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This fucking asshole.

“I fucking hate you,” I hissed, yanking on the stupid fucking cuff.

A big hand rubbed a hard line down my spine, pressing me into the mattress.

“I know. But I need you, and I know you’ll agree after you’ve had some time to think it over.”

I’d die before I agreed to anything he wanted.

I turned my head to watch him. “Seriously, who the fuck are you?”

“A desperate man.”

I felt him push off the bed, and it sprang back fully renewed now that there wasn’t a giant weighing it down.

“Think about it, Margot. What do you have to lose?”

I heard the door click, and then I was alone again.

“That’s not my name,” I whispered.

EIGHT

I threw the bag of money down on the table where Cade was sitting with Brooks. “It wasn’t there.”

Cade grabbed the bag and peered inside. “Fuck.”

“It’s gotta be at the next one. That’s the last one. It has to be there.” Brooks set his laptop aside on the bed and padded over to the table, looking inside the bag just like Cade had. Satisfied that Cade hadn’t missed anything, he made his way back to the bed and returned to his laptop.

In everything he’d uncovered when looking through Thorne’s extensive files, there’d been mention of a code to the bunker and the safe inside. Brooks wasn’t entirely sure—because any of the information could be designed to lead someone in the wrong direction—but he’d found evidence that Thorne kept that code in the safes at one of his stores.

It was one of the reasons we were methodically raiding every store. And now that we’d gone to two of them, if the code wasn’t in the final store, then we’d have to reevaluate.

“Where’s Vincent?” I asked.

“He went to the store for something,” Brooks replied distractedly. I wasn’t sure he was never not looking at that computer screen.

I grunted, then leaned back and set my attention on Cade. As if feeling my eyes on him, he slid his gaze to mine without turning his head.

“What?” he snapped.

I shrugged. “I might have a solution. If we can’t get the code.”

His gaze hardened. “No.”

He already knew what I’d been about to suggest, the bastard. I tilted my head. “Why not?”

“Because I fucking said so,” he snarled, leaning toward me. “You have done enough to jeopardize this and I’m not letting you continue to risk everything we’ve done for some⁠—”

“Don’t,” I cut in coldly.

A muscle in his jaw twitched as he stared at me, fury in his eyes. “Court, if you weren’t my fucking brother, I’d smash your goddamn face in right now. No.”

I wasn’t surprised at the violent threats. That was his attempt at intimidation. Of the two of us, he was more of a hothead, whereas I mostly remained calm. It took a lot to get me to outwardly lose my cool. Although…it seemed that was happening more often since Margot had come into my life.

“Yes,” I countered, a small smile twitching at the corner of my lips. Cade’s face was getting redder, his anger about to boil over. He stood up and fisted the collar of my shirt, getting in my face while I just sat there with my hands in my pockets and let him.

“You’ve lost your fucking mind⁠—”