Page 114 of Built for Mercy

Hatred's what carried my feet forward to the seat across from him.

“A private dinner for two. How wonderfully intimate for brothers,” I quipped, leaning back casually even though I felt far from casual.

Kendrick arched a brow at me. “Been a long time, little bro. I’d ask what you’ve been up to, but that’s pretty clear.”

“Right. Because God forbid you make any effort to see me unless you’re threatened in some way.”

He squinted his eyes at me, then pulled a pair of glasses out of his suit jacket, sliding them on. Huh. Last time I saw him, he didn’t have those. Then again, it had been a few years.

“What do you want?” he demanded, thinking he had control of this meeting. I smirked internally.

“What do you think I want?”

“I don’t know. A seat at the adult table?”

I snorted. “Very funny. I almost forgot you’re my favorite brother.”

Kendrick was unamused. “Seriously, what the fuck are you doing? First I hear from Mom and Dad that you’re getting married to Sophie fucking Reyes, then all our guys start freaking out about some alleged sex trafficking ring and causing all sorts of ruckus in our regular operations.”

“Sounds to me like you’ve got a problem with your men,” I responded coolly, crossing my arms over my chest.

He leaned toward me. “Call off your fucking hounds and cut it off with Eddie’s daughter.”

My brow arched. “Can’t. We’re married.”

His eyes flickered with shock. “You married the fucking enemy? For what? Some childish ploy to get back at us because you never had the backbone to run the family business?”

“Need I remind you that I run two successful businesses without dealing with the low end of the ‘family business’?” I snapped, using air quotes. “I’m not sure what I ever did to make you all hate me so much, but quite frankly I don’t fucking care. I draw the line at standing beside this family when it comes to trafficking women and children.”

Kendrick leaned back in his chair, running a hand over his mouth. “You have no idea—”

“I don’t need to. Sophie and I are a team. She had no interest in stepping in until I told her I wanted to put a stop to this.”

For a moment, I saw fear in his eyes, and the sight brought me more joy than I ever imagined. I rested on my forearms. “You see, it was easier than I thought, taking you all down. Obtain intel that I could easily turn over to the FBI. Kill your best transporter. Spread doubt by bringing the only woman who could force you all to your knees back into the picture. I bet by now, you’re all scrambling to stay in control, when I know where all of your men are going when they’re done with you. Right. Back. To. Me.”

My brother looked away, his jaw feathering as he realized just how fucked they all were. “I’ll ask you again. What do you want?”

For a moment, unease clawed at me. He was being too nonchalant. There was no security. My gaze flitted around the room again. No cameras. No bodyguards. No servers. What was going on? I expected to meet with more than just one brother. Maybe Sophie was right.

I rose to my feet, not allowing my nerves to show. “I want nothing from any of you.” I made my way back to the door, pausing to look back at Kendrick. “Pass absolutely none of my fucking love on to Mom and Dad, but do let them know that Sophie and I are very happy.”

I slipped out of the room and made my way back outside, into the cool air. Light rain greeted me, and part of me withered a little on the inside as I turned to find my car. What was he aiming for here? Was he trying to draw me out by using a truce as a decoy? He mentioned nothing of a truce. He didn’t even try to stop me from leaving.

Before I could ponder the question any further, a gunshot rang out just as something hot grazed my ribs.

55

Sophie

The car tore through the city streets as I wrestled with the pit in my stomach. The fingers of my left hand tapped an anxious rhythm on the steering wheel when I came to a red light, my right hand swiping at my phone. The tracking app confirmed what I dreaded: Maverick’s signal was stationary at some restaurant too fucking far away.

“Goddamit, Mav. Why couldn’t you just listen?”

I juggled driving and calling. First I hit Duane’s contact. The call connected after two rings.

“Never expected to hear from you directly, Sophie. What’s up?” he answered.

Whipping around some traffic and barely missing a red light, I gave him an abbreviated version of the story. “I need to know how many people are there. I know you can track them.”