Page 80 of Vicious Intentions

Dayton Cross had been slaughtered in his own home by an unknown assailant who’d never been found. His twelve-year-old brother, Cain Cross, had found the body. “Oh, God.”

Revenge. Cain wanted revenge. If what I suspected was true, there was no coincidence to the fact that the four of us had been brought back together. Had Cain orchestrated it?

My thoughts drifted back to the vision that I now knew was a memory. My father had been responsible for Dayton’s death. I knew it as certain as I was standing in a room inside a hotel owned by the man who’d likely vowed revenge. My God. I’d been living a lie my complete life, not just because of an accident I still couldn’t remember.

All the times my father had traveled. The tight security. The absence of family and friends. My mother not wanting me to come to Chicago. It all fit together in a nice, bloody package of lies and secrets.

As a chill coursed through my body ever so slowly, the ache in my head suddenly disappeared.

I held my arms as I climbed off the couch, grabbing my phone from the bedroom. Then I dialed my parents’ number.

When I reached my mother’s voicemail, I ended the call and tried my father’s. Then a smile crossed my face as I knew what I needed to do. One more call to make. Only then would I find the answers. “Yes, I’d like to book a flight to San Diego.”

* * *

Cain

I stared at the text for the fifth time before heading toward the exit from the building. She was alive. Sage. The woman who’d haunted my dreams for years. The beautiful girl I would have given everything I owned to see just one more time. The stunning creature who’d awakened my black soul. Alive.

Only she had a new identity, her face similar but different enough I hadn’t recognized her. But now, I realized there was no doubt. None.

Everything made sense now. The way Rose felt in my arms. The intense connection. The electricity that I’d only felt once in my life with a girl who’d died because of my sins. Our sins. Our entitlement.

She was alive.

And she belonged to us.

One thought burned into the back of my mind. Was she behind the nasty game? Had it been invented to satisfy a taste of revenge herself? I wouldn’t put it past her. As much as I wanted to keep her as our pet, spending days and nights embroiled in passion, if we found out she had anything to do with our planned demise, she would face my wrath.

The three of us said nothing as we made our way into the night, leaving the asshole Bart to face a demise of a different level. I was certain whoever had used him would clean up their messes. That’s the way it worked. The players in the game were vicious. It was obvious they’d underestimated us.

Perhaps I should feel guilty for leaving Bart to the wolves, but he meant nothing to me. I sensed Hunter no longer gave a damn about the lost revenue or the ploy used to get him to Chicago in the first place. It had been a well-orchestrated game, Rose learning much from her father. I wondered if the fuck was even still alive. I’d find out one way or the other, even if I had to go to Fiji personally.

“You don’t honestly believe Rose is Sage.” There was no emotion in Cristiano’s voice, but between the three of us, the current ebbing and flowing could light up an entire city block.

“What do you think?” I asked, cursing under my breath. Marty headed towards the SUV while we stood back under the dim light of the building’s entrance.

“Rose is not the same person.” Hunter was defiant in his statement, but I heard the question in his voice.

“You know there are too many similarities.” I paced the parking lot, needing to crush something between my fingers to try and abate the anger. “The fucking nightmares. The connection we share. The singing. She was a fucking music major. Remember?”

“She doesn’t look anything like Sage.” Hunter’s insistence surprised me. Did he not see what was staring him smack in the face? She’d coordinated the attacks. She’d led the charge in seeking revenge because of the accident. I was certain of it.

I was also certain I was maddeningly, shockingly in love with the woman. I hadn’t been able to get her out of my mind for more than a few seconds at a time. I scrubbed my jaw and tried to figure out how to handle this. I couldn’t allow her to destroy everything I worked so hard to achieve.

“It’s her, Hunter. You fucking know it,” Cristiano said. Hunter had his hand wrapped around Cristiano’s throat in a split second, issuing a hard punch to his gut before slamming him against the brick façade.

“You motherfucker!”

“You know I’m right. There’s nothing we can do about it,” Cristiano threw out.

Hunter refused to believe, pulling back then slamming his fist into the man’s jaw.

“That’s it. Stop it, both of you. This isn’t solving anything. We need to think this through. If Sage is a part of this ruse, which I’m not ready to believe, she’s not working alone. There are too many working pieces, including being able to successfully handle an extortion scheme. I’m beginning to believe you were right, Cris, in that this isn’t her father’s doing either. We need to be smart about this. We’re acting like idiots, which is exactly what the perpetrator wants.” Shit. At this point, I had no idea what to think.

“It’s not her,” Hunter insisted.

“We can’t rule anything out.”

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