“I’m trying,” Monica groaned, still rubbing against him like she hadn’t heard a damn thing.
Then someone banged on the door.
“Get your ass out here!” Creed yelled. “We got him.”
The words hit like a bucket of ice water.
Kane stilled. “We’ll finish this later,” he said, lowering her to her feet, sealing the promise with a quick, heated kiss. “And there’s no way you’re staying in here while I deal with this, is there?”
“Not a chance.” Monica straightened her clothes, ran her fingers through her hair, her expression hardening. “I want to see the person who tried to kill me... kill us.”
He didn’t argue. She was safe. She would stay safe. And he understood that look in her eyes far too well to deny her.
Kane opened the door.
“Where is the fucker?” he demanded.
Creed stood just beyond the threshold, his expression grim.
The room was packed with both Guardians and Warriors. The tension was so thick you could choke on it. Kane’s gaze swept the faces until it locked onto the last person he expected to see handcuffed and standing between Charger and King.
In that very instant, everything shifted.
CHAPTER 31
Monica almost ran into the back of Kane when he came to a complete stop walking out of the bathroom. Glancing around him, she saw Creed and King, but then Kane moved. Standing next to King was Ken, her brother-in-law.
“What are you doing he—” Her question stopped as her eyes lowered to his wrists that were encased in handcuffs. “No,” Monica shook her head, trying to piece together what in the hell was going on.
“Monica, it’s not what it looks like,” Ken said, taking a step toward her, but Creed stopped him with a hard slap to the chest. “Take one more move toward her, and you will die.”
“We found the van, shot up with bullet holes on the side of the road,” Jared informed Kane. “Good shooting, by the way. Not easy to hit a target sliding across asphalt.”
“Then further down the road, we saw this dumbass running,” Sid nodded toward Ken, who looked terrified. “He tried to say he was out for a jog.”
“Which was a lie,” Adam spoke up with a cocked eyebrow at Ken.
“Obviously,” Jared snorted. “I mean, who goes out for a jog dressed like he’s been in the office all day?”
“He said he wasn’t alone,” Creed added. “The rest of the guys are out trying to find the other one.”
“I didn’t know he was going to shoot at you. We were just supposed to be following you, that’s all.” Ken said, his eyes never leaving Monica’s. “I swear it.”
“Who ishe?” Kane growled, his eyes black as he glared at Ken.
“One of Farrar’s guys. That’s all I know.” Ken said his eyes shot toward Kane. “I put an AirTag in your shoe so you could be followed. That’s how they knew you were meeting up with these guys. Dammit, Monica, I told you to leave all of this alone. Why didn’t you listen to me? Beverly may still be alive today if you had just stopped.”
The rage she’d been holding back since the night her sister vanished finally tore loose. Monica moved before anyone could stop her.
She crossed the room in a blur and slapped him hard across the face, the crack echoing off the walls.
“What did youfuckingdo?” she screamed, hitting him again, her hand stinging, her vision burning.
“I made a bad business deal and owed Griffen money,” Ken snapped, tears spilling now, humiliation twisting his face. “A lot of money. I didn’t know it wasn’t his to lend. When I couldn’t pay him back, he threatened me. Said he’d take Beverly until I could.”
Something inside Monica went cold.
“You sold my sister,” she whispered, a fact she now knew to be true.
