Page 156 of Crave

I turned toward the entrance of the study, my pulse still hammering against my chest.

The door creaked open slightly, and one of our men—Marco—stepped halfway in. His expression was tight, unreadable.

“Boss, we’ve got a problem.”

I exhaled sharply, flexing my fingers before curling them into fists. “Of course we did.”

I slid the page deeper into my pocket, making sure it was secure. Then, without another glance at the wreckage of my father’s past, I stepped forward. My hand landed on the edge of the door, and before I crossed the threshold, I pulled it shut behind me.

A coffin sealed. A grave left behind.

The moment I stepped into the hall, the weight of every set of eyes landed on me.

Theo.

Gabe.

Angelica.

They were all there, standing in the dim lighting, watching as I passed. My sister stood there, hair dishevelled from being fucked by my brother, looking like she wanted to speak. Like she wanted to ask what the fuck I had been doing in the study—and what I’d found.

Wouldn’t she like to know.

I didn’t stop.

Didn’t slow.

I walked past her.

Her gaze burned into the side of my face, but I didn’t acknowledge it. Not when my body still ached with the desperate need to put my fucking hands on her for lying to us.

I kept moving.

The sharp pain in my side made my vision blur for half a second. Fuck. My stitches were screaming, the damage from the fight, from the staples she put into me, from the chaos—it was adding up.

But I couldn’t stop.

Not when I caught the look on Marco’s face as he led me outside.

Because one of our men had stopped answering his radio.

I stepped into the open air, the night pressing in. Our men were positioned as usual, walking the perimeter, but there was tension in the way they stood, the way they looked at me.

I scanned them quickly, counting, even through the growing headache pounding behind my eyes.

And then, the sinking feeling in my gut turned cold.

“Rigo’s the one not answering?” I asked flatly.

Marco’s jaw clenched. He pointed toward the far perimeter, past the line of vehicles.

“We’ve been calling him for the last twenty minutes. But he hasn’t checked in.”

That wasn’t like him at all.

Rigo was one of dad’s best men. Loyal to a goddamn fault. There was no way he wouldn’t answer.

I didn’t say anything. I just started walking.