His lips lift up in a devilish smirk that is too sexy for its own good.
“I’m well aware, but then I’d be depriving myself of watching you enjoy it.”
And my panties are on fire. Does he know what he’s doing?
“You’re a shameless flirt; I’ll give you that.”
“Not for everyone.”
“Mhm. Tell me a secret, Rhys.”
He thinks for a moment, crossing his leg over his thigh and leaning backward comfortably in the chair.
“My childhood was pretty rough. Only one other person really knows, besides the people who lived it with me. My dad abused my mom emotionally, mentally, and physically. She’s an angel, Bristol, really. It started when I was young, and I didn’t really understand why, and I suppose I still don’t. I think I’ve come to accept that some people are just evil. Probably why I love animals so much more than them. It went on until I became a teenager, and then one day, I was suddenly bigger than him. I caught him wailing on her, and this time, I fought back. Anyway, long story short, she got out of it, and she’s now living in a cute little house with her wife. But I can still remember it like it was yesterday, her bruises, her cuts, the way the pain no longer made her cry. It changes you. It shaped me.”
Rhys uses the back of his hand to wipe away a rogue tear while my shattered heart falls away in pieces. This beautiful, tender man witnessed such cruelty by the one man who shouldalways protect him and his mother. God, I can’t imagine what they’ve been through and the strength it took to get away.
I set my coffee down, standing and moving around to sit next to him on the little couch. We’ve only known each other for a couple of weeks, only been in each other’s presence a few times, but talking together, it feels so natural and easy, like we’ve known each other in every single life before this one. This man couldn’t be further from a stranger to me. We both are guilty of opening up so easily, and I understand why. We’re connected in a way that I can’t put into words.
“I’m so sorry, Rhys. I can’t imagine what the two of you have been through, what you’ve survived. No one should ever experience this. I’m so glad your mom is safe and living such a happy life. She deserves all the happiness in the world, you both do.”
“Didn’t mean to get all emotional on you.”
“Never be sorry for being raw with me.I see you.I don’t want the filtered version of you. I want this one. You don’t ever talk about it?”
“Nah. The days have to move on. I was in therapy for years, talked it to death, but then I just packed it down deep and kept on with life. My mom’s alive, she’s happy, and in the best relationship of her life, and she’s got me. She’ll tell you till she’s blue in the face that I’m the best thing that came out of that situation, and it was all worth it to have me.”
“She sounds incredible, Rhys.”
My watch buzzes, my reminder for the surgery I need to get to. My shoulders sag, not wanting to pry myself away from him, especially not after all of this.
“Everything worked out, that’s all that matters now. Go, I’m not going to keep you when you have animals that need you. I’ll be around when you’re done.”
I give him a solemn look, doing my best to convey how badly I don’t want to walk away. And when I finally get the strength to do just that, every fiber of my being is telling me to go back to him.
Chapter Twelve
RHYS
“We got an issue, boys! Round ’em up and meet me in church, now!” Chaos barks as he jogs into the common area where a bunch of us are hanging out. Rolo and I share a concerned look from across the pool table, but drop our sticks and follow.
“Where’s the fire?” I ask as soon as the doors close to church. Instead of taking our seats, we all stand, on edge, waiting. Then the doors open again, Wrath walking in with none other than Wes fucking Draven, cyber wizard, and private investigator extraordinaire. Over a year ago, he helped us out when we needed to track down Rogue’s woman after she was kidnapped by a rival club. Since then, he’s stepped up to help with a few more things, always coming through for us.
If you want information on someone or something, he’s your guy. It took Chaos bending his rules to allow him to help, but Rogue vouched for him, and now I’m surprised Chaos doesn’t have him on permanent retainer. He hates outsourcingand doesn’t trust easily. Me? I just want the fucking information, and I don’t care how we have to get it.
“How ya doing, buddy? Long time no see,” I say as I pat him on the back.
“I’m good, skin’s itching being in here with you all and my wife in the other room, so how about we get to business?”
“Wes,” Chaos says, his voice low and serious. “I promise, Lily is safer with Saige than she is anywhere else. She wouldn’t let anything happen to her.”
“That’s right, got yourself a violent little one, didn’t you?”
“Just the way I like her. Now, let’s get down to business. Otto has unfucked the finances to the point where we can at least see the directions. Wes is following all the trails, but it’s going to take time. Wes?”
“Yeah, basically it’s a web. There’s for sure a mastermind behind it. So, it’s what I call one hell of a deliberate financial labyrinth. But here’s what I have so far based on the unraveling your boy did. You’re not going to be thrilled. There are primary shells, twelve LLCs in total, spread out across six states, each structured to appear fully independent. They’re different industries, different everything—you get it. But they’re not different. They have one thing in common. Money moves through these companies in coordinated waves, large transfers, short holding times, and then immediate dispersal. It’s a wash cycle. The majority of it looks like standard laundering, but the rest of it is a shit ton of micro-transactions. They’re always small enough to fly under the radar, and they come from every single account to one single place. Obsidian Financial Group. Hundreds and hundreds of tiny payments every single week. But then there’s Evercrest Holdings, which onlyreceives one transfer per cycle. The amount varies, but the timing doesn’t, always going in at the end of the laundering sequence.”
“So they’re making it look like they’re just laundering money, but it’s really a cover for this one account that’s holding it.”
