Page 62
/>
“True. But do you know the whole story? Of how that happened?”
“Look Markus,” I said, “I don’t even care. Whatever you did back then, it’s not my—”
“I care,” he said very abruptly. The words came out sharp. Crisp. On the verge of anger. “I care very much about what happened because a lot of it was beyond my control.”
He stopped and turned toward me again. I saw the fire of resentment in his eyes now. It was an entirely different look than the haughtiness of before.
“The man I’d started selling those weapons to was a former US Marine. I didn’t realize he was acting with the insurgents. Not until I was too deep. Until it was too late…”
I kept telling myself that his story meant nothing to me. That all I cared about was Kyle, Ryan, and Jason. But to Markus, this was the end-all, be-all. It was the source of his angst, his unrest, his inability to be happy, even in paradise.
To him it was everything.
“I tried to get out. Only I got burned. Men died, Sammara — my men. People got hurt.”
“And what did you do?”
“I continued,” he went on. “I tried to minimize it. Make the most of a bad situation. I formed Di Spatia to get the jump on those who had the jump on me, only I lost it before I had that chance.”
Markus put a staying hand on my shoulder. I wanted to rip it off, but I kept it there and held his gaze.
“Jason Briggs showed up at the wrong place at the wrong time. He showed up while I was fixing things. Making things right.”
I didn’t know if he were lying, or telling the truth. But his eyes…
“Your problems are my problems,” Markus said cryptically. “Briggs is missing right now because of his timing. Because of—”
Something flew between us, moving so fast it was a complete blur. Two giant arms picked Markus up by his shoulders and slammed him downward, into the sand.
“You know where Briggs is!” Dakota shouted. He raised a fist overhead, threateningly. “Did you have something to do with—”
I grabbed his arm and tried pulling it back. I might’ve just as well been wrestling with the Terminator.
“Dakota stop!”
“TELL ME!” my fiancé screamed. “Tell me NOW or—”
All of a sudden he paused, tilting his head curiously at what he saw. Lying in the sand beneath him… Markus Ladrone was actually laughing.
“Good to see you too, Bradley.”
Thirty-Four
SAMMARA
It took a minute for me to calm Dakota down. And another minute to pick Markus up, and help him brush himself off.
“What exactly do you know?” Dakota asked again, trying to control his anger.
“Much more than you,” said Markus. “Mainly because I listen before I act.”
“Are you saying—”
“STOP!” I stepped between them, pushing each of them back with a hand to the chest. “ENOUGH already.”
I was accustomed to stuff like this. Living with four very alpha men, each always thinking they’re right all the time? I’d broken up a lot of brotherly arguments.
Table of Contents
- Page 1
- Page 2
- Page 3
- Page 4
- Page 5
- Page 6
- Page 7
- Page 8
- Page 9
- Page 10
- Page 11
- Page 12
- Page 13
- Page 14
- Page 15
- Page 16
- Page 17
- Page 18
- Page 19
- Page 20
- Page 21
- Page 22
- Page 23
- Page 24
- Page 25
- Page 26
- Page 27
- Page 28
- Page 29
- Page 30
- Page 31
- Page 32
- Page 33
- Page 34
- Page 35
- Page 36
- Page 37
- Page 38
- Page 39
- Page 40
- Page 41
- Page 42
- Page 43
- Page 44
- Page 45
- Page 46
- Page 47
- Page 48
- Page 49
- Page 50
- Page 51
- Page 52
- Page 53
- Page 54
- Page 55
- Page 56
- Page 57
- Page 58
- Page 59
- Page 60
- Page 61
- Page 62 (Reading here)
- Page 63
- Page 64
- Page 65
- Page 66
- Page 67
- Page 68
- Page 69
- Page 70
- Page 71
- Page 72
- Page 73
- Page 74
- Page 75
- Page 76
- Page 77
- Page 78
- Page 79
- Page 80
- Page 81
- Page 82
- Page 83
- Page 84
- Page 85
- Page 86
- Page 87
- Page 88
- Page 89
- Page 90
- Page 91
- Page 92
- Page 93
- Page 94
- Page 95
- Page 96
- Page 97
- Page 98
- Page 99
- Page 100
- Page 101
- Page 102
- Page 103
- Page 104
- Page 105
- Page 106
- Page 107
- Page 108
- Page 109
- Page 110
- Page 111
- Page 112
- Page 113
- Page 114
- Page 115
- Page 116
- Page 117
- Page 118
- Page 119
- Page 120
- Page 121
- Page 122
- Page 123
- Page 124
- Page 125
- Page 126
- Page 127