“No one fires a shot,” barks Ash. To Quinn, he asks, “Is that what you want?”
“I don’t want anyone to get hurt,” she says, her voice quavering. “It’s better this way.”
The man holding her tips his head to the others, and they start backing out through the kitchen door.
“Fuck this, no!” I cry out, moving past my brothers.
As the kitchen door closes, Hunter spins fast. He turns his rifle and uses it as a ram to push me back and pin me against the nearest wall. Ash steps in front of us to cover our backs in case Ilya’s men decide to return.
“We’re not risking our lives for her,” Hunter says. “She’s made her choice.”
“She’s being coerced!”
“Who gives a shit!?” Mace yells at me. “Quinn was prepared to hand over Lily and Maddie, presumably in exchange for her sister! That’s a bargain we can never forgive. Neither should you.”
Quinn wouldn’t do that, but as my mind spins, I can’t think of any other explanation. I scan the shop for answers, my gaze snagging on the blood. Oh, god. There was blood. “Who was shot?”
“Me,” Simon answers. “It’s just a flesh wound.”
“The girls are on their way back to the house,” Ash says. “And we should follow. Now.”
I don’t resist when I’m dragged out onto the street. While everyone else remains on alert, my gun hangs uselessly by my side. I said I’d never let Quinn go, but I didn’t fight for her. In the face of her betrayal, I chose my brothers, just like she told me I would.
Chapter 26
Reid
I’m pinned between Ash and Hunter in the back of an SUV as we drive at speed down the expressway. As the youngest, I was always relegated to the middle seat, but I suspect this time, my brothers have chosen their positions so they can act as props to my sagging frame.
Jake’s driving and Mace is up front with him, murmuring into his phone. “We’re right behind you,” he says softly. “How are you feeling? Are you lightheaded?” He listens. “Good. I’ll explain when we get there. Once you get home, let Connie look after you. I’ll see you soon. I love you, Slayer.”
Connie is our housekeeper, and the nearest thing we have to a mother figure since my mom died six years ago. I miss Mom, and Dad too, but knowing how different Quinn’s upbringing was, I’m grateful to have had two loving parents for as long as I did.
Quinn’s never known stability except the life she carved out for herself and Blake. Is that why she couldn’t trust anyone else to bring her sister home? Is that enough to forgive her for doing Ilya’s bidding without argument? Doesit go any way to explain why she told me she loved me at the very moment she was offering up Maddie and Lily as sacrificial lambs?
“The girls both seem to be fine,” says Mace, glancing back at us when he finishes the call.
“Yeah, Maddie says she hasn’t noticed any side effects so far. She’s just in shock,” replies Hunter. “But I’m not going to rest until I see her for myself.”
Mace glances back at me. His eyes are cold. “Same.”
Ash leans towards the door and takes something from the side pocket. He hands me Quinn’s purse. “At least one mystery is solved.”
“I need to check it,” Mace says, reaching through the gap in the seats.
“Give me a fucking break,” I hiss, clutching Quinn’s purse to my chest.
“Leave it for now, Mace,” Ash says. “We can reassess everything once we’re home.”
Mace doesn’t say anything else. No one says anything else, and eventually the grey cityscape gives way to green fields and rolling hills. I catch sight of the glistening expanse of Lake Michigan now and again, but mostly I just stare off into space. My brain stalls every time I try and fail to order my thoughts into something that makes sense. Eventually give up. I register when we arrive home on some level, but I don’t move until Ash pulls and Hunter pushes me out of the car.
I’m numb from the neck up, or I think I am until I see Hunter sweep Maddie into his arms. Lily leaps at Mace, wrapping her legs around his waist. The bodies of each couple meld into each other like they’re forming two halves of the same puzzle. I thought I had that with Quinn.
When Maddie catches me silently falling apart, shepulls away from Hunter, but before she can reach me, I turn away. “I’m sorry,” I call out as I bolt.
I race through the house, rushing past Ash’s open study door. More doors pass in a blur, and when I reach the kitchen, I don’t stop. I’m heading for the back exit. I need to find somewhere far enough away that no one will hear me scream, but Connie steps into my path. I almost knock her over, but she’s stronger than she looks. I fall into her open arms. And I sob.
“Oh, sweetheart,” she says, standing on tiptoe so I can press my head into her shoulder while she rubs my back. “The girls said there was an attack. Thank goodness they got away, but your friend…?”
