My heart thumps faster, though my body’s so tired even my pulse is lagging. It should be pushing the cardiac-arrest needle given I just learned I’m only alive thanks to flashing red and blue lights and screaming sirens.”
“I guess Rhett is Nash’s father?”
“You meanCarter’s. Yes, he is. Though Rhett kept him hidden by burying him in the ranks of Chicago’s boss, Dante Carrow. Being Vaughn’s daughter, I bet the name rings a bell.”
I nod. Dante Carrow would be the crowning jewel on the long list of criminals my father put behind bars. I overheard him say, during his many poker nights with colleagues back in Florida, that Dante Carrow is equally powerful, ruthless, anduntouchable.
Dad’s dreamt for years about busting him, but his colleagues managed his expectations, calmly stating that Dante won’t go down until he’s dead.
And Carter works for him...
An eerie chill shakes me despite the warm hoodie I’m wearing. What have I gotten into?
“What information do you want from me?” I ask.
“Oh, it’s not just me, Hailey. A lot of powerful men would like to steal you from me. I only recently learned about your involvement and Carter’s existence. Rhett’s getting sloppy withage. When your amnesia came to light, Rhett sent Carter to hurt you so much you’d neverrecall where the evidence is.”
“But... how does he know Alex told me about the evidence? Why would he?”
Given my latest flashback, it’s plausible, but it doesn’t explain how Rhett found out. He learned about Alex the same day he had him killed. They didn’t talk. He couldn’t have tortured the information out of Alex, so how does Rhett know more about my past than I do?
“That’s unclear,” Blaze admits. “But Rhett wouldn’t go to all this trouble without a reason.”
I begged Dad to tell me what was happening, Matthews too. Alex used me for more than just sexual favors, all the while keeping secrets. Nash lied through his teeth for weeks but Blaze...
Blaze ishonest. He’s the first one to give me any of the information I’ve been dying for since I woke up at the hospital. He’s not being evasive, not treating me like a silly little girl who can’t handle the truth. He answers the questions I’ve been trying to get answers to for weeks.
I’m so...grateful.
Which is fucking ironic given my predicament.
“So Rhett thinks I know what Alex did?” I ask, organizing the clues.
“He believes Alex gave you the key to access the evidence, even if he never actually told you about it.”
“A key?”
“Not literally, although... maybe. The point is no one knows where the evidence is. Not even your father. He can’t arrest Rhett without it, which was the whole point of this endeavor and the reason he planted a loose cannon like Alex in Rhett’s ranks.”
“Rhett needs the evidence for himself... Nash is his son, so he’s helping...” I meet Blaze’s dark eyes. “Why do you want it?”
He stretches his long legs, getting more comfortable. “That’s simple. Revenge.”
“You want Rhett to serve twenty-five to life?”
“Not at all. That’s not how we do business, Hailey. Rhett doesn’t have allies but he does work with a lot of powerful people. Not nearly as powerful as Dante Carrow, of course, but powerful enough. If the evidence exists, some of it might implicate more people than just Rhett.” He smirks at me, cocking one brow. “Information is power in this world. Whoever has the evidence controls everyone involved.”
How have I found myself on the brink of a mafia war?
It’s abstract. Incomprehensible. Fucking unfair... but it explains why Dad was so keen to keep me in a cage—blind, deaf, and dumb to everything going on outside it.
“I don’t remember any evidence.”
“I’m aware. If you knew, Carter would too. He’d have his hands on it by now.” He massages his temples. “I have your medical records so I know it wouldn’t take much to instigate brain damage and permanently erase your memories. You have my word nothing bad will happen to you within these walls.”
“Because the evidence is too valuable...”
“Yes. If I hold the key to his fate, I can make Rhett, and a whole load of others, bow to me.”
