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“Not by blood. We spent a few summers together. His family is messed up. My parents took him in after he got involved with the wrong crowd. They tried everything they could to turn him, but it was too late. So they kicked him out.” He sighed. “I was the only one who could ever get through to him but when he became involved with these people, I realized that I was too late as well. They run brothels, strip clubs with underage girls working at them, prostitution and human trafficking rings. If sex is involved, they have their hands in all of it.”

A thought came to me. “Price Davies.”

The stranger laughed. “Yeah, we won’t even talk about him. That bastard disappeared and went so deep underground, I’m having a hard time finding him.”

I grunted. “You and me both.”

“But I have a feeling that he’ll slip up and reveal his location eventually. Word has it that he’s working with someone. Here.” The man pulled out his wallet from his jeans pocket and handed me a card. “If you want validation that what I’m saying is the truth, call Rowan and Jaron.” He spun on his heel and began walking away from me.

“Wait. Who are you?”

The man looked at me over his shoulder. “The less you know, the better,” was all he said before he continued walking down the hall. When he disappeared around the corner, I finally looked down at the business card in my hand.

Three crowns, in gold embossed print, sat on the front, and a phone number sat on the back. I sighed, still confused as ever but put the card away.

While I walked to where my brother and the prospects stood outside Ainsley’s door, I called Rowan.

“Yeah.”

“I need some reassurance that I didn’t just get fucked up the ass by a stranger.”

“On it.” I could hear the clicking of keys in the background. “Lay it on me, big guy.”

I gave Rowan all of the information the stranger gave me. Even though it wasn’t much to go on, the fact that he ended a life who almost took Ainsley from me, said more than words ever could. But a part of me wondered if this guy wouldn’t come collecting some form of payment when I least expected it.

***



















(Ainsley)

For the second timein who knew how long, I shifted in the bed I was lying on, slowly opening my eyes. The fluorescent lighting burned as I tried blinking through it.

“There she is.”

My vision cleared, only to be met by the darkest eyes I had ever seen. It had felt like just yesterday that I had fallen in love with them.

Cyrus pushed my hair off my forehead. “Hi.”