Before she could respond, I was hustling to the locker room to grab my bag. I was in Machine mode now, and if my best friend needed me, I was there.
I strode into RSS and took the elevator up to the floor where the Hive was. I froze when I heard Ricci’s raised voice.
“Everyone leave,” I commanded the Hive team.
They obliged and filed out of the room. Lennie gave me a worried look and squeezed my hand to let me know that we would talk later.
“It’s quite simple, Ghost, you have managed to let theoneperson who I wanted to keep out of my files have access.” Ricci pointed to Evelyn. “Kade, meet Evelyn Myers, aka my stepdaughter.” A cruel smile spread on his lips. “Tell me, Evelyn, how’s mother dearest doing?”
Evelyn lunged at him, but was intercepted by Kade’s arm around her waist.
Ricci laughed. “So, I take it you’ve heard the news then.”
I wasn’t sure what he was referring to. But based on the look on Evelyn’s face, it wasn’t a stretch to think that something had happened to someone close to her.
Before things could escalate, I walked over to Ricci and put my hand on his shoulder, signaling him that it was time to leave. I guided Ricci out of the room, and as soon as the door wasclosed, I could hear brief yells through the door. This was not good. Not good at all.
“Make sure he takes care of this shitshow, Machine, or so help me God—” Ricci began.
“It would be in your best interest not to threaten me,” I warned. “I have a tendency not to take threats well.”
Ricci scoffed and walked to the elevator, heading down to the basement.
As soon as I turned back toward the door, Kade opened it, gripping onto Evelyn and shoving her toward me. She looked absolutely terrified. As she should. Burning rage shot through me at the thought of her betraying my best friend.
“Take her to the interrogation room,” Kade ordered.
Evelyn cried in protest before I hoisted her over my shoulder and took the elevator to the basement. She squirmed and hit her fists against my back, but couldn’t escape my grip.
Familiar stale air wafted into my nose. I shoved her into the interrogation seat and bound her more roughly than necessary. I couldn’t even look at her. Kade walked into the room and stood behind the chair.
“Do you know who I am, Evelyn? Do you know who you just made an enemy of?” When she didn’t respond, he continued. “I am Ghost. The motherfucking king of the Mafia.”
As Kade began to talk, I walked over to the far wall and leaned on it. I needed to know why Evelyn would lie to us.
FOURTEEN
MACHINE
I was overwhelmed by fury as I listened to Evelyn explain herself to Kade. Not only had she lied about who she was, her mission was to intercept information about Ricci and bring it back to her team.
Realization dawned on me. If Evelyn was on a special operations team, that meant… no. Badger was also on this team! What the actual fuck! I couldn’t let myself think about that. Not when Ricci was prowling toward Evelyn like she was his next meal.
I couldn’t watch as Ricci put a syringe in Evelyn’s neck. Once Ricci left with her, I looked at Kade with a worried expression.
“What’s the plan here? You aren’t seriously going to let him torture her, are you?” I asked Kade, who was pacing the room.
Kade flung his hands up in the air. “Of course not, but fuck, man, this is fucking insanity! How could I let this happen?”
After some back-and-forth, I was able to get Kade calmed down enough to comprehend the gravity of the situation. Fuck, I needed a cigarette. Just one, to take off the edge.
“Do you love her?” I asked him once he had calmed down some.
“Of course I fucking do!” he yelled back at me.
“Well then, let’s use this to our advantage and take down Ricci once and for all,” I responded.
“What did you have in mind?” Kade asked.
