Page 94 of Hearts and Hidden Secrets

CARSON

These people were terrifying, but also fascinating.

The sister? I had no idea what I thought of her now.

Emotional at first. Hurt. In pain. Then there was a glimmer of depth, but she was in shock.

That much was obvious. As for Tanner, I felt like he’d love to string me up and gut me one organ at a time, telling me jokes as he did.

There was no way to read him. He had a firm wall up to everyone, even his family… or so I thought.

As for the oldest, my first impressions were the same: cold, ruthless, cunning. But he loved his family—and they all loved Jonah.

As we went to yet another part of the house (not a shock at this point), I pushed aside the fear and started observing them. The two brothers kept glancing at Jonah, measuring him.

It was almost as if he had surprised them?

Jonah had a good heart. I couldn’t explain how I knew, but I did. I’d known it the first moment I saw him, almost like something clicked for me. It was new.

Yet as we went inside this massive, dark office, I knew Jonah would try to get answers for me. I lo—liked. Liked. I liked him even more for that.

“You said Carson’s sister got free tickets and a VIP pass from a contest?” Jonah asked.

Kai had moved to his desk and was going through some papers. He looked up and gave his brother another one of those measuring looks before he gave Tanner a nod.

Tanner moved forward, taking out his phone. He also pulled out my phone and tossed it to Jonah, then pushed a button on his phone.

He placed it in the middle of the desk on speaker. “Go ahead,” he barked.

“We looked through Carson’s phone and found nothing there,” came a voice from the phone.

“She’s legit, but researching her story, we found some items. The older sister, the one getting married, received an email about a contest for Mustangs tickets.

She responded to the email, but it was a fake.

It looks like she entered the contest, but that data doesn’t exist. It was a dummy database.

We found the email congratulating her, and a number for her to call to claim the tickets.

That number is also a dummy number. It no longer exists, but we think when she got the tickets, she was also given the VIP pass for Bresko’s. ”

“You’re unable to trace where the email originated from?” Kai frowned.

“We’re working on it, but we’re jumping from Russia and hitting walls. She was set up. That much is true.”

My sister.

They—whoever they were—had targeted her.

My knees buckled.

They’d said it before, but I hadn’t let it sink in. I hadn’t believed them. But this… I remembered when she’d called me.

“Can you believe this?! It’s like it’s meant to be, you know?” she’d squealed over the phone.

“She was so excited,” I said, feeling their gazes on me. But I didn’t look up. “She’s getting married next weekend, and she thought it was perfect timing—that she’d won the tickets.”

“And Bresko’s?” Kai asked.

I looked at him. “She told me …” I trailed off, trying to remember the exact wording.

“Bresko’s? Seriously? That weird club?” I’d asked her.

“It’s not weird ,” she’d countered . “It’s exclusive, and yes.

From time to time some of the players go there.

I got it on good authority that a bunch will be there.

Bram wants to go. You know how much he loves hockey.

” She’d laughed. “Don’t worry about it. I have that VIP package, remember?

Gotta use it while I have it. Don’t know when that’ll come around again. ”

I told them what she’d said.

“Who’s Bram?” Tanner asked.

“That’s her fiancé. That’s his name.” I began feeling a different sort of dread slither through me. “Please don’t do anything to my sister. I couldn’t…” I felt an ice pick being shoved through my chest. I turned to Jonah. “Not my sister. Not her.”

She couldn’t go through what I had.

Jonah reached out his hand.

“She’s supposed to get married next weekend,” I whispered. “ Please .”

The voice from the phone spoke up, “They don’t need to do anything. We can hack her phone. The correspondence will be there, most likely.”

Jonah gave me a nod, and I closed my eyes. I couldn’t handle it if they took her.

“When will you know?” Kai asked, moving closer to the phone.

“Give us an hour to be thorough.”

“Okay.”

Tanner ended the call on speaker, and Kai pulled out his own phone and put it to his ear. “You were listening?” he said. “I want a team dispatched to observe the sister.”

“No!” I started for him, but Jonah caught my hand. He pulled me back.

Kai ignored me. “Just observe her for now.” He ended the call, and those cold eyes turned my way. “We have no plans to harm your sister, but she was used to get you here. We need to find out who orchestrated that.”

My heart beat so hard.

Jonah wrapped his arm around me, pulling me to his chest. “If someone made sure Carson was there, how could they have known I’d be there? I was the one who recognized her.”

Tanner and Kai both noted the way Jonah held me close, but I didn’t care. I sagged against him, feeling safe.

They shared a look before Kai responded. “We don’t think they did. We think whoever did this was assuming Tanner would be there and would recognize her.”

Jonah’s arm pressed a little harder around me, but it felt good. Secure.

“But he wouldn’t have,” Kai added. “She’d already been identified by security. It wouldn’t have mattered if you or Tanner were there. She was green-lit the second she entered the building.”

My chest felt tight. What did that mean?

“We were watching her, waiting to see what she would do. You and Tanner just got to her before we made a decision.”

“So you already knew?” Jonah said.

“I was notified that an employee from the morgue was spotted in one of our nightclubs. It’s not the first time. We own a lot of clubs, but it wasn’t until your call that I realized you were involved. I wasn’t lying to you, Jonah.”

Jonah’s arm grew even tighter. “You could’ve shared that,” he said harshly. “You could’ve?—”

“For what reason?” Kai shot back. “We have no idea why she was there. We still don’t.

We’re getting the information, and when we do, we’ll figure it out.

It’s been a goddamn day. You’re not in this family business, or are you forgetting?

We had a conversation. You chose to stay out. I’m respecting your wishes.”

His eyes traveled over me, over us, and lingered on Jonah’s arm. “Twenty-four hours ago, you were barely restraining yourself from wanting her dead. Now look at you. How was I supposed to know your feelings would change so quickly?”

Jonah’s entire body locked up tight behind me. “You told me she was interested in me. You said to use that, to study her?—”

Now I froze.

What ?

He knew?

A ball of fire ignited inside of me, low, and it was growing fast.

He was using me?

Kai was still watching me, waiting to see how Jonah’s words affected me. “Your feelings have changed. You’re invested.”

I felt a growl working up through Jonah’s chest, but it didn’t matter. Jonah didn’t like hearing that, and that told me everything.

I stepped away from him, ignoring the sudden quiet that came over the room.

There was a window, and though it was dark outside, I went to look through it.

I could see the lights in the trees. The guards. After that, it was just darkness.

I’d never had a hope of getting free. I saw it now. It was all hopeless.

“Cars—”

I spoke over Jonah, still turned toward the window, my back to them. “Who are you people?” I hadn’t wanted to think about it before, but I had to know. Jonah wasn’t an ally.

It was just me, me alone. I needed to know who I was dealing with.

“I’m a forensic technician,” I continued. “I’m a lab person. I do the tests, run the samples. I do the grunt work sometimes. I enjoy it. I like the science. I hate the death part, but I like everything else. It gives me purpose, but I was only one of the techies that worked on her.”

I’d been enamored with Jonah from the beginning. They saw how I reacted to him.

“For me to be here, they had to have seen the security feeds. It only makes sense. That’s the only indication of…

” It was a bitter lump to swallow. “…how I was attracted to Jonah from the start. I told him about the ring, and the only people in the room were me, him, and Tanner.” I shook my head.

“Tanner couldn’t have heard what I said.

But the security camera would’ve. It was directly above us. ”

They would’ve needed that footage. They’d used it to identify me, identify my sister, get me here. But why?

I turned, looking at Kai. “Why? Why this weekend?”

He didn’t speak.

“They know we’re close to him,” Tanner said.

Kai’s eyes flashed, and I almost stepped back, into the window, because of what I saw there.

Death. Anger.

I didn’t want to look at Jonah, see whatever he was thinking or feeling.

I’d heard enough.

He’d used me. Everything had been a lie. That’s all I needed to know.

“Carson.”

I turned back to the window, ignoring Jonah.

“Give her her phone,” Kai said. “You can take her home.”

I heard rustling behind me, and then Kai called my name from the door.

“You and your sister will be under observation for the week. It’s for your safety now, but do not alert her to their presence. You do, and I’ll have you and her brought back in.”

As warnings went, it was almost friendly, but as I nodded, I still felt the ominous threat there. They’d bring us in and then what?

I didn’t want to find out.

“Jonah, take her home.”