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CASH

Black filled my vision and a suffocating fabric covered my face, but I forced my heart rate to steady. As sounds slowly came back to me, I noted the steady drip of water and the muted sound of voices. The cloying scent of blood permeated the cloth covering my face enough to realize that wherever I was, there was a dead body nearby.

Dead, or very nearly dead.

I took a moment to focus on my own physical state. Between the pounding in my head and the roiling in my stomach, I was in pretty shitty condition. Not that this was the worst way I’d woken up. When I’d been taken in place of Rafe, that had been worse. Weeks of torture at the hands of those maniacs had left me physically broken and mentally checked out.

I swallowed past the bile sitting in my throat and forced myself to concentrate. I wouldn’t survive this if I couldn’t fucking remember what I’d been taught. I didn’t survive years in the military only to be taken out now. Besides, my mission wasn’t over. I had to concentrate.

My hands were zip tied behind my back. I could easily break them, but until I knew the circumstances surrounding me, it was best to play dead. I was laying on a cold concrete floor, and based on the temperature in the room, we were in a cooler climate, probably somewhere close to the Canadian border. My shoes were missing, along with my socks. That always meant torture. Other than that, I still had my other clothes. That was a good sign for now.

“You’re sure about this?”

“There’s only one way to find out.”

That voice…Fuck, my head was fucking pounding and my vision was swirling in the darkness.

“Get him up,” a stern voice snapped.

Hands gripped my arms, jerking me upright. The bag was torn from my head and I winced at the bright light. Men in suits stood around me, scattered around a cold, dank room with utilitarian lights hanging from the ceiling.

I shook my head, barely staying upright on my knees as dizziness washed over me. That hit to the head did more damage than I thought when I woke up. I was seeing double as I gazed at the men surrounding me. It took me a minute to focus, but then I realized what this was.

The man front and center stared at me for a moment, his eyes raking over me, taking in every inch of my body. He slowly walked toward me, measuring the weight of who I was.

“So…you want in.”

I kept my mouth shut. He didn’t require an answer.

“You’re not known for stepping outside the lines,” he said, walking around me.

I tensed as he walked outside my periphery. If he chose to put a bullet in my head, that was it. Game over.

“Rafe…he had what it took to do the job, but he was singularly focused. Such a waste,” the man tsked. “All he cared about was getting his sister back.” He walked back into my line of vision and stopped. “He traded himself for his sister. Very noble, but in the end, not the kind of men we’re looking for. What good are you to us if you’re dead?”

He shook his head and kept walking. “No, there are always consequences for everything we do. There’s a delicate balance, and sometimes the innocent have to pay dearly for that balance. Do you understand that, or are you as noble as your brother?”

He stared at me, waiting for a reply, but I refused to give one. He’d already made up his mind about me. Giving him any sort of answer was pointless.

“You shot him. Tell me, was that a kindness or were you doing what was necessary?”

“I think we both know the answer to that,” I growled.

It wouldn’t do any good to lie. Besides, he was already fucking burning. There was no reason besides kindness to end Rafe’s life.

“You were there to save him.”

Again, I didn’t say anything.

“Tell us what you found that day.”

My eyes flicked to his and I saw the curiosity burning bright. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“You do,” he laughed. “I can see it in your eyes. I’ve been watching you. Hell, we all have. We may have taken out the senator, but we were not the ones who pulled the trigger on your man. Kavanaugh, wasn’t it? You can’t hide it from us.”

He knelt down in front of me, grinning at me. “You shot your own man. That’s fucking ruthless. Tell us why.”

I gritted my teeth, anger filling me up with every second that passed. I didn’t owe these assholes an explanation. Yet, if I wanted in, I had to give them something.

“We already know why you did it.” He looked behind me, nodding to someone. Heavy footfalls paced toward me, walking alongside me. “The senator told him, didn’t he?”

Michael walked past me, turning to face me, wearing a suit just like the other, taking his place amongst the men before me.

“He knew about Shadow, and you had to protect the man who raised you, so you took out your own man.” He grinned at me, shoving back to his feet. “It would have worked, too. If only he hadn’t seen the sniper rifle’s glint. He turned just in time, and ended up saving his own life.”

My gaze flicked to Michael’s. He stood amongst these men, staring down at me and waiting for me to make a decision. I was either with him or I was out. There was no going back once I made the call.

The man who was questioning me turned to Michael. Something about the way he was watching him had me stiffening. Something else was going on, something I hadn’t anticipated. I heard a rustling behind me, but didn’t dare look. Michael’s face said it all. Something bad was about to go down.

“This is your call,” the man said to Michael. “In the end, we always defer to you.”

My brows crinkled in confusion. They deferred to him, which meant…fuck, he wasn’t getting me in because of his contacts. He was the contact.

“A test is the only thing that will tell us if your son can truly be trusted.”

Michael’s face went hard as he reached for his gun, but the rest of the men were faster, pulling their weapons and aiming them at him.

“This is the only way,” the man snarled. “We all agreed there would be sacrifices.”

“I’ve sacrificed enough,” Michael spat.

“Yes, probably more than others, but this is necessary, Shadow.”

The man turned and nodded to someone behind me. I heard a scuffle and then Knight was dragged around in front of me, beaten within an inch of his life and bleeding badly. He could barely hold himself up as two men stood on either side, gripping his arms.

“You want in, prove it,” the man said, pulling out a weapon and handing it over. “We all make sacrifices to join. This is your price.”

The zip ties were cut from my wrists and I shook them out, getting to my feet. Knight’s gaze drifted to mine, his dark eyes lethal and unforgiving. If I did this, I would be turning my back on my entire family for good. But if I didn’t, we would both be dead. There was no turning back.

“What will it be?”

The man held the butt of the gun out to me, his eyes watching me curiously. Heart hammering in my chest, I looked around the room again. There was no way out, no way to fight my way out of this. Michael was a loose cannon and would do whatever he deemed appropriate. Knight was in no shape to fight. He couldn’t even hold himself up. I didn’t even know where I was. I had no one on my side.

My eyes flicked to Michael’s one last time. The danger in his eyes made it clear there was only one way out. But there was something else there as well. I had known my old man long enough to know when there was another agenda. This was the only way, and I had to trust him.

I reached for the gun, gripping it tightly in my hand. After quickly checking the weapon, I looked at my brother one last time. I’d already killed my twin. Was I really going to do this again? One last bullet. Kill the man who had come to save me.

“Fucking pussy,” Knight muttered as blood dripped from his mouth. “Do it, brother.”

I wasn’t sure if he was taunting me or begging me to put him out of his misery. Maybe he wanted me to save myself. Fuck, I had no clue, and there was only one choice if I wanted to survive.

If I wanted my family to survive.

I swallowed hard and raised the gun. Bile churned in my gut, but this was the only way. My finger slid over the trigger and my eyes locked with his one last time.

Just like Rafe.

Just fucking like Rafe.

I pulled the trigger.

The smell of smoke permeated the air as I watched my brother’s body slump sideways. His eyes fluttered as he wheezed painfully. It wasn’t a headshot. That’s not what they wanted. They needed to see me pull the trigger and watch him suffer. They had to know I could stomach the outcome of my decisions. A simple bullet to the brain would be too fast and end my suffering along with Knight’s.

I flipped the safety on and handed over the gun as the man clapped me on the shoulder.

“Welcome to the Shadow Government.”

My eyes flicked to Michael’s. He was watching his son bleed out on the ground, and what I saw there scared the crap out of me. Slowly, he turned and faced me.

“There’s no turning back now.”