Page 2 of Vicious Deception

She may not have sold the hard drive, but we really don’t know where she is. Obviously, Ludo isn’t buying it, but I’m not sure how else to sell the story, either. If I give more details, it’ll be obvious I’m lying because Rhett and Ol won’t be able to give the same information.

“Awfully convenient, don’t you think?” Axel says. His arms are crossed over his broad chest, and he’s staring down at me like I’m nothing more than gum on his shoe.

“You forget that I know you, Hayes,” Ludo says. “You like to be in control—to be the planner. There’s no way you don’t know all the details.”

I shrug. “Or maybe I trust Aubrey. I was right to do so—she followed through on her end of the deal.” A truth.

Ludo’s scowl sends satisfaction rippling through me, but it’s short-lived. He has an offer ready before I’ve even taken a breath. “Tell me where the drive is, and I’ll let Benny go.”

Tempting—if I actually thought he’d follow through. For a brief second, I’m glad Rhett isn’t here. If Ludo presented him with that proposition, he’d have a much harder time turning him down.

“I don’t know where it is,” I say. “Nor do you have my trust.”

“Did I ever?”

“Does that matter now?”

Again, Ludo sighs. He shifts his feet, his irritation getting harder to hide with every passing second. He has us cornered, but he’s as well and truly fucked as we are. All his secrets are on that drive.

I didn’t have time to look through all of it, but I saw enough. Ludo has woven an intricate web of lies, deals, and secret alliances. He’s gone behind the backs of his so-called partners to make sure he always comes out on top.

It’s all cleverly done, I’ll give him that. But now that the threat of exposure is constantly looming over his head, he’s as desperate as I am. There’s no way I can tell Holloway where the drive is, so my best option is to continue feigning ignorance. Hopefully he’ll fall for it at some point.

“I’m not lying to you,” I say, enunciating every word. “Aubrey didn’t want us to have any information. That way, you wouldn’t be able to learn anything if something like this happened. I thought it was a smart idea.”

Axel narrows his eyes as he scrutinizes my expression. Just as he opens his mouth to speak, Ludo cuts him off.

“I’ve sent men to search your house. They’ll find it.”

“What about the men you sent last night?” I can’t hold back the slight taunt in my tone.

When Ludo doesn’t respond immediately, relief billows through me. I already had my suspicions when I saw a team leave last night and not return, but this confirms it.

Wren is safe. We told her to contact Finn if something went wrong, and he won’t let anything happen to her. Not again.

It also means that, most likely, the hard drive isn’t even where I left it. We need it, and Finn knows the code to the safe. He probably grabbed it before he and Wren ran.I hope.

“What happened to my men is none of your business,” Ludo snaps. “Iwillfind Wren, and when I do, you’ll regret ever getting involved with her.”

“And in the meantime?” I ask.

“In the meantime,” he bites out, “you’ll do exactly what I tell you to or suffer the consequences.”

There it is.I haven’t forgotten that Holloway’s original plan was to use Benny as leverage. We haven’t known what for, but I have a feeling that’s about to change.

“And what exactly are you going to have me do?”

He smiles. “What you’re best at.”

It’s what I expected, but still, it doesn’t add up. Until the wedding, he trusted us, so why use Benny as leverage?

Unless . . .

My chest tightens. “Who?”

“You’ll learn that when the time comes.”

I’m in no position to demand answers, so I turn away. Irrational ideas fill my head—ones of taking both of them on at once and killing Ludo here and now. It’d never work—they both have weapons, and my lack of sleep only puts me at more of a disadvantage.

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