“No onefucks with what’s mine. And certainly not a two-bit hacker no one will miss.” King aimed at the man’s head and, without another word, pulled the trigger.
The video cut off then, and I immediately looked to King.
Who didn’t look even a bit remorseful.
I didn’t even know where to start with the questions I wanted to ask, something that seemed to be the general theme among the others as well.
“I’m not sorry,” King said, his voice strong and clear. “He threatened to expose everything we’ve worked for. Everything we’re doing.”
“No one blames you for that.” Lachlan was the first to speak up, clearly having no issue with taking out someone who posed a threat. “But?—”
“Why is this the first we’ve heard about it?” I finished. If my tone sounded accusatory, it was because it was. It was one thing for King to withhold this from all of us. But six years ago also put the incident square in the we-were-together timeframe, which felt like another gut punch altogether. He hadn’t confided in me about this. Not even in the privacy of our bed. What else had he been hiding?Jesus.
“It was a long time ago,” was all King said, but that wasn’t going to cut it.
“Someone was after us and you didn’t think it was important to clue us in?” Lucien said.
“We had a lot going on at the time. We were under a lot of stress. Ihandledit.”
“But you didn’t have to handle it alone,” I said. King’s eyes met mine, and I could see the tiniest flicker of regret before it passed completely. “We’re a team. We deal with whatever comes our way together.”
Lachlan scoffed. “Like the way you kept this shit with Theo to yourself until he almost got blown up? That sound like teamwork to you?”
I narrowed my eyes. “You don’t know what you’re talking about. Getting to the truth of the matter was more important than putting him on blast.”
“Again, something you kept toyourself.”
“That’s enough of the blame game,” Lucien said, holding out his hands as he stepped in between us. “Let’s get back to what’s happening here. Clearly this video has something to do with the threats we’re receiving now, but why? Is it revenge?”
“Uh, yeah,” Theo said. “No shit it’s revenge. Probably whoever was on the other end of that call, since they were working together.”
“He said ‘eldest child privileges,’” Alessio mused, drumming his fingers over the mousepad. “King killed his younger brother.”
All eyes again landed on King, who suddenly didn’t have a hell of a lot to say.
“You thought you took care of the problem,” I said slowly, trying to work it all out in my head. “But you didn’t know there was a second party involved.”
“Another hacker,” Alessio added. “Which makes sense with Theo’s videos.”
“Great. So this whole thing could’ve been avoided had King thought to do some due diligence.” Sarcasm dripped from Theo’s words, and I couldn’t blame him. All these years had gone by with King thinking he’d left this in the past, only for whoever this was to come back with a vengeance. Someone who’d infiltrated our club and had been slowly gathering information for the perfect time.
“We need to check the records,” I said. “We’re looking for anyone who’s joined Libertine in the last six years.”
“But what does this have to do with targeting Theo now?” Lucien said.
I shook my head and went over to the wall of photos branching off from King. “Not just Theo. He’s just the first on the list, judging by these numbers. My guess is, it’s because he’s the best known of the group, and that would be one way to blow the lid off our organization.”
“Which is why you’re labeled second. The world knows who you are too,” Alessio said, nodding. “That makes sense. King’s the final target after he’s gotten rid of us all.”
“Exactly. Destroy King by destroying everything he’s worked for and every one of us involved.”
“Seven eyes for an eye seems a little extreme, but I can’t say I wouldn’t do it.” Lachlan shrugged.
I couldn’t disagree with him there. I’d been ready to burn the world and everyone in it down to get to Theo. Offing seven people who, even inadvertently, had a hand in his brother’s death? I could understand the rage.
But no one was touching Theoormy brothers as long as I was still breathing.
“There’s got to be something here that gives us a clue as to his identity,” Lucien murmured almost to himself as he started going through the files Theo had opened.
