Page 73 of Taint My Soul

“They were gone for three days before we even found you.” Virgil reveals.

“He left us to die.” I couldn’t believe it. Cyrus didn’t put himself through all of that to hand me mercy on a silver platter. He wanted to kill me, but he wanted to torture and break me first. So I didn’t just believe that he took his soldiers and abandoned us at the Greyhouse.

“You’re both alive. That’s all that matters.” Virgil huffs a breath.

“Is he awake?” I look up at Syn.

“He’s not important, Saint. We have a problem.” Virgil cuts me off. I glance up at him, meeting his apprehensive expression. Something’s wrong. Something must have happened at Kingston City in my absence. “Law enforcement raided our mansion. They investigated our businesses. Looked into everything.”

My heart sinks instantly. I clench my patient gown and breathe hard and look at Virgil for answers. “And? Did they find the ledgers at the house?”

“They found nothing. Father moved it to a safe house on Red Island.”

Territory of the Zaire family. We still had ties with their syndicate. I had been on the island a few times, and I even had the honor of meeting the mafia boss.

“Is the case still open?”

“Syn’s sister buried everything. But we need to be really careful, brother.”

“What evidence did they have?”

“Our family’s map.” Virgil pulls out his phone and shows me a picture of the evidence. “They got a warrant and stormed the mansion.”

My jaw flexes as I hand the phone over to him. “And when did they raid the house?”

“Thursday morning.”

“It happened after Cyrus took us.” I whisper to myself. It couldn’t have been Mason. Bernard is the only man who knows about the private house I own in Genesis City. He’s the only man aware that I have some important things hidden in that house. “And have you found anything on Neo?”

“No. We were preoccupied with keeping law enforcement off our tail.” Virgil responds monotonously.

“And father? Is he alright?”

“He isn’t speaking to any of us, Saint. You need to come home.”

“We’ll leave tonight.”

“Alright. We’ll both be outside.” Syn cocks his head toward the door and gets on his feet. As they both head out, I call out to Virgil. “Well done, brother.”

He gives me a tight-lipped smile and enters the hallway with Syn. After a while, the doctor comes in to check my vitals. When he finishes, he removes the IV infusion and leaves the patient’s room. Virgil comes in right after dropping off a suit.

As I put it on, a knock rasps against the door. I turn around, hands on the buttons of the shirt as Prince enters the room. I called off the deal the last time I saw him. But he put his neck on the line for me. Maybe that calls for another chance. “Thank you for saving me.”

“Of course,” Prince smiles. “Your friend woke up a few hours ago.”

My eyes widen, and my heart thuds in my chest. The reality of everything that happened between us in that godforsaken place hijacks my thoughts.

Fuck!

I had so many other things to take care of besides Mason. My family’s business empire almost crumbled. Bernard might have sworn allegiance to another family right under my nose. My father is months away from dying, which leaves me as the successor of the syndicate. If we had lost everything, then there would be nothing to succeed. We’d be standing trial in a courthouse right now and possibly be sentenced to prison for the rest of our lives. Worst of all, I still didn’t have any information about our shipment or the torched warehouse.

I can’t think of him because he doesn’t matter to me.

He shouldn’t matter to me.

What matters is my family.

I may have lost sight of that when I was with him, but I’d never forget.