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“Had to make sure you weren’t going to pussy out now. If you’d made that call, there was no way in hell I was going to follow you.”
He would have followed me. I knew it in my gut. He wouldn’t have liked the choice I made, but he was my brother, and we both felt that stronger now than ever.
“Let’s get this shit over with.” I approached Michael, already seeing on his face that he was going to put this off. Knight took a seat, watching it all play out. “It’s time.”
The frustration on his face was clear, but pussyfooting around this shit was no longer an option. “Cash?—”
“This isn’t moving fast enough,” I snapped at Michael. “I want this finished now.”
“You have no fucking clue what you’re asking,” he retorted, lighting up a cigarette.
I couldn’t remember the last time I’d seen my old man smoke. Then again, I rarely saw him. He was always taking care of something more important than me or Rafe. I glanced at Knight, wondering what it had been like for him growing up. Michael had been in and out of our lives all the fucking time, and if that was the case with us, then it must have been even worse for him. And then there was Isabelle. Fuck, my old man didn’t have loyalty to anyone but himself.
“I know exactly what I’m asking,” I argued. “I want in now. The longer we put this off, the larger the threat is. I thought this was what you fucking did.”
“I just secured Claire?—”
“She’s not the only fucking vulnerability around here,” I snapped. “There are plenty of lives at stake.”
“Do you think I don’t know that?” he argued.
“Why the fuck are you delaying?” Something was off about this. Michael wanted to help so fucking much, but it was like he was delaying things more than helping get to the root of it all.
Knight’s words rang in my ears.Can you really trust him?Fuck, I was beginning to think I couldn’t. Was he involved more than he was admitting? Was he somehow leading me into an ambush? I had no fucking clue. But there was only one way this was ending, and if he wouldn’t help me, I’d do whatever it took to make shit happen. I was done waiting for my revenge.
“I’m trying to do this the right way,” Michael seethed. “Claire was already attacked because of me. My daughter was stolen out from under me for thirteen fucking years. The last thing I want is for anyone else to suffer the same fate!”
“And yet it was your son who got her back,” Knight drawled, not bothering to look up at him. “He’s the one who sacrificed everything for a sister he’d never met.” His eyes flicked to mine. “Interesting, don’t you think?”
“I don’t think I like what you’re implying,” Michael bit out.
Knight shoved to his feet. All illusions of cooperation gone. “You’ve been running around for years, inserting yourself into the world’s problems. Hell, your fucking name is as mysterious as the shit you do. Yet, somehow, your wife and kid paid the price. Tell me how the fuck that happens? How the hell did your daughter end up in the hands of a psychopath?”
Michael clenched his fists, irritated as hell that he had to stand there and listen to this. But Knight was right to push. It was about time Michael heard it.
“Your wife was abused in the worst possible way, and what did you do?”
“Back the fuck up, son,” Michael snarled.
“I’m not your son,” Knight spat. “I haven’t been your son since you turned your back on me. You had too many other families to contend with. Fine. That’s fucking great, but you didn’t take care of them either.”
Michael’s face soured at Knight’s words. Fuck, we were falling apart, tearing at each other when we were supposed to be helping each other. How long could we last like this?
“We’re not going to do this. We’re not going to fucking argue about this shit!” I shouted. “We have a job to do. I need to get on the inside, and this is happening with or without you.”
Michael nodded, jerking his head at Knight. I turned, getting the same reaction from Knight, but just as I was about to say we could finally move on, something hard slammed into my head and everything went dark.
35
KNIGHT
It wasn’t very often someone got the drop on me, but I also hadn’t expected my old man to knock his own son out. So, when I was attacked from behind, it took me off guard.
“This is the way it has to be,” Michael snarled.
“Always the fucking martyr, aren’t you?” I laughed as blood dripped from my lip. I fought against the men restraining me, trying my damndest to break free of their hold so I could help the only brother I had left, but my head was swimming with dizziness after I’d been knocked out. I fought back as much as I could, but there were too many of them.
“You wanted this,” Michael snarled. “I fucking warned both of you that this wouldn’t turn out the way you wanted, but you wouldn’t back off.”