Page 21 of Ruthless Desires, Vol. Two (Ruthless Desires Series Extended Editions #2)

Elliot

Being overwhelmed is something I’m familiar with. In fact, it’s how I managed to get through high school without exploding. Extra credit here, student government there. Free time? Fill that with another class. Another club. Another project. Another tutoring job.

If I had too much on my plate, there was no room in my head to process my parents’ self-inflicted misery. Rhett and Ol became a much-needed distraction and support system in my teens. But when I was without them, I buried myself in as many anythings as I could.

And then Sammy died, and the three of us threw ourselves into finding her killer. We barely let ourselves come up for air. Hell, years later, we still struggle with letting ourselves rest.

Which, I suppose, is why Rhett looks like absolute shit. We got home from Florida late last night and all immediately went to bed—even him. But he got up at some point in the early morning, and it’s no surprise that this is what he went straight to.

My heart is in my throat as we all gather around the desk in the library. Rhett’s seated, and his leg is bouncing as he stares at his open laptop. There are so many things on my mind, so many things to do, and the look on his face only means he’s about to add something else.

“Just tell us,”

Oliver says nervously.

“They brought Andrew to the condo after those two guys tried to get to Aubrey,”

Rhett says. His eyes are unfocused, and his voice is hoarse and weighed down with worry for his brother.

“The bug we planted caught their conversation, and it’s…”

Shit. Rhett’s the bluntest out of the four of us. If he’s struggling to say it out loud, that’s not good. We’re already worried enough about his brothers.

“It’s what?”

Wren asks.

“Just listen,”

Rhett says before hitting play.

“You have exactly sixty seconds to explain yourself,”

Ludo says through the speaker.

“How do you know these men? Why were you working with them? I’ve been nothing but generous toward you. I took you and your brother in, gave you a place to stay, and gave you a way to gain custody. This is how you repay me? With betrayal? Did you think I wouldn’t find out?”

Andrew’s voice comes through next, unsure and terrified.

“What do you mean, betrayal? I got a text from you telling me what to do! I was just following orders.”

“Following orders?”

Ludo bellows.

“What texts? What the hell are you talking about?”

“I—here, I’ll show you.”

There’s momentary silence, and I assume it’s Andrew showing Ludo his phone. Then Andrew says, “I did everything you asked. I waited until I saw Aubrey show up with her bodyguards, and then I texted you. See? It’s right here. I told you they were going to the penthouse instead of the condo, so I stole a key card from an employee like you told me to, and then you sent your men up.”

“I didn’t send these texts,”

Ludo snaps.

“Those men don’t work for me, and I didn’t receive that text from you. If you’re lying to me—”

“I’m not,”

Andrew insists.

Something shatters, and I can only imagine it’s from Ludo throwing something.

“Don’t you dare interrupt me,”

he seethes.

“I—I’m sorry, sir.”

“Sit there,”

Ludo says curtly.

“Don’t move. And give me your phone. I’ll have one of my men look into this and see what happened.”

“Yes, sir,”

Andrew says quietly.

“If I find out you’re lying,”

Ludo says, “and that you somehow faked these texts, you’re done for. Done for. You hear me? You and your brother.”

“Yes, sir. I’m sorry, and I’m not lying. I promise.”

“We’ll see about that,”

Ludo grumbles.

The conversation changes to Ludo barking out orders to his men. Rhett pauses it and shuts his laptop, so I assume that’s the only important part.

The breakfast in my stomach sours. If Andrew is already on thin ice over this, one more naive mistake and…

Fuck. Fuck.

“Andrew wouldn’t do something as stupid as going behind Ludo’s back,”

Oliver croaks out, “right?”

I take a moment to think it over.

“When we talked to him the other day, he seemed like he practically worshiped Ludo. Based on that, I don’t think we have to worry. Hopefully the truth will come out.”

Whatever the truth actually is. It sounds like someone hacked into Andrew’s phone and made it look like Ludo was sending him instructions. Clever, I suppose. Except now Rhett’s brothers are in even more danger.

“And if the truth doesn’t come out?”

Rhett’s voice is so even, so… flat. Emotionless. He’s staring across the library at nothing, his eyes blank. Not a good sign.

“What do you think Ludo will do?”

Wren’s eyes dart between the three of us.

“What’ll he do to Benny and Andrew?”

“He’ll kill them,”

Rhett says quietly.

“Probably torture Andrew, too. As for Benny, I’d love to say Ludo is above torturing children, but…”

He trails off and presses his lips together.

Wren shudders.

“We need to end this now.”

Rhett’s voice is heavy with regret.

“Forget our plans. I’m not risking their lives—not like this. Even if Ludo finds out the rat isn’t Andrew, the kid is bound to make a mistake that Ludo won’t tolerate. We need to kill Ludo, and we need to get the boys out of there.”

Rhett is met with silence. We all stare at him, too stunned, or maybe too worried, to reply. Ultimately, the decision is up to him. If he wants to abandon everything and go straight to taking out Ludo…

Fuck. I don’t know if I can do that.

Wren looks between the three of us and squares her shoulders. “No.”

“No?”

the three of us ask in unison.

With all eyes on her, Wren crosses her arms.

“No. You’re not forgetting your plans, Rhett. Absolutely not. You’ve been working toward this for ten years. Killing him won’t be enough. Not considering what he’s done. You’ve already compromised, and now you’re just going to give everything up?”

“I can’t let them get hurt.”

“No! You need this.”

She gestures to me and Oliver.

“All three of you need this. And I refuse to stand by and watch you make a decision you’ll regret for the rest of your life. You love Sammy too much to just let this go.”

“Sammy’s dead,”

he says flatly.

“And her murderer deserves every single thing you’ve ever wanted to do to him,”

Wren replies, her voice rising.

“Torture him. Destroy his empire. Bring him close to death as many times as you want, and then end it. Ludo deserves to feel an unfathomable amount of pain, and Rhett, you deserve to be the one to inflict it.”

I’m peripherally aware of the fact that my mouth is hanging slightly ajar. Oliver is staring at Wren with so much pride in his eyes that he can’t stop grinning. But then Rhett’s voice cuts through the room, cold and sharp.

“I’m not risking my brothers’ safety.”

“Then don’t,”

Wren says.

“Alter the plans so we can get Benny and Andrew to safety as soon as possible, and then destroy Ludo.”

“It’s not that easy,”

Rhett grits out.

“Well,”

Wren says, her voice wavering ever so slightly at his tone, “you three seem to be very good at doing not-that-easy things.”

Rhett stares at her, his jaw clenched. The air is as tense as a Hayes family gathering during the holidays, and I’m not sure how to break it.

“You once told me that I underestimated how much getting revenge for Sammy meant to you,”

Wren says.

“Maybe I did. But—”

“You didn’t.”

He looks up as he says it, his eyes softening as they meet hers.

“Then don’t underestimate your own feelings now. Not when you’re so close to achieving everything you’ve been fighting for.”

More silence.

My heart is in my throat as I watch the two of them. They’re not necessarily staring each other down, but neither of them are looking away.

I understand Rhett’s concerns. Adding Wren into our relationship while we work to take down Ludo has put her in so much danger. We’re doing our best to shield her from anyone who wants to harm her, but obviously we’re not doing a perfect job.

Having to look out for two more people adds in a lot of extra complications. Potentially getting caught was already a huge risk. Now? We won’t survive if we lose someone else. And the more someone else’s there are, the greater the risk. The problem is, I don’t think we can fully move on until Ludo is dead, either.

“We have to make it work.”

I meet Rhett’s stare.

“We have to. We’ll rework the plan as many times as we need, and for right now, we’ll prioritize the safety of the kids. But Ludo will suffer, and it’ll be at our hands.”

Rhett shakes his head.

“If we get Benny and Andrew out of there, do you really think Ludo won’t put the pieces together? He’ll know it was us, or he’ll at least be suspicious. He’ll lock us out like that.”

He snaps his fingers before dropping his hand into his lap.

“We’ll never gain access to him again, and we could potentially have all his allies coming after us at once.”

“Then we get them out at the same time we enact our plan.”

“We don’t have a plan,”

he says.

“Not anymore.”

“Then we’ll make a new one.”

Exasperation bleeds into my voice, but I can’t stop it.

“I can’t let this go, Rhett. I can’t let him go. And neither can you, whether you’re able to admit it right now or not.”

“I can’t let it go, either,”

Oliver says quietly.

“I can’t watch you give up. We need to end this, yes. But we need to end it properly. You’ll regret this so deeply, Rhett, and we aren’t going to let that happen. Please.”

“For the next couple weeks, we have a person on the inside,”

Wren adds.

“Aubrey may even be able to give us updates on how Benny and Andrew are doing. And she has access to a lot more information on Ludo than most people. We could do something with that, right?”

“Definitely,”

I say.

“If she can get us proof of Ludo’s crimes, that right there could be enough to shut down at least half his businesses. We could potentially get the FBI and the IRS coming after him at once. Hell, probably even local authorities, too. There are a lot of variables, though. How many political connections does he have? How many more will he gain after he marries into the Stallard family?”

Oliver perks up.

“But his political connections could work in our favor. While the charges start racking up against him, he’ll stay out on bail, or he’ll be placed under house arrest. With his money and connections, there’s no way he’ll end up in prison.”

“Right.”

My mind is whirring as I start piecing things together.

“We can’t bring him back here if he ends up in the prison system. But we can definitely find a way to kidnap him and the boys from his home. It won’t be easy, but—”

I grin at Wren, “—we’re fantastic at doing not-that-easy things.”

“Bring him back here?”

she asks with alarm.

“Like what we did with Jordan?”

“No.”

Rhett leans back in his chair. His face is still grim, but at least he’s stopped actively protesting.

“We have a special area for Ludo downstairs.”

“In the basement?”

“Not… yeah, I guess. Sort of.”

“We’ll show you sometime,”

Oliver says right before pecking Wren on the cheek.

“There are lots of things in this place you should be aware of.”

She raises an eyebrow. “Oh?”

He grins.

“We even have a hidden weapons room, like in the movies.”

With a disbelieving laugh, she says, “Let me guess, you have a box hidden somewhere full of fake IDs and cash, too?”

Oliver blinks. Then he tilts his head to the side.

“You actually think we don’t?”

“You do?!”

“Of course we do!”

He looks at me, then Rhett.

“Should we get Wren a fake ID?”

“Let’s get through the next couple of weeks first,”

I say.

“Right now, we need to stay focused on Aubrey, Andrew, Benny, and Ludo.”

“And we need to prioritize the kids’ safety,”

Rhett says heavily.

“I can’t let anything happen to them. Not again.”

“They come first.”

Cautiously, Oliver rests a hand on Rhett’s shoulder.

“We can figure this out. Promise.”

The rest of their conversation fades out. I’m already a million miles away, locked in my brain while I try to sort everything into a workable plan.

Get the boys to safety. Help Aubrey leave. Destroy Ludo’s life. Hurt him—kill him. Protect Wren. Protect everyone.

Having Aubrey on the inside couldn’t’ve come at a better time. I’m not sure how exactly we’ll use it to our advantage, just that we will.

We were originally planning for a slow and painful dismantling of Ludo’s empire. Forcing his businesses to close, having the authorities coming after him, turning his allies against him, etc. And then we’d swoop in and kill him. But now everything will have to be quick. Catastrophic, even.

If there was ever a time that called for no margins of error, it’s now.

When I finally come back to the present, Oliver and Wren are planning a day with Aubrey so we can talk to her without Ludo or his men overhearing. Rhett is watching me silently.

My chest aches at his expression. He looks like he could fall over from exhaustion at any moment.

“Have you transcribed it yet?”

I nod to his laptop.

Rhett shakes his head.

“And how many times have you listened to it?”

Slowly, Rhett closes his eyes. Avoiding my reaction, probably.

“I don’t know.”

The thought of Rhett alone in here, listening to that conversation on repeat for hours, is like a knife twisting straight into my heart. Yet I can’t say I would’ve done anything differently.

Wren’s phone starts ringing, and she smiles at her screen.

“It’s Aubrey. Perfect timing. I’ll see if she’s free tomorrow.”

She places her phone to her ear as she heads out of the library.

I watch her go until she’s out of sight. Having a minute alone with Rhett and Oliver gives me a chance to propose an idea I’ve been tossing around for a couple days. The three of us agreed we need to make sure Wren feels secure in our relationship. Even without what happened in Florida, I’d still want her to know that when we say “us,”

she’s included in it. Always.

I’m not sure how we’ll work on it with her in the house, but I’m hoping Aubrey will rope her into some wedding stuff so it can stay a complete surprise.

After double checking to make sure Wren is still out of earshot, I turn to the guys.

“Remember how we agreed to make sure Wren knows we’re as committed to her as she is to us? I know we have a lot on our plates right now, but I don’t think we should wait.”

Oliver perks up.

“Do you have an idea?”

I nod.

“Been thinking it over since the museum.”

Leaning forward, Rhett says, “Spill.”