“RYTH!” Tobias barked, shoving aside onlookers as he pulled me out of the store.
But I couldn’t feel his hand, nor their stares. I couldn’t feel anything but that empty feeling in the center of my chest.
“What the fuck happened?” Nick charged forward, quickly looking around.
“Lazarus happened,” Tobias answered, glancing my way.
Rage exploded in Nick’s eyes as he scanned me. “Did he hurt you?”
He’s fucking lucky he’s still breathing. You have no idea how close we were to putting a bullet in his goddamn brain. Lazarus’ words resounded, hollow and strange in my head. “He said mom’s lying,” I muttered as Tobias dragged me toward the front doors of the mall. I turned to look right at Tobias. “He said she was lying.”
“Yeah, well…” he muttered.
I flinched. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
He said nothing, just lengthened his stride, forcing me to step faster to keep up. Caleb was striding toward us as we hit the automatic doors and made our way outside. “What happened?”
“Lazarus,” Nick answered. “Seems the mouthy bastard had plenty to say.”
Caleb focused on Tobias’ hold on my arm, then the pained look in my eyes. “You’re hurting her.”
“What?” Tobias growled.
Caleb moved toward me. “Let go of her arm, T, you’re hurting her.”
His grip eased instantly before he looked down at the reddening marks on my arm. “Sorry.’
We went straight to the car, climbing in amongst the mountain of bags. I stared at the bags beside me on the rear seat. I didn’t want them anymore, any of it. I leaned forward and put my face in my hands.
“Ryth?” Caleb called my name from the driver’s seat.
“Ryth, talk to us,” Nick urged in front of me.
But Tobias said nothing. I could feel the chill coming from him and the memory of that gun aimed at him turned the panic inside me cold. He could’ve been killed…all because of me.
I opened my eyes and turned to him.
He stared straight ahead, those dark eyes growing darker as Caleb started the Lamborghini and pulled out of the parking lot.
“He said dad stole from them.” My gaze drifted as Laz’s words came back to me. “What the fuck did he steal, it sure as hell wasn’t money!”
The car grew uncomfortably quiet…too quiet. “What did he steal?” I repeated, and turned to Caleb first, then Nick.
“Drugs,” Tobias answered beside me, his glare burning a hole in the back of Caleb’s head. “Your father ran drugs for the Rossis.”
“Drugs?” I whispered, and slowly shook my head. “No, that’s not right.”
Caleb met my gaze in the rear-view mirror. “It’s the truth.”
“Drugs?” The word slammed around in my head. “My dad stole drugs?”
“Drug money,” Caleb answered as he changed gears and punched the accelerator. The sleek sports car didn’t feel heavy and throbbing like the Mustang. Instead, it charged forward, tearing around corners under expert hands. We flew back home, hitting the driveway with a jolt until the Lamborghini’s engine died.
Drug money…my father stole drug money. Jesus…this was bad…this was really, really fucking bad. My brothers climbed out and Caleb headed for the door, leaving Nick and Tobias to carry my bags inside. But there was a difference now. Nick stayed back, scanning the street as Tobias hustled me inside.
Did they think Lazarus was going to come for me?
Jesus. It hit me like a punch to my chest. They did…they thought Laz or the Rossis were coming for me! This was all because mom had lied to me. I hurried inside and headed for the kitchen, yanking open the refrigerator door. My bags were dropped on the kitchen floor before Caleb turned to us. “I want to know exactly what Lazarus said, word for word.”
“What the fuck does it matter?”
Caleb braced a hand on the counter and directed his laser focus at Tobias. “It matters.”
Tobias scowled, but then repeated what Lazarus had said, word for word, exactly how Lazarus said it.
“Jesus,” Caleb swore as he turned away, pacing the kitchen floor.
“What?” I whispered, narrowing in on his face.
He stopped halfway across the floor.
“Spit it out, brother,” Nick snapped. “What the fuck is it?”
“I knew he was a lying piece of shit,” Caleb snarled, staring at the ground. “I just fucking knew it.”
“Knew what?” Nick snarled, turning to him. “Tell us!”
“The day he came home covered in blood splatter and took Ryth on that goddamn joyride, I knew something had happened. So I went to his study. I logged into his computer and I found where he’d been.”
My breaths stopped, and my heart hammered.
“His diary had the name Mitchelton.”
My stomach sank. “Mitchelton…as in Mitchelton Prison?”
No one answered. I guessed that was answer enough. My mind raced, trying to piece it all together.
“It could be nothing,” Caleb said, but he shook his head.
“And it could be everything.” Tobias took a step closer, a savage look burning in his eyes. “I told you what he was fucking like. I told you what he was doing when the three of us were here with mom the day she got her test results. I fucking told you, and still you kept telling me it was a goddamn mistake. He broke her heart…he broke her fucking heart.” Tobias looked at me, and something shifted behind the darkness in his eyes. “While we were holding mom as she fell apart, he was cock deep in some woman’s pussy…three of them, to be exact. I fucking beat the shit out of Lazarus when he told me, when he’d done nothing more than have my goddamn back. Because it ruined our fucking friendship, all because dad couldn’t handle the fact his wife was dying.”
I couldn’t speak, couldn’t look away. Not from the agony that flared in his eyes, or his words that practically bled. “Now do you believe me?” He turned to glare at Nick. “Brother?”
The muscles of Nick’s throat clenched. “Yeah,” he answered. “I believe you.”
“The study,” Caleb growled. “There has to be more information, something I didn’t see before.”
Tobias nodded, his lips curling into a sinister smile. “Then let’s rip it apart.”
Nick looked my way. “Down to the fucking concrete if we have to.”
“Princess.” Caleb reached for my hand. “Let’s get to the bottom of this.”
My knees shook as I stepped forward and took his hand. We all headed for the study, and Caleb threw open the door and hit the button for the blinds. Sunlight flooded in, revealing all those dark corners and filthy secrets. I glanced at the rows and rows of law books on the shelves and felt sick to my stomach.
What the fuck was Creed up to? And why the hell was my mom involved?
Caleb rounded the desk and hit the button, bringing the computer to life. I’d let Creed buy me things, let him treat me with kindness, and all the while…
Nausea rolled through me again.
All the while he was planning, what?
Nick leaned over Caleb’s shoulder as he unlocked his father’s computer and set to work opening and scanning every file he could. Caleb knew what he was doing, knew what he was looking for, hitting all the commands the computer needed to search through files and files of documents.
“Where is the money?”
Tobias jerked his gaze to me. “What?”
I met his stare. “Where is the money? The feds took everything, surely if they’d found something, we’d know, right?”
Caleb lifted his gaze from the monitor. “Not necessarily, not if they’re building a case.”
“A case against who? They already have my dad in prison.”
Caleb glanced at Nick as Tobias let out a harsh bark of laughter. “They’re coming after us, is that it?”
“Who else could it be?” I asked. “First dad is gone, then that very same night mom drags us here…to be a family.”
Caleb pushed up from the chair at the same time as Nick whirled.
“That’s what this is all about, isn’t it? It’s not just a marriage, it’s a pact, a pact between your father and my mom,” I declared as some of it became clear to me.
“Jesus,” Nick whispered. “She’s right.”
Electricity hummed in the room, standing the hairs on my arms on end.
“Now all we need is to find out why,” Caleb stated, glancing at the monitor.
“And what happened to my dad,” I added. “That first. That first and everything else after.”
“Agreed,” Nick said. “Everything else we can figure out, but family is priority.”
My chest lightened with his words. Something fluttered against my heart, or it could have been my heart. Nick held my stare and I knew for the first time that this was what true loyalty felt like.
It didn’t bail. It was true and grounded.
It was raw and hungry, just like this thing we shared between us…all of us.
“Then let’s get to work,” Tobias urged. “You go through the computer and I’m going through these damn books. Something has to be here, somewhere.”
Tobias stepped over to the bookshelf and grabbed the middle book on the shelf nearest his hand, tugging it free. The gold edged navy blue tome weighed down his hand. The look of disgust on his face grew as he flipped through the pages and dropped it to the floor. It hit with a thump. Nick and Caleb stared, like that was sacrilegious, the breaking of a spell. Maybe it was…maybe I had a spell to break, too.
I moved toward another shelf and reached out.
“Not those, little mouse,” Tobias warned, stilling my hand. “Those are mom’s.”
I pulled my hand away, glancing at the few journals. The spines were creased and the covers were worn. I didn’t know why I hadn’t seen it before. The divide in books was so damn obvious. This section was small and messy, filled with journals and thick, softcover books, whereas the ones that Tobias had yanked free, only to flip through the pages and drop to the ground, were crisp and new almost.
Thud.
Thud.
Thud.
Book by book, Tobias pulled the bookshelves apart. We searched the rest of the day. Caleb grew frustrated searching the computer and traded places with Nick, only to yank open the drawers of Creed’s desk and search every space he could.
Thud.
“There’s nothing here,” Tobias growled, yanking another book from the shelf.
“Keep looking,” Caleb muttered.
Tobias yanked the next one free without even searching the pages. “There’s…nothing here.”
I bent, grabbed the book on statute law he’d dropped, and flicked through the pages, my fingers shaking.
“Then we damn well keep looking until we find something.” Caleb upended a drawer and knelt amidst the contents.
Tobias was right.
Deep down, I knew it. It was what I was afraid of.
“Fuck this!” Nick shoved the keyboard across the desk. My back ached as I shoved up to a stand, looking around at the desolation. We’d moved from one side of the study to the other, searching every book…all except the small section of their mom’s, left untouched.
There was nothing here.
Nick leaned forward, resting his head in his hands on the desk.
Silence.
Strained silence.
Underneath that, hope sounded like the scrape of screws coming undone.
“We need a break,” Caleb muttered.
I glanced out the window at the fading sunlight. We’d been searching most of the day with no breaks, no stopping, our frustrations growing by the hour.
“Food, shower, and we make a better plan,” Nick stated.
“I need to fuck or fight. I need…” He glanced my way, then winced. “Forget it.”
He was gone in a blur, making for the open door and disappearing. The heavy thud of his footsteps on the stairs sounded, then faded.
“I’m going to get food.” Caleb turned from the window. “I’m goddamn starving.”
“You going to be right here?” Tobias turned to me.
I saw the hunger in his eyes, the caged, seething anger that needed release. “Go,” I murmured. “I’m fine.”
A nod and he turned away. I didn’t need to ask where he was going. It was where he always went when he was riled, running.
Caleb left the study, with Tobias not far behind, leaving me alone in the middle of the destruction. I looked around at the mess of books and upturned drawers, my gaze drifting to the untouched shelves of their mother’s journals.
Ones they didn’t want to touch. I stepped closer, the urge to pull them apart just to make sure still in my mind. But the moment I touched the cover of the first journal, I knew I couldn’t do it. Naomi Banks lingered like a ghost in this place, leaving behind far too many memories and wounds that still bled. I pulled my hand away and left the study, listening to the front door thud as I stepped out.
The house was quiet. Too damn quiet. “Nick,” I called softly, and climbed the stairs.
But there was no answer, then, as I hit the landing on our floor, the grunt of sex spilled out under his closed door. I flinched, pain flaring as I was drawn to the sound.
The sound of fucking.
“Nick?” I murmured, and cracked open his door.
The slick slaps of flesh on flesh sounded. Nick lay on the bed, his cock hard and ridged in one hand, and his phone in the other. I flinched as though I’d been slapped. My insides clenched as it hit me.
Porn…he was watching porn…
Pain flared through my chest until the familiar female groan came to my ears.
“What the fuck?” I exclaimed.
Nick wrenched open his eyes. “Ryth,” he groaned, his phone dropping to the bed.
On the screen, the sex played out. Only it wasn’t the kind of sex I’d expected.
It was him and me…with Tobias standing naked in the background.
Nick’s head was buried between my legs before he rose. His cock filled the screen before the camera angled in, following the movement as he entered me for the first time.
On the screen, I bucked, moaning as that thick head slid inside me. My body was quivering, my moans ringing louder. “More,” I whimpered in stereo. “More Nick.”
I couldn’t think. My mind was racing. “You recorded us?”
Shame and hunger moved across his face. “Yeah.”
I stepped closer to the bed, my gaze divided between us on the screen and that same thick cock in his hand. “And you watch us?”
He licked his lips. “Yeah.”
Surprise, jealousy, and satisfaction collided. He was still hard, still aching. Déjà vu hit me. He’d watched me on that first day when he took me to the park. He’d watched my clumsy attempt at pleasuring myself.
Now I wanted to see him.
“Keep going,” I ordered, meeting his gaze. “I want to watch.”
There was a flare of surprise before his hand went back around his cock and slowly moved up and down. Only this time, he didn’t watch the screen…he watched me. The real me.
I forced myself to stay where I was. Heat moved through me as he clenched his fist around that hard length. My mouth watered, watching the vein under his shaft pulse with the pressure. Firm, strong. Corded muscles flexed on his arm as he slid along that smooth length, stroking all the way to the head, and then fisted hard back down.
A tiny clear teardrop formed at the tip.
I stepped closer, unable to hold myself back anymore.
“How many times have you watched it?” I murmured.
“A…lot,” he groaned, his brows furrowing.
“Do you have other recordings…of other women?”
“No,” he answered, his hand never stopping working that hard thickness as it blushed at the head. “Only you.”
“Because I was a virgin the night you fucked me?” I reached out, grazing my finger along the heat to capture that bead.
He let out a deep moan, part animal, part man. “Yes.”
I sucked the taste of him from my finger. “And because I was to be your sister?”
His body quaked, his cock spasmed at the words. He didn’t need to speak. I saw it all.
“Your sister,” I whispered, ‘who you drove to the park. Your sister who you made spread her legs in your car and fuck herself.”
He closed his eyes and dropped his head backward. “Fuck, yes.”
“You want that again, Nick?” I whispered. “You want to see me in your car, my legs open, my white panties yanked aside?”
He came with a long groan, cum shooting to splash against his stomach.
Fuck, if my own body didn’t pulse and tighten with the image. I’d never seen anything so carnal.
Beep. A text splashed across the screen.
Natalie: Baby please…
The sight of her name hit me like a slap. I flinched and stepped backwards as Nick opened his eyes.
“What?” he groaned, and pushed upwards, concern flaring in his eyes.
I couldn’t stop the jealousy from stealing me away from the moment we’d just shared. “It seems your girlfriend didn’t take the hint,” I snarled. “Maybe you weren’t as clear as you said you were.”
Then I turned and stormed out of the room as my own phone vibrated in my pocket. I reached for it as pain stabbed through my chest.
“Ryth!” Nick called as I slammed his door closed. “For fuck’s sake, Ryth!”
But I didn’t want to speak to him, not now. I headed for my bedroom, the only place of sanctuary I had, and slammed the door behind me.
“Fuck off, Nick,” I growled as the heavy thud of his footsteps rang out. “I’m warning you, just leave me alone.”
I gripped my phone and sat down on the end of the bed. Deep down, I knew I was being irrational, that if she was pleading with him, that he’d made it more than clear he was done.
Still, I couldn’t stop the pain, or that overwhelming feeling of helplessness.
Beep.
My phone sounded again. I dragged my thumb across the screen and unlocked it.
Gio: If you want the information, then you need to see me.
What?
I scrolled down, reading the previous texts.
Gio: Lazarus held back the truth about your dad. He’s alive. He’s asking for you. But I’ll only talk to you, Ryth, not your fucking asshole brothers. So, if you want to know, then it needs to be done in secret and tonight.
I reread the message, my pulse thundering as my phone beeped again.
Gio: It’s now or never. Come to the address I sent. I’m waiting right now.
Nick’s heavy steps sounded before the slam of his bedroom door. “Fuck you, Natalie!” he screamed. “Fucking bitch!”
My brother raged as I shoved upwards, my heart in the back of my throat. I couldn’t stop staring at the text. If you want to know, then it needs to be done in secret…and tonight.
Dad…
If he was out there, I had to know he was safe. I went to my door and quietly turned the handle. But if I told Nick, there was no way Gio would talk. Not after what they’d done. I could be there and back before they knew.
Only then I’d know where dad was…
That thought drove me as I crept past Nick’s door and headed for Tobias’. I stepped in, hurried to his desk, and grabbed the keys for his Jeep. I’d be back within the hour. They’d never even know I was gone…
