Page 7 of Into the Woods

He shoved his hands into his pockets and rocked back on his heels, his jaw tight. “The informant I talked to finally got back to me last night. He thinks he tracked Jasper down to a town in Kosovo.”

I grimaced. “No extradition.”

“Exactly, but he’s still in Europe, since that’s where Kent’s operation is based. Word has it he’ll be traveling to Brussels in a week or two for a meeting with a few of the higher ups in the European and Asian markets, but the guest list has been vague. All my contact knows is that Jasper’s men are providing security on the ground.”

I hissed out a breath. Rising in the ranks of the military had never been our father’s endgame. No, he’d used all the contacts he’d amassed over decades in the armed forces to create the most elite group of mercenaries money could buy. Men who obeyed the person writing their check without blinking about things like laws and morals. Black Box Ops was his baby now, and he hired the best and most twisted of the armed forces to do his bidding as foot soldiers.

“Does Linc know?” I asked.

“That his father is a sick motherfucker who sells women and children to the highest bidder? Pretty sure he’s aware,” Royal remarked, his tone cool.

“Fucker,” I snapped. Of course Linc was aware that his dad, Kent Westford, was as despicable a human being as they came. Sure he hid it well behind a billion-dollar hotel empire, but it was all a front for his human-trafficking enterprise.

It was what had bonded Ryan, Ash, Linc, and I together. Why we’d started Phoenix International, a company we all—along with Maddie, now—had an equal share in. We’d formed the company with the sole purpose of destroying our fathers, vowing that we’d never inherit our father’s sins.

Months earlier, we’d had a huge win by taking out Maddie’s and Ryan’s dads. Gary Cabot and Beckett Cain had been handling all their dirty money, laundering it and investing it so they could funnel it right back in. Kent was the brains of the entire operation, and Jasper provided all the muscle needed to transport and deliver purchases.

Taking my father out of the equation would leave Kent vulnerable. We’d already shaken their empire by bankrupting several of their ventures, but that meant Kent had simply funneled more of his own personal finances into the hotels and seedy clubs he ran under shell corporations. If we could eliminate Jasper, then Kent would be on his own.

Layer by layer, we were making progress.

“I think you and Rook should go to Brussels. See who Dad is meeting with. If we can cut their supply lines, it’ll be easier to break them,” Royal said.

“You want Rook and me to go?” I stared at him, incredulous.

He inclined his head. “Okay, Bishop, too. I think you and Rook need some perspective beyond your dicks. You’ve forgotten what we’re fighting for.”

“The fuck I have,” I spat. I’d seen firsthand the shit our fathers were capable of. It was the stuff that gave the boogeyman nightmares.

His hands came down heavy on my shoulders, squeezing to just the point of painful as he looked me in the eye. “You have. You’ve been spiraling since Christmas, little brother. We all thought you’d pull yourself out of it—fuck knows you always have—but this time, it’s different.”

I glared at him. “Your pep talks suck.”

“You want pep talks, find a therapist. You want absolution for your sins, find a priest. You want to man the fuck up, then you get your ass on a plane in a week and start acting like you give a shit about people other than yourself. I’m not your keeper, Court, but I am the guy who will tell you it’s time to grow a pair and act like a goddamn adult.”

I jerked back like he’d hit me again, but the ironclad grip he had on my shoulders didn’t let me go far.

“Phoenix is at a tipping point—which you know—and you’re choosing now to live out your douchey playboy fantasies instead of acting like a grown goddamn man? I’m fucking embarrassed for you, bro. You’re acting like—” He cut himself off, leaving the unspoken words looming between us.

Ice settled in my bones. “Say it,” I ground out.

“It doesn’t matter.” Royal sighed, dropping his arms.

“Too much of a pussy to say it?” I challenged, daring him to finish the sentence.

His gray eyes cut to me, unflinching as steel. “You’re acting like Jasper.”

I flinched. A sucker punch to the jaw would’ve hurt less. Hell, a rusty icepick through my eye would’ve been easier to handle than being compared to that sadistic prick.

Still not done, he jabbed a finger into my chest. “You were the one who brought me into Phoenix. You convinced me and our brothers that this wasn’t about some rich little boy lashing out at Daddy for not being hugged enough. You said you wanted to make a difference. Has that changed?”

I shook my head, mute and a little numb.

His head tilted. “Then get off your ass and be the man I know you can be.”

“That simple, huh?” I asked roughly, my voice hoarse.

He raised his hands a little. “No, asshole, it’s not that simple. It’s a goddamn fight every motherfucking day, but it’s what we do. Unless you’re so far gone on the pity train that you forgot that.”

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