Page 61 of Unfounded

Marley’s mother is sitting to our right. “At least I wasn’t theonly one,” Mrs. Morrison mutters to herself. Marley’s head whips in her direction to give her a hard stare. Mrs. Morrison just shrugs her shoulders with a sheepish grin. Fuck, this is going worse than I’d imagined, and I had imagined some pretty uncomfortable scenarios.

“Marley isn’t pregnant, and if she were, itwouldbe my child,” I bellow to the room as I glare at my mother. “From this point on, I expect the next week to be pleasant and happy. If you have something negative to say, keep it to yourself. This is our wedding, mine and Marley’s. If you care for us at all, you will make our special day a happy one. Now it’s getting late, We still have a lot of preparations so let’s get some rest and begin tomorrow fresh and most importantly, happy.” I smile to the room at large, hoping I got my point across.

KRISTEN

Aweek ago…

I can’t believe I was fired from Invictus. If my stupid friend hadn’t called me at work this never would have happened. I wouldn’t have said those things where Luke’s brothers could have heard me. I need to see my brother, but I’ve been avoiding him. He’s going to be so pissed at me. I don’t know why, but he really wanted me at that job. I can’t avoid him forever, though. I know he can help me make those assholes sorry for letting me go. I want that bitch who took Luke away from me to pay, too. She’s the problem. I could have gotten Luke to notice me if she hadn’t moved in on him. I just needed a little more time. Time she took away from me.

My phone rings. Pulling it from my pocket, I look at the caller id. My brother.Shit!I can’t keep avoiding him. He’ll come looking for me, if I do. With trembling hands, I answer.

“Hey, Konner,” I answer cheerfully, hoping this is just a check in call.

“Don’t you fucking hey me,” Konner growls. “You’ve been avoiding me for days. As soon as you are off work, I need you come over to my place, no exceptions. Do you understand?”

“Um, about t-that,” I stammer. “I don’t work there anymore.” I cringe, waiting to hear him go off on me.

“What the fuck?” my brother screams. “What do you mean you don’t work there anymore?”

“They let me go, said I wasn’t needed any more,” I lie. I can’t tell him what really happened. He would kill me.

“Get over here, now!” my brother yells.

“Okay, on my way.” I hurry to reply. I fear what will be waiting for me when I get there, but hiding will only make it worse. I turn my car around and head for his apartment on the other side of town. I arrive much faster than I want to, but I know it’s in my best interest. He jerks the door open as soon as I knock.

“Get your ass in here,” my brother growls as he grabs my wrist painfully tight, pulling me into the room. “Sit down!” He points to the couch. I hurry over and take my seat. There are several other men in the room I’ve never seen before. Arab looking men.What the fuck has my brother gotten himself into?“Explain to me how the fuck you got fired from your job.”

I swallow hard as fear like I’ve never known floods me. He will know if I lie. He always does, every time. I could never get away with lying to my brother. My parents? They were easy but not Konner. He knows me too well. Here goes.

“Luke has a girlfriend,” I begin, hoping I can use enough truths to cover up my error that led to my dismissal. “She felt threatened by me, so she turned them all against me.” I keep my eyes on my lap, knowing he would see the untruths I was hiding. Pain accompanies the loud slap as my brother’s hand collides with my face. Spots dance before my eyes.

“Stop lying!” Konner demands. “Tell me the truth.” I nod and confess how I’d been shit talking to my friend, Valerie, and I’d been over heard. The beating I receive isn’t the nearly as bad as the one I expected. Although he does a really good job. I’ll be feeling this one for days, maybe a week. When he’s finished withteaching me a lesson, he continues to astound me. “You don’t know how badly you have fucked up. I needed you on the inside so we could get that bitch.”

“What are you talking about?” I ask timidly, afraid I will incur more wrath.

“Marley Morrison,” my brother spats. “Invictus Security is handling a case for her. I needed you to keep tabs on her. Now we have no way of getting the information we need.” I can tell my brother is highly pissed, but I can’t keep from asking questions.

“Why do you want information on Luke’s girlfriend?” My curiosity stronger than my self-preservation. His eyes widen at my words.

“She is Luke Robertson’s girlfriend?” I nod in response.

“Well that explains a lot.” My brother looks at the men in the room. “Now we know why he was so intent on helping the bitch.”

“You tell us all you know about this woman,” one of the men says in a thick accent. “Have you heard what happened to the men who’d kidnapped her a few months ago?” This is a question I can answer, although I fear the men’s reaction to the news. I nod.

“I overheard Luke and some of the others discussing it one day,” I inform them. “They said the FBI was pissed that the men were dead, and they didn’t have anyone to question about their intentions.” The man who’d questioned me jumps to his feet with rage in his eyes.

“Calm down, Jamuel,” my brother firmly instructs.

“Calm down?” Jamuel demands incredulously. “She just confirmed my brother is dead. I can’t calm down.” My eyes widen, the implications hitting me. My brother is in league with men who kidnapped Luke’s sister and girlfriend. I’d overheard they were planning to use the women as suicide bombers. Who does that? This is some really bad shit. My brother has always been drawn to dangerous people. It’s why he went to work for the FBI, but this is over the top. These men are murderers or at least want to be murders. I don’t understand how he came to bethis twisted to be involved in something so vile. Is this because of his job?

“What else can you tell us about Invictus or the woman?” my brother asks. I shrug. I’m not sure what would be helpful.

“I’m still friends with Erik who works there,” I offer. “I can find out what’s happening there, now. He and I always enjoyed gossiping about the goings on in the office.”

“Good, find out what you can,” Konner says. “The woman is no longer working at Jay’s bar. I want to know why and where she is working. It’s been impossible to tail her lately. Luke has had her on a tight leash of late.” I pull out my phone and text Erik. It takes a few back-and-forth messages and me agreeing to go out with Erik to find out the bitch has taken my job. The most interesting tidbit is Luke and Marley have taken the rest of the week off. They are getting married next weekend. I can’t believe how quickly the tramp has moved in on him. I manage to get the wedding details and relay them to my brother and his friends. I may have just made a huge mistake, because they are now talking about crashing the wedding and taking Marley again. This is insanity.What have I done?

MARLEY

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