Page 3 of Pretty Vengeful Queen

I’ve seen Riley do the same thing.

Finally, Chloe gives me a shaky smile. “Okay. Thanks.”

I nod sharply, ready to be done with the uncomfortable emotional shit. I still put my hand on her back to get her moving into the house, though. And dammit, I can’t resist trying to reassure her a little bit too, for Riley’s sake.

“You’ll be safe here. You know your sister would never fucking forgive us if we let something happen to you while she’s—”

I snap my mouth closed, refusing to say “McKenna’s captive,” or let myself imagine any of the things he might be doing to Riley right now.

I’m pretty sure Chloe’s imagining the same exact shit though, because as we follow Logan and Dante into the kitchen, she looks down, her expression turning bleak.

“Hey,” I say gruffly, tipping her chin up so she has to look at me. Her eyes widen. “I’m not gonna let anything happen to you, and wewillget Riley back.”

Chloe holds my stare for a moment. I can see she wants to believe me, but she also knows the kind of sick bastard Austin McKenna is firsthand. “Do you think he’ll hurt her?” she finally asks, her voice cracking a little in the middle. “Or… or worse?”

“No.”

I bite the single word out, then rage steals my voice… because it’s a fucking lie. But Ican’tthink that shit, or else I’ll do the kind of damage that this city—and the Reapers—won’t recover from.

I close my eyes and draw a slow breath through my nose, reaching for the clear mind I need right now.

Thankfully, Dante jumps in.

“All McKenna wants is the Sutherland money.”

I meet Logan’s eyes behind Chloe’s back. We both know that’s not true. He’s getting a sadistic pleasure out of taking my woman again too. But Chloe doesn’t need to hear that.

“That fuckerneedsRiley,” Dante goes on, reassuring her. “Wherever she is, just remember that McKenna knows it. He’ll take care of her. He needs her alive to get access to her inheritance.”

Dante has never been one to sugarcoat things, but he’s damn good at making people believe what he wants them to, and in this case, it works. Chloe’s shoulders relax, and she gives him a tentative nod and a small smile of appreciation.

Must be nice. I’ve managed to lock a mask of calm in place, but underneath, my skin itches with agitation as my mind races through dozens of scenarios that I’ll take my whole fucking gang to war over if it comes down to it.

I’m not worried about McKenna taking Riley out… yet. Keeping her alive is only gonna be guaranteed until he gets what he needs from her, but that’s not what fuels the burning sense of urgency inside me. There are too many shitty things short of death that a fucking sadist like him could be subjecting our girl to right now to count, and no matter how tough Riley’s core of steel is, she’s not going to be able to stand against the entire West Point gang.

“Logan,” I snap, “go tap into city surveillance and track down McKenna’s fucking car. We need to know where he took her.”

Logan nods, his blond hair messier than usual. He’s already been tapping away on his phone, no doubt getting a start on doing exactly that, but at my order, he turns and heads out of the room to pull up the more powerful system he has on his computer.

“Dante.” I jerk my head toward my office. We need a fucking plan.

Dante hesitates, though.

“What about…?” he starts, indicating Chloe.

I dial back my impatience, because he’s right. We need to keep her out of the way, but we also need her to stay fucking calm. Knowing how headstrong both Sutton sisters are, I figure Chloe is likely to either make herself a distraction or put herself in danger if we don’t take the time to make sure she feels confident that we’re gonna handle this the way it needs to be handled.

“Grab their bags, then get her settled up in Riley’s room,” I tell Dante, pulling out my phone as he follows my orders.

I tune him out as he talks softly to Chloe, then heads out to grab the girls’ things out of the Escalade. A tiny spark of satisfaction flares to life before dying again when I see him bring Riley’s things back inside, then head upstairs with Chloe to unpack them.

Planning on sending Riley away was… necessary.

Having her shit back in the house feels better, though.

I start making calls. We already alerted some of our people on the drive over, but we need more manpower on this.

It’s not just a matter of getting Riley back. That’s a given, because there’s no way in hell that I’ll stop until she’s free of his clutches. But even more importantly, it’s a matter of getting her back right the fucknow.

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