“You’re the reason she got into Mingle.”
His silence is answer enough.
“You fucking prick,” I scoff. “You and all your bullshit about fate and kismet. And you don’t believe any of it.”
“Of course, I do,” he argues. “But the universe doesn’t have hands. Sometimes it needs those of us on the ground floor doing the work. I knew the night of that gala that you two were going to be endgame. I don’t fucking believe in much, Cormac, but I can see when two souls belong together. If I had to do a tiny bit of orchestrating to make sure you got the chance, that’s just mebeingthe hands of fate. I won’t apologize for ensuring my friend has a shot at the girl of his dreams.”
“Yourorchestratingis part of what got us into this mess,” I mutter. Something akin to anger simmers under the surface, but I can’t bring myself to really be mad at him. It’s not like he forced us together. He just made sure I had the opportunity. It’s my fault I didn’t take it sooner. “You accused her of something she didn’t do, put all her secrets on display just to prove you have them. What do you call that?”
He taps his knuckles on the dash. “Insurance. The same kind we keep on every person we know. I’ve got files upon files containing Leo and Tate, you know all about Wolfy. If it came down to it, I’ve even got a little info on Stella that would make your fucking head spin.”
“Your sister? You have blackmail on your sister?”
“So do you,” he laughs. “There’s nothingIhave. Everything belongs tous. We are partners.”
“But I didn’t know any of that stuff about Brigit’s past,” I bury my fingers into my eye sockets, trying to relieve the growing pressure.
After a beat, he answers, “Youdid, though.”
Fuck.
This shit is so annoying.
Some days, I can cope with the fact that parts of my life are missing, just thankful I’m still here to make new memories.
But sometimes, the agony of the missing time drags into my chest and rips me to shreds. I have no way of knowing how much I knew or what I did with the information.
“You and I came to different conclusions,” he continues. “And it looks like you were right. Obviously paper trails aren’t infallible. If this Ian guy and his boss were both willing to let Brigit take the fall for everything, the court case would have shown their version, not hers.”
There’s no denying that even now, I want to hunt this guy down and throttle him for all the ways he tried to hurt her.
“I just still can’t comprehend that I became this person,” I admit, the weight of it still heavy on my chest. “I spentyearspushing down the rage that grew inside me. Taping over the cracks that come from being half a dozen men’s party favor over and over again.”
Skyler makes a furious sound in the back of his throat, and I’m hit with that odd sense that I’ve been here before again.
“I still can’t believe you haven’t tracked him down,” he mutters, the only sign of his own anger his white knuckles creaking the leather of the steering wheel. “I think about doing so at least once a week.”
It wouldn’t be any effort at all to go find the man who spawned me and put him in an early grave.
But logically, I know that the first place anyone would look for suspicion is me. My medical records show the bruising and the broken bones well enough. I’d be back behind bars in less than a day if he wound up brutally—justifiably— mutilated.
“We were both catapulted into this bullshit, Fomori,” Skyler sighs. “I wish you hadn’t been dragged into it because of my fucking family, but you never even hesitated to protect me. And then others who needed it. And along the way, you found some sort of ritual in the kills.”
“And you found yours in the ring,” I offer.
He nods, his silhouette moving up and down in the low light.
It’s not the whole picture, but it’s as much as probably anyone will be able to fill in for me. I’ll just have to be okay without the rest of it.
“What a pair we are,” he finally laughs.
I roll my eyes, “So you didn’t tell me anything about what we’re doing tonight. Just a little breaking and entering.”
“Yeah, in a massive house on the outskirts of town,” he checks his phone. “Steele said there’s some evidence he needs in there but they don’t have enough probable cause to get a warrant because the guy is loaded.”
“So what am I looking for?” I ask.
“No idea,” he blows out a heavy breath. “Ben just said he’s into some sick,lucrativeshit and he wants the warrant and a fat payout or he’s coming after the club.”
