Page 157 of Dark Little Game

“Why have you been threatening us? ThreateningOnyx?” I demand. “What do you want?”

“You should ask your dear old dad, Knox.”

For a moment I don’t understand.

“What does he have to do with this?”

“There’s a reason I’m saying this all could have been easy,” Briar says. “We called your father the night of the first attack. Told him our terms. But he didn’t quite think James and Ethan were precious enough to bother with.”

“What the fuck?” Weston whispers.

“So we told him we were going to get closer and closer to someone your fatherdoescare about. When we attacked Rayne, it was only natural that Daddy’s boy Weston here would call his father and tell him all about it. Right, Weston?”

He puffs out a breath of air.

Briar comes forward suddenly, pushing the side of the Glock under Weston’s chin, and I reach out and grip her wrist as she does it.

“Not going to shoot him. Yet,” she says, rolling her eyes at me.

“Yes. I did call my dad and tell him about the attacks on Rayne.”

My stomach turns. “Wes. YoutoldDad? And…”

“And he just saidwow, that’s a shame.”

Briar smiles wickedly. “Does that make you a littlesad, Hunter? Your father was aware, all this time, that we were putting your little loverboy at risk, and he didn’t do agoddamned fucking thing to stop it.”

She pulls away from Wes finally, yanking her arm out of my fist.

“I don’t believe it.”

“Well, you should start,” Briar says. “We had to make our bargaining chips better and better. And Iwashoping to send your father a photo of all three of you, tied up andgagged, and then maybe,finallyhe’d give us what we deserve?—”

“You’re insane,” I tell her.

She pauses, a bitter look coming over her face. “But now I’m thinking maybe the bargaining chip has to be a little more brutal. If your father is ever going to give us what we require?—”

“Which is?”

“Eight million dollars, you silver-spoon ignorant idiot,” she tells me. “You really didn’t know that bar fight you got into on your last night in London was staged? The Thornwick family were trying tosaveyou. It was your own father who was accidentally going to get you killed.”

I feel sick as I realize that she’s telling the truth.

They never wantedus.

Not really.

They wanted our father, the whole time.

“Your father owes us eight million, which wegenerouslylent him three years ago under the condition we’d get it back with interest. We didn’t. The Zhang family doesn’t exactly play nice with the Thornwicks, so when we found out one of Knox’s sons waswiththe Thornwicks? It was perfect.”

“You were already trying to kidnap me, even in London?”

“We threatened to go after you and your fatherdidn’t even care. But the Thornwicks wanted you alive.”

“That can’t be true.”

“We told your father we were going to kidnap you while you were still in London. And he didn’t make a single move to stop us. Only your chosen little crime family did that.”