Page 97 of Carved Obsession

“Don’t get shy on my account, boys. I know the rules. Get killed if I spill the beans, blah, blah, blah.” I gesture with my hands, laughing. “Plus, Carter has plenty of leverage on me, since he knows all my dirty little secrets.”

I turn to him, smirking knowingly. He cocks an eyebrow and settles into his seat.

“She’s fine. Tell me what Duval did.”

Duval . . . hmm.

A few more seconds pass. Reluctance lingers in the air as Maddox drives along the forest road, toward the civilization I’m uneager to return to.

“Maddox had his fight last night. The Fightclub was packed. Our guys noticed Duval and called us,” Vincent begins. “We couldn’t make a fuss, so we waited until the night was over, making sure he never left our sight. But once Finn and I appeared, we didn’t leave his, either. He waited until the fight was over, the bets were paid, and half the patrons left.”

“And?” Carter’s getting eager to reach the climax of this little story.

“He was talking a lot without saying much, lackeys in tow for a show of power. Eventually, he said he realized that the girls have dropped off the face of the earth. Apparently, he’s been talking with other people who are familiar with them, and he deduced they’ve gone into hiding.”

Girls? Like family? Friends? Business partners?

My curiosity spikes.

“Watch this.” Vincent hands him a phone. “Brendan said you would want to see it for yourself.”

I don’t pry, but the volume is loud enough for me to hear bits and pieces.

“Don’t worry, I’ve kept your secret safe. But that’s why I’m here. Your secret will remain secure if you agree to a business deal.”

“Mr. Duval, we don’t respond well to threats, and we certainly don’t cut business deals with people who threaten us.”

“But here’s the catch, Mr. Sinclair. If you don’t agree, I will take you down, brick by brick. Legally and illegally. And when I’m done with you, I will find the rest of your Sanctum. I’ll leave your women and children alive. Destitute. Broken.”

I don’t hear the next parts over Carter’s growl and the engine’s rumbling.

“You’ve got to be fucking kidding me.” Carter runs a hand through his hair and passes the phone back to Vincent.

“We told him to fuck off,” Maddox says. “The fact that he thought we would just hand him that business makes me wonder just how screwed in the head he is.”

“I guess you have to be some degree of fucked up to reach so high up on the political scale,” Carter mutters.

I can’t help but wonder if I can be of assistance.

Maybe I can prove myself to Carter’s Sanctum and gain some brownie points of trust.

“Scarlet?” Vincent says.

“Yeah?”

“You might want to prepare yourself.”

I frown, confused.

“When Carter disappeared, which is something he would never, ever do, we got worried. My wife acted on a hunch—an impressive one, it seems—and went to your stepmother’s shop.”

My heart stalls in my chest. When we moved here, my family told me to stay off of The Sanctum’s radar. And here I am, in their fucking bed.

“Your family knows.”

Shit.

Chapter 26