“What the fuck?” Kait splutters, looking at Michael and the twins in horror.
“Ask your boyfriend,” I tell her, my voice cold as I look at the guy who started all this.
Objectively, Michael is an attractive guy. He’s about Kait’s age, he’s classically handsome, and he’s in great shape, but right then, he looks ugly as he glares at me.
“Michael?” she asks.
“Don’t listen to him, Kait. He’s lying. I’m trying to save you. They’re here to hurt you. Look what they did to me!”
“We wouldn’t have had to do this if you didn’t point a gun at us,” Jace says like he’s talking to a toddler. “Now, what did we learn about aiming weapons at people when you don’t know if they’re armed, or what skills they have?”
Michael just glares at him.
“Tell me why.” I let go of Xave’s hand and stand. “Why did you do it?”
He shifts his glare to me but doesn’t say anything.
“We have ways of making you talk.” Jax lowers his knife and gently runs the tip of the blade over Michael’s cheek, leaving a streak of red behind as it slices his skin. “Ways that will leave you alive and conscious for a long time.”
He freezes, and his glare melts into a look of pure terror.
“My brother is right,” Jace says as he places the tip of one of his butterfly knives against Michael’s neck, right over his carotid artery. “Remember when I said we don’t like liars? We don’t like people who hurt our friends either. So pick your words carefully, otherwise you’ll get to see exactly how it feels to have your fingers cut off one by one.”
“I’d listen to them,” Killian says as he and Felix stand by the couch. “I hate liars even more than they do.” He lifts the side of his jacket to show off the gun and holster he’s wearing. “And I know a half-dozen places I can hit you without drawing enough blood for you to pass out.”
Michael is as white as a sheet, and Kait looks like she’s about to be sick, but all I feel is calm.
“Why did you do it?” I repeat. “Why did you try to have me killed?”
His eyes dart to Kait.
“Did she ask you to do it?” Xave asks.
“No!” Kait cries. “I’d never do anything like that. And neither would Michael. Damon, please. This has to be a mistake,” she pleads.
“It’s not a mistake,” I tell her. “Did you have anything to do with it?”
She shakes her head so hard her blonde hair flies around her face, and a hank gets stuck to her lipstick. “No. I swear.”
“Tell our friend why you tried to have him killed,” Jax says to Michael. “Otherwise I’m going to get bored. And trust me when I say you don’t want me to get bored.”
“You really don’t,” Jace says conversationally. “My brother isn’t nearly as patient as I am. And I’m about two seconds away from peeling your fingernails off with my friend here.” He wiggles one of his knives. “So either start talking or prepare for a manicure you’ll never forget.”
“I did it for you,” Michael practically shrieks, his eyes on Kait.
“What?” She blinks at him a few times, her face going even paler.
“I think I know what’s going on,” Felix says. “You thought that if you had Damon killed, then Kait would inherit everything when her old man dies, and since you’re the side piece, you’d get to share the bounty because you could finally be together properly.”
He glares at Felix.
“I think it goes deeper than that,” Xave says, his voice dark as he stares Michael down. “You were going to take out Damon, not so Kait could inherit everything, but because you know the girls would get everything Damon has, and their father would most likely have things set up so the company would be passed down to his children and not his spouse. But they’re so young that someone would have to step in and run the business for them while they’re still underage, and since you’re with Kait, you could fill that role, and it would give you years to find a way to make his empire yours.”
“Michael?” Kait asks softly, her eyes shimmering with tears.
“I did it for you, for us,” Michael says, his gaze desperate and seeking as he looks at her. “To protect you from him. To protect the girls from him.”
I take a step toward him, but before I can even figure out what I’m going to do, Jace drives one of his knives into Michael’s thigh.
