Page 3

"Welcome back, boss." Deacon, my driver, said as I strolled toward the black SUV waiting outside the jail.

Giving him a curt nod, I climbed into the back seat. My mind was preoccupied with the night of the gala fire, a phantom pain tearing through my knee. Victoria had done a bang-up job of painting herself as the victim. If it hadn't been for Rich telling me she was behind my incarceration, I'd have thought her terror that night was real. Even replaying the moment I picked her up from the floor, I couldn't find anything that betrayed her true motives.

The SUV stopped in front of our house, and I climbed out before Deacon could open the door for me. The wall of mirrored windows prevented me from seeing inside, but I knew the other four guys were home. They wouldn't be anywhere else knowing Iwas being released. Sending Deacon off with a jerk of my head, I strolled inside.

The open layout of the house revealed Rich sitting at the dining table. Leighton, Craig, and Joe were nowhere to be seen.

"Welcome home," Rich said, not looking up from his novel. "Get the stink of jail off you, and we'll talk."

"I'd rather talk now," I replied. "Six months is a long time to wait for answers, Rich, and knowing Victoria Bristol is behind it… Well, I need to know why."

His eyes lifted from his book, taking in the tension in my body as I stood at the opposite end of the table.

"Fair enough." He lifted two fingers to his mouth and whistled. "Family meeting, boys!" He bellowed, voice echoing through the house.

The door to Leighton's bedroom opened, and he strolled out of the room wearing nothing but a wide grin.

"For fuck's sake, Leighton. Put some pants on and get rid of your company." Rich barked.

"Aye, aye, captain!" Leighton chuckled with a salute before turning on his heel and heading back into his room.

Ignoring the sounds coming from his bedroom, I slid into the empty chair in front of me. Moments later, Leighton reappeared in a pair of basketball shorts, his hand gripping the arm of a slim, red-headed woman. Her clothes were clutched to her chest as he marched her toward the front door. The lunatic hadn't even given her a chance to dress.

"Leighton, baby, we weren't done yet." She protested as he opened the door and shoved her outside. "I let you do all that sick, twisted shit and you're kicking me out before I even get mine."

"Good point. Wait here." He grinned, racing back to his room.

When he returned to the open front door, he thrust a wad of crinkled hundreds on top of the woman's clothes. "That should cover it and enough to get that one spot checked out."

"I'm not a fucking hooker, Leighton!" She screeched.

"Sure thing, babe." He replied, closing the door in her face.

Shaking my head, my attention returned to the table. Craig and Joe had arrived amidst the chaos of Leighton kicking out his latest screw. The unease I'd felt since my arrest melted away as I took in the family we'd made for ourselves, seated and ready to discuss our next move.

"Tell me everything."

"We found someone who had information about six weeks ago. It wasn't until he gave us proof that we took him seriously." Rich said as Craig opened his laptop and turned it so that the screen was facing me.

Images of Victoria before the gala, in a heated argument with someone I recognized, filled the screen. Lenny "The Shadow" Moretti. A low-level member of one of the most notorious gang families in Sacona and our competition. He'd been their fall guy for almost as long as I'd been alive.

"I'm guessing you have some idea why our girl here is talking to a member of the Jackals?" I asked.

Craig navigated to a grainy video of the pair talking to answer my question.

"Listen, boss, this job is bigger than you said. We're gonna need more to get it done." Lenny's voice floated from the laptop.

"You're supposed to be the best." Victoria retorted. "So, either I've overestimated your skills or you actually can handle the job. Which is it?"

The pair moved off camera, their voices too far away to pick up precisely what was being said, before the video cut off.

"You think she's running the Jackals?" I scoffed. "Their organization is locked up so tight that nobody knows who'sactually in charge. They wouldn't be sloppy enough to get caught out like that."

"That's what we thought too, at first," Rich replied. "But then Gary brought us more pictures of her meeting with Lenny after the gala."

"I'm not buying it. She's too clean to be involved with them. There has to be another reason she decided to set me up."

"You're right, sheisclean. Too clean." Craig spoke. "It's like she doesn't exist at all other than the articles about her involvement with the youth center."