him what was bothering him, he would brush it off, saying it was work stuff.
I would hear him and James talking in hushed voices, only for them to stop talking when I walked into the room. That was when I started to question exactly what was going on and who was in danger this time. For the last few years, one member of our family after another was dragged into some kind of personal hell, and not one time did he keep it a secret from me.
So, why was he doing it this time?
This afternoon, he said he wanted to spend the evening alone and offered to take the boys to my parents’ house for the night. While he was gone, I got cleaned up, taking a little extra time for grooming, hoping he and I would end up in bed tonight. We’d somehow pushed that part of our relationship off to the side, but without the boys in the apartment, we could be as loud as we wanted.
Just after six, he texted me that he was coming up in the elevator, and I hurried to slip on the sexy lingerie I’d bought. Since he didn’t say where we were going, I pulled on a pair of jeans and a nice blouse. He and I weren’t white linen tableclothkind of people, so I hoped my outfit choice was okay for his plans.
As I heard the elevator door open, I walked into the living room to meet him. Our floor was private, so we didn’t see the need for a front door. James and Amaya wouldn’t come up from downstairs unless they were asked, so I knew it was him.
He entered and lifted his blue eyes to me. A smirk appeared on his handsome, bearded face as he walked across the room and slung his arm around my waist, pulling me close to him. The kiss was everything I’d missed from my husband, and when he broke the embrace, I felt my insides clench at the heated look he was giving me.
“I need to shower then we can go,” he offered as he released my waist.
