Page 9

“I’ve got it covered. I’m working on his wife.” William smirks. “Jenn’s a fucking bleeding heart. She found out about the women, but I told her I’d let her get some out. The damaged ones. I’ll have her so ensnared he won’t be able to move without tightening the noose around her neck.”

“Jenn Stewart?” Mark shakes his head. “Fuck, this is like high school all over again. She doesn’t want anything to do with you, William. She never did.”

William narrows his eyes at Mark, then brushes it off.

“I just wanted you to be aware there’s a situation but I’m handling it.” William seems confident.

“No, you aren’t. You need to let us deal with this. You were always irrational when it came to Jenn.” Bruce steps forward and touches William’s arm. “The deal you made with Sean still stands. He’s upheld his end. He works for you, and you leave Jenn alone. If you’re messing with her now, you aren’t upholding your end of the deal.”

William shrugs off Bruce’s touch. He doesn’t like the idea of leaving Jennifer alone. Does he still feel that way? Or is he imagining Harper in Jenn’s place? Fuck, either way isn’t good for any of us.

I focus on William. There’s the crack. The anger. “Sean broke our agreement by digging too deep into our business. Worried about the numbers not adding up.”

“That’s his fucking job. You need to hide that shit better. Make it go away.” Mark gestures toward William. “You need to back away from this. Let us take care of this issue.”

“Politely fuck off.” William straightens his cuffs, appearing in control again. The cold mask drops back into place. “This is under my control. She’d do anything to protect their child. The little brat. I’ll have Jenn wrapped around my fingers soon enough, and that will control Sean. He’ll come to heel.”

There’s another sound, and the video ends.

“I didn’t know.” The words come from the doorway. We all turn to see Robert. He’s pale and looks like he’s about to throw up. “Honest to god, Jenn. I shouldn’t have told Sean. I thought it was the only way out. Fuck.”

CHAPTER 4

The Contact

Harper

What the fuck did we just watch? My heart pounds in my ears. Luke holds me close as we turn to look at Robert in the doorway. What does he mean?

“He never should have been there.” Robert runs his hand over his face. He looks around at all of us, like he just noticed we’re here too. He straightens like he’s said too much. Like we’re children.

We’re so past the whole protect us phase.

“They know almost everything.” My mom’s voice is resigned. “You can explain to us your part in this.”

Robert drags in a breath. “The plan was for Sean to set up equipment and record the meeting. Not be there. He was never supposed to be there.”

“What did you mean by your only way out?” Jack asks his dad.

Robert flinches as his eyes go to his son’s. “We hoped whatever they talked about would be enough to bring William down.”

“It could’ve brought you all down,” Mom says. She sounds strong, but tired.

I turn to her. She stands and brushes her hands off on her jeans.

“They were talking about their businesses. Businesses you were involved in at one point. Illegal businesses.” Every word out of my mom’s mouth is like a physical punch to Robert. He flinches.

Jack rubs a hand down his face. Part of him desperately wanted his father not to be a part of this. To not be culpable for my father’s disappearance and possible death.

Eli gestures to the chair for Robert. “Why don’t you explain and fill in the blanks on what we don’t know about that night?”

“What are you guys getting into?” Robert takes a step toward the chair but stops to look at Jack. “How deep into this are you?”

“You may not understand it, but Luke, Eli, Caden, and Nico are my family.” Jack takes a breath. His blue eyes meet mine, and his love shines at me. “We all love Harper, and she loves us.”

Robert lowers into the chair, but he doesn’t say anything, just listens as Jack goes on.

“We need a way out from under William.” He smirks at his father warily. “I’m guessing that’s what you and Sean were looking for as well. As long as William has a hold on Luke, he has a hold on all of us. We need something that will either make him back off or put him away for good.”