Page 92 of Guilty as Sin

Chapter 43

Brady

Driving away from my wife causes me physical pain. An ache deep in my chest that signals an unsettling vulnerability. Even though I left her in the safest place possible, it doesn’t feel like enough. Especially not when she looked up at me with that defiant fire in her ice-blue eyes.

She agreed to stay put. She has no choice but to stay put. She’s fucking locked in. And yet, when I left her, the willful expression on her face reminded me too much of her lust for violence.

Tonight, that’s my purview. Not hers.

Speeding back to the high-rise, I call Connor. The kid has one final chance to prove where his loyalties lie. If he fails, he will receive no quarter from me.

For Cora’s sake, I hope I don’t have to kill her brother.

For my sake, I hope my wife hasn’t been colluding with a traitor. If it hurts me this much to leave her behind, interrogating her will be my own torture. And if she’s also guilty of betraying my family, I know the consequences. Killing her will destroy me.

When Connor answers, he’s predictably hostile. But he softens quickly as I explain my fake predicament.

“Cora’s pissed at me,” I tell him, which is the true part. That aggression in her eyes burned hotter than I’ve ever seen. “She chucked her phone at my face and then locked herself in her room. She’s been in there for hours. Can you come talk some sense into her?”

“Shit,” he says. “Yeah, she’s like that sometimes. Have you tried feeding her?”

“Feeding her?” She’s not a goddamn dog. Although I have locked her up like one. I shake my head clear of any weaknesses like guilt. It was necessary.

“Yeah,” Connor says, “like leave a plate of food outside her room. Something with chocolate. Tell her it’s there, then say you’re going out somewhere but you’ll be back in a couple hours. Make sure she actually hears you leave.”

What the fuck? I mouth to myself. This kid knows strategies that I don’t to outmaneuver my wife. I fucking hate how close they are.

“Will you please just come over and try talking to her?”

“Okay, yeah.” He sighs. “You said she threw her phone at you?”

“Yeah, it’s busted to shit. Landed on the tile floor.”

I assume Cora’s phone is with her in the safe room, but it doesn’t matter. I turned on my office’s signal blocker as I left.

“Alright,” Connor says, sighing again. “I’ll head over.”

I get to the penthouse a few minutes before he does. I ready my earpiece. Confirm everything with Finn and Blackbird. Lock the door to Cora’s old room. Check my Glock.

Then I load my Smith & Wesson with blanks.

When Connor rushes out of the elevator, he looks like the worried little bitch that he is. How the hell did Cora end up so strong and her brother so weak?

“Where is she?” he asks.

I point to Cora’s locked bedroom door. Connor hurries to it and tries the handle.

“Cora?” He knocks. “It’s me, Connor. Will you please let me in?”

The empty room doesn’t answer him. As Connor keeps knocking and pleading with his nonexistent sister, I pull up my phone’s app to freeze the elevator halfway down the building.

Connor gives up knocking pathetically quickly. He looks over at me, and I shrug.

“She’s been in there for hours and hasn’t talked to me once. Maybe she’s asleep.”

“Maybe. She has a bathroom in there, right?” He sounds concerned. It’s almost touching, how much he cares for her. Almost.

“Yeah,” I say.