Rage and Ruin | 2

4 | 8

R I L E Y

     The others filled me in on the events that had taken place since I'd been in the hospital. Apparently, Hunt wanted us to stay at the compound until he went over some weapons blueprints that Jaxon had found. It worked out perfectly because my concussion was going to cause me to not do much for a few days in order for it to properly heal. Also because Benny was still blackmailing me to give him that information he'd wanted. I knew that I didn't have enough dirt on my teammates to assuage his desire to harm my old orphanage. At least not yet.

     I hated myself, hated the feeling in the pit of my stomach when I thought about what I'd already done and what I'd have to do. Kane and Finn had been easy to dredge information from. The others—namely Jake and possibly Delphinium—would be more difficult to question.

     "What happened to the man that attacked us?" I asked Kane as we all sat around the dining room table.

      "He's gone. He can't hurt anyone anymore."

      "'Gone' meaning dead?"

      He gave me a dark look that I took as an indication that I was correct. Had Kane killed the intruder? I'd only ever seen him as serious and quiet; it was hard to imagine him ending a life. Finally learning about what had happened to his brother was changing him, and not for the better. He had been one of the only people in our crew that hardly conducted criminal activity. Now, he was becoming more and more dark with each day.

      Deciding to push my worry for him aside until later, I addressed the rest of the people at the table. "Hundsen sent this man to the compound. If he was able to get in and cause this much damage as just a warning, then imagine what he could do when he finally unleashed his full fury."

      "He doesn't want all of you," Jake said. "He wants me. Hundsen is just willing to take out as many of you as possible, thinking it will make me weaker and unprotected."

      I raised an eyebrow. "And will it?"

      "Don't be stupid, of course not."

      "You know what I think is suspicious?" I asked, a hand on my hip. "The fact that you've never told us why Hundsen is so set on killing you in the first place."

      "You know what I think is suspicious? The fact that you only want to know now, of all times. Why not before?" His tone and expression were cold, as always, but I didn't flinch.

      Shit. He had an idea that I was up to something. I knew that getting information from Jake would be difficult, but I hadn't expected him to catch on to my deception so quickly.

      "Before, I was hardly involved. He only captured us so that he could sell us to someone else. It wasn't as personal. Now it is. He's coming after us to hurt you."

      He scoffed. "Trust me, I'm not hurting." 

      I couldn't say the same thing for myself. My head still throbbed from my injury.

      Unfortunately, Jake got up from the table and left, leaving Delphinium, Jaxon, Kane and I alone. Now it was time to work on the assassin. I hated myself for it, knowing that she already had her hands full with Imperium being back. But I had to. I knew that Benny would not be satisfied unless I gave him something about her. But once she gave me adequate information, I could glean the bare minimum that Benny would accept and only give that to him. Or I could work the information to our advantage...

      "He's hiding something," I said to the others, knowing that we all were.

      "Jake always is," Delphinium stated, waving her hand dismissively. But she was too.