“You think you know everything, little girl, but you know nothing.” He jabs the gun into my crotch. “I didn’t kill your father.”
“Liar,” I hiss. “You’ve already admitted it.”
He flashes me that stupid-ass grin. “Because I wanted you to believe it.”
“Now you’re saying you didn’t kill Trey? You expect us to believe it?” Mom asks, lifting a brow.
“I was getting ready to kill him, and my plan was way more fun than a staged car accident, but Homeland beat me to it.”
Genuine shock splays across my face. “Why the fuck would Homeland want to kill my dad?” I ask although my brain has already started connecting the dots. Sinner grips my chin tighter, grinning as he waits for me to work it out. “They were looking for the files.”
“Ding, ding, ding.” Sinner swipes a beer, knocking it back, while Mom and I trade concerned looks.
“What was on those files?” Theo asks, speaking louder so his voice carries from his table.
“You mean your little FBI contact didn’t tell you?” Sinner gloats. I’m glad he doesn’t seem to know about Diesel, or the fact the commissioner isn’t dead, but he could be bluffing to draw me into telling him the truth. Mom’s face is immobile as she goes along with it too.
I shake my head. “No. Care to enlighten me?”
“You know, Harlow, this would’ve turned out differently if you’d just trusted me.” He caresses my face, keeping his gun pressed against my pussy, ensuring I can’t make any move.
I snort. “You’re fucking joking, right? You’re the least trustworthy person I know.”
“Then you’ve been hanging around the wrong people.” He rubs his thumb along my lower lip.
Mom flinches, but I warn her with my eyes. Now that we’ve got him talking, we don’t want him to stop.
“I’m one of the most loyal people you could meet—as long as you don’t betray me.” His eyes are like poisonous laser beams as he stabs his gaze in Saint and Galen’s direction. His hostility toward Theo and Caz isn’t as severe, because they’re not blood, but there’s no doubt whatever punishment he has in mind is for all of us.
“Maybe if you’d told me about the files, I would’ve admitted I had them,” I bluster.
“Then I would’ve had to tell you everything, and you’d done nothing to earn my trust.”
“I killed the commissioner for you.”
“You did, but I know there was some ulterior motive. And we’ll get to the bottom of that before the night is done.”
Alisha moans on our other side, blinking as she falls in and out of consciousness.
Sinner grabs one of her bare breasts, squeezing hard. “Worthless junkie whore.”
I want to snatch his hand back, but he’s got a gun pressed to the most precious part of my body, and I’m taking no chances. “Tell me what was on those Homeland files, and I’ll tell you about the commissioner,” I lie.
“We were hired by Homeland Security to retrieve those files. A disgruntled employee had stolen them. Apparently, he was planning on releasing them to the public and he had to be stopped.” Sinner has the undivided attention of every person in the room, and it’s obvious that even the board members weren’t fully aware of the situation.
Of course, Sinner is lapping up the attention, grinning as he continues explaining. “The files contained details of a terrorist plot against the US. The terrorists were stopped when they were on US soil, and Homeland ensured nothing was leaked to the public because they didn’t want anyone to discover that a US-owned private company was the one to supply them with weapons and artillery.”
“Why the fuck would Homeland hireyouto stop one of their own?” Saint spits out.
“They wanted this done off the record, with no trace back to them, because the head of Homeland and the head of VERO are both on the board of the private company who sold the weapons to terrorists.”
“Oh my God.” The words slip from my mouth. “This is so fucked up.”
Sinner barks out a laugh. “For once, we agree on something.”
“How did my father end up with those files?” I wonder if he knew what was on them. If that’s why he hid them. Why he didn’t tell anyone. And fuck.Does Diesel know about his boss? Is this what’s happening here? Is he trying to protect him?My mind churns with endless possibilities.
“We were supposed to hand over the files after we stole them, but I didn’t trust Randall not to screw us over. The deal was we would have protection for life. That any and all future charges would be buried. We would be free to build our empire with police protection and support at the highest level, but I only had his word for it. My plan was to hold the files ransom until the deal was put in writing.” He slams his bottle down on the table. “Then Trey fucking Westbrook stole them from us, and everything turned to shit.”
