Page 69 of Ruthless

He chuckled. “No, he didn’t help me find you at all.Ifound you. The moment you fucking left the way you did, I knew that it wasn’t real. I knew you didn’t die in the car accident. You were kind of an idol to me, and I just couldn’t believe that you were actually gone. A few years later, it turned out that Ricardo didn’t think that you were gone for good either. He started putting out feelers for you.”

I listened to him, suddenly more intrigued than suspicious. I knew we were on a time clock, but something about the way he was talking made me believe that whatever he had to say must be relevant. “Go on…”

“He was able to pinpoint you as being in California. His obsession with finding you let me slip away unknown. I never made it to your level, though I think that Dad wanted me to, eventually. However, I moved to California, changed my name, and got a job as a cop. I was thinking the resources would help me find you. I knew you’d be somewhere in the underworld… There was no way in hell you were going to just live a civilian life.”

“So how long have you known where I am?” I questioned, folding my arms across my chest. “Because something tells me that you’ve known for a while.”

He nodded. “I’ve known for about five years. I got into business with Rachel, and her brother was in business with your club. I got lucky, but that actually is the reason that I took the job. It gave me a reason to be checking up on you. Rachel is like a sister to me, though, and I care about her… And I did what it took to get her free.”

The realization hit me. “Is that why you wanted me to make the drop?”

“Yeah, I thought I could get in touch with you or at least see you in person, I don’t know. But now…”

“Now what?” I demanded, seeing the shift in his demeanor.

“I had to do what I had to do to get that last part of the money to free Rachel, and therefore, I now have to do what I have to do to pay it off.”

My heart sank. “You gotta kill me?”

He shook his head. “Nah, worse than that. I gotta take you to Dad… Which is who I also think can help us find Victor.”

It felt as though a ton of bricks had crashed down on my shoulders. “He’s alive?”

Lucas nodded. “Yeah, and,” he paused, checking his watch. “He’ll be here in five minutes.”

Chapter 29

Rachel

He snuck up on me in my own damn house… And he won. He fucking won. I was so distracted and consumed by getting ready for Trevor to show up, that I didn’t hear thepsychocreeping around inside of my house… I should’ve bought a dog.

“You know…,” Victor began, pulling up a chair across from me. “I was thinking that this has really been a long time coming, my sweet Rachel.”

I swallowed the vomit rising in my throat, looking him straight in his evil eyes. “I think it’s been a long time coming for you to die.”

He burst into laughter, his eyes raking over my figure. I had opted for a lowcut black blouse, showing off my cleavage, and a pair of tight jeans to go with it. Now, I was really wishing that I would’ve worn chainmail.

“You’re such a gorgeous woman,” he growled, running his hand down my thigh. I tried to squirm away, but he had bound me so tightly to the chair that I had lost all feeling in my toes and fingers. “And I can’t wait to destroy you.”

“My brother will kill you if you touch me,” I shot back at him, trying not to show just how terrified I was.

Victor leaned close to me, his hot breath causing me to shudder. “That’s the thing, my sweet Rachel,” he cooed in an evil voice. “Your brother is no longer a problem for me.”

My heart nearly stopped as I jerked my face from his. “Andwhyis my brother no longer a problem for you?”

“Because I killed him,” he chuckled darkly. “And it was so funny that he thought he had such a bluff on me. He thought that he could control me, using my weaknesses against me, threatening to turn me in to the police. He was foolish for thinking that way.”

I bit back the sob building in my chest. Without my brother to stand in the gap between Victor and I, there was nothing I could do. He would consume me—and if he chose not to kill me, it would be worse than death itself.

“Ah, yes,” he continued to rub my leg. “I thought that you might be upset over the death of your brother. But you know, the two of you were never close. He didn’t know you the way that I do.”

I couldn’t swallow the vomit this time, unloading my lunch all over the floor. I squeezed my eyes shut as the tears slipped from eyes—mostly because of the retching—but also because of the fact that my brother was murdered at the hands of the man who was obsessed with me.

“Oh, don’t cry.” He made a fake sad face, reaching out and wiping the tears from my face. “I think I should probably get you to clean that up.” He got up from where he was sitting and disappeared, leaving me to take in the room. I knew that I was in a house of some sort, but I had no idea what else. He had put me out to move me—just like the bikers…

Only different—so different.

My body trembled against the chair, and when Victor returned with a damp towel, I trembled even harder as he walked toward me with a smile on his face. Leaning over me, he tilted his head, before lightly dabbing it around my mouth. I tried not to vomit again, doing my best to breathe.

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