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I swallowed thickly as irritation bloomed in my chest. What the fuck had I ever done to him except exist? It was bullshit for him to blame his shortcomings on me. I had been a little girl—the only little girl on the compound—and as hard as the men in our family were, they were also fathers.
They saw young me as someone to dote on when the urge struck and nothing more, but all he saw was one more person to split the gold with.
“Are you okay?” Shara asked, soft understanding on her face.
“I think I hate him,” I admitted. When she nodded, encouraging me to continue, I did. “I spent my whole life putting him on a pedestal as one of my closest allies, my best friend, and he never felt the same. I’m so sick of men thinking it’s okay to use and abuse women’s feelings to get what they want. I mean, Christ. Do they think we’ll just lie down and take it?”
There was so much bubbling inside that I realized it wasn’t just my cousin I was mad at; it was Joaquin too. It was the remnants of the anger I’d felt toward Nate and even Dominic when he’d first come back. I thought I’d worked through it, but some still remained and that pissed me off.
“Cameron probably assumed you’d never find out, or if you did, it would be too late to do anything.”
Light from the coffee table stole my attention, and I stiffened as Cameron’s phone rang. Grey had downloaded the files on it right away, and while he was digging through them, I’d kept the phone close, waiting for Cash to reach out. Even though it irritated me that my eyes kept straying to it, I couldn’t seem to put it too far out of my reach.
“Hey, Shara. I gotta go.”
“Okay. Be careful, babe.”
“You too. I’ll call you as soon as I can.”
“Don’t worry about me. The boys are taking good care of me.” She waggled her eyebrows and gave me an exaggerated wink.
Grateful for the tension-breaker, I grinned. “Don’t forget—no glove, no love.”
She barked a laugh. “You know I have stock in condoms. Talk soon.”
With another quick love you, we both hung up.
Tossing my phone to the side, I moved to the other. The text from Cash was two sentences that boiled my blood.
You’re late. Where’s my intel?
And there it was, a blatant reminder of just how far Cameron had fallen. His treachery infuriated me, jolting me into action before I could overthink it.
Sorry to say, your little mouse got caught in a trap. Seems you’ll have to find another.
I wondered how long I’d have to wait for a response, but Cash texted almost immediately.
Is that you, little queen? Have you stolen one more thing from your cousin?
No, I’ve stolen from you. He’s just an added bonus.
Enjoy my leftovers. I’ve got enough intel to get to you if I want, but I’m enjoying our game too much to end it at this point.
It’s so fun watching you squirm.
I hope you’re still saying that when I kill you.
I gritted my teeth and sent back one more message before breaking the phone in half and throwing it to the side.
If you want me, come and find me.
As usual, I sought solace in the gym. I spent some time with a heavy bag and then realized all I wanted to do was run. I had just done my fifth mile when Grey rushed in.
A quick tap to my phone paused my music, and I pulled out the earbud. “What’s wrong?”
“You should see this.”
Grabbing a towel to wipe my face, I followed him through the house to his office. As with the rest of our new home, Greyson had taken his time to make sure the room was perfect for his needs. He’d set up multiple massive work desks, each with their own docking station so he could manipulate whatever tech he was messing with, but the highlight of the room was an entire wall of monitors that he could move around at will.
