“Fuck you.” But Mitch’s profanity just sounded silly, with him still in his underwear. “I’ve paid my debt.” He bent to pick up his clothes, then met my gaze boldly. “Do what you want with the information—I don’t give a shit anymore. I’m out of here.”

“Don’t move.” Ian aimed at Mitch’s head, and Mitch froze. “Ladies? Verdict?”

Kori glanced at me, and I hid the jolt of glee surging through me over the fact that she was consulting me about a strategic decision. “He did pay his debt.” With information that may or may not prove valid.

“Fine.” Kori turned back to Mitch and lowered her aim to his feet. “Let the rat scurry into his corner.”

Mitch glared at her, but wasted no time retrieving his shoes. Then he backed into the dark hall, and a second later I felt his absence, though I hadn’t actually seen him disappear.

“So, now what?” I asked as Ian and Kori holstered their guns.

“Now we rally the troops.” Kori pulled her phone from her pocket, ready to dial. “If Julia really is at the Eighth Street warehouse, she’s about to wish she’d preceded her brothers into the afterlife.”

I stared at the Curtis brothers while she made her first call, recruiting friends and allies to our purpose, thinking about Julia, and how her death was so long overdue.

Better late than never...

Twenty-One

Kris

My eyes opened, then closed again before the world could come into focus. Two half-blinks later, I managed to keep them open, but then exposure to the bright light brought pain roaring to life all over my body.

The headache was the worst. The pain at the back of my skull was sharp and intense, but another pain mirrored it behind my forehead, dull but persistent. A sure sign that I had a concussion—that my brain had been bounced around by whoever had hit me from behind.

But for another couple of seconds, I couldn’t remember actually being hit. Or where that had happened. All I knew was that I was now tied to a chair, my hands behind my back, my wrists already chafed by my bonds.

Having been in a similar position once before, I already knew that panicking would be a very bad idea. My energy would be better spent finding a way to free myself.

“Good morning, sunshine,” a familiar voice said, and when I looked up to find Julia Tower watching me from a folding chair four feet away, the rest of my memories slid into place.

A dark apartment.

The Curtis brothers, one dead, one tied up.

Then something had hit me from behind, and as I’d crumpled to the floor, struggling to keep my eyes open, someone had stepped up behind Chase Curtis and pulled a knife across his throat.

He’d died choking on his own blood as I lost consciousness.

I’d failed Sera again.

“Time to wake up now,” Julia sang in a falsely cheerful voice, tapping pointy-toed, high-heeled shoes on the stained concrete floor, and I forced my eyes to focus. “You and I are going to have a little chat.”

“I have nothing to say to you until you send Kenley home.” My voice was hoarse, and my throat was sore, and I wondered briefly if someone had tried to choke me while I was unconscious. Or maybe my throat had dried out from lack of use. How long had I been out?

Julia made a show of sniffing the air, which was completely unnecessary for Reading. “That smells like a lie.” Her forehead furrowed, perfectly manicured eyebrows dipping in disappointment with me. “Doesn’t matter, though. I didn’t expect you to cooperate without the proper motivation. Which is why we’ve brought your sister in to help motivate you.” She gestured with one hand, and movement to my left drew my gaze toward a typically beefy guard as he pulled a curtain back from the wall to reveal a long window.

Beyond the window, Kenley sat in a folding chair, in an otherwise empty room, which had probably once been an office. She was blindfolded, hands bound behind her back just like mine, and her head was slumped as if she was sleepy. But she looked otherwise unhurt.

My relief at seeing her intact was accompanied by a mental asterisk and the certainty that that fact was about to change. Why else would Julia show me my sister?

“When Korinne was still in our company, there was nothing she wouldn’t do to protect the baby of the family, and I’m betting the same goes for you.” Julia glanced from Kenley to me, her neatly painted lips curled in derision. “The Daniels’ family really believes that blood is thicker than water. Doesn’t it?”

“That’s an odd criticism coming from a woman who had her own brother murdered.” I glanced at the guards stationed around the room, hoping for a reaction, but none of them even blinked, that I could tell.

“They already know.” Julia crossed her ankles beneath her folding chair. “Most of them don’t care. Jake wasn’t exactly loved by most of his employees. Those who do object to his timely demise are prohibited from expressing their displeasure by the contracts binding them to me.”

I frowned as what she’d said sank in. “She isn’t Jake Tower’s heir,” I called, loud enough to be heard throughout the room. No one reacted.

“They know that, too. These are all my men.”

“New hires?” I didn’t think she’d answer. I was wrong. In fact, she seemed quite forthcoming, which probably meant she was proud of herself.

“Some of them.” Julia smoothed her suit jacket over the blue blouse beneath. “Others were on Jake’s staff, most of which knows all about Sera’s surprise inheritance, thanks to the curse of instant communication.”