Page 94 of Beauty and the Daddy
"I told you everything!" Panic edges his voice.
"And I appreciate that. Really. Which is why I'm considering letting you walk out of here."
Hope flickers across his battered face. "You said if I talk, I walk."
"I say a lot of things." I smile. "But in this case, I might actually mean it. On one condition."
"Anything."
"You're going to deliver a message to my brother. But not with words."
He doesn't understand yet. That's okay. He will.
"I'm going to stage a little escape. Make it look like you broke free, killed the guard, and managed to flee. Declan will want to know what you found. What you told me."
"You want me to lie to him?"
"I want you to tell him you got into my office. That you found something—a business file. You learned I'm sending cash off-shore that the family doesn't know about."
The guy blinks. "Are you?"
I stare him down until he looks away. "That's not your concern. What matters is that Declan believes you found proof, and that I don't know you took it."
"And then what?"
"Then you tell him I've got a shipment coming in tomorrow night. Pier 86. Midnight. The big one we've been waiting for."
He swallows hard.
I stand, pull out my knife, and start cutting his restraints. "You're going to tell him everything I just told you, and then you're going to disappear. Change your name. Move to Alaska. I don't care. But if I ever see your face again, or if Declan learns we had this little chat..."
I don't finish the threat. Guy was smart enough to talk, which tells me he's smart enough to want to live.
The door opens, and Alexei returns. His eyes narrow. "Boss?—"
"It's fine," I tell him. "Our guest and I have an understanding."
I turn back to the now-unbound man. "You've got three minutes to get out of here. My men won't stop you. Now get the fuck out of my house before I change my mind."
He doesn't need to be told twice. He stumbles to his feet, and limps toward the door. Alexei steps aside, watching me with questions in his eyes.
Once we're alone, he speaks. "Want to tell me what that was about?"
"Bait for a rat." I head for the stairs. "Have someone clean this up. I need to find Belle and Sofia."
I need to see them and know they're whole and untouched by the mess my brother caused. Even though the danger's gone, the ghosts might still linger and I'm not callous enough to believe the mind can't hold scars.
Declan fucking scarred them, that fucker. His funeral's going to run on my time now.
My brother got past my guards, past my cameras, past my trust. What else has he found his way through?
I can't yet tell a soul what I know. He comes around the house, and if I warn someone, they might spill. I need him to think he's winning. He can win this battle, but I'll win the war.
On my hunt for Belle and Sofia, I pass my men crawling around the house, cleaning up and reinforcing on high alert. The innocence is gone. How many of them report to Declan? How deep does this betrayal go?
Every shadow feels menacing. Every corner hides a nightmare waiting to happen. I've lived with danger my whole life, learned to wear it like a second skin, but this is different. This isn't just about me anymore.
It's about them. My girls.
