Page 99 of Tricked By Jack

The words sink claws into me. Lose her. Another loss because of me. Another person I couldn’t keep safe.

I bare my teeth in something that isn’t a smile. “She’s already in danger. Every second I’m not with her…” My chest seizes, fury choking me before I can finish.

“Jack—”

“No,” I snap, cutting off Carolina, which makes my brother let out a low warning growl.

“Show my wife some fucking respect,” he snarls. “You’re in our home.”

“Only because you won’t leave your fortress,” I spit back. “Fuck you, Nick. Fuck you for hiding behind your walls and your security while Shelby lays hands onmy wife.”

My brother narrows his eyes, the scar on his face twisting with the movement. “Are you finished?”

I laugh, hollow and violent. “Finished? Yeah, I’m done sitting here with my dick in my hand while Shelby does fuck knows what to Eve. She’s waiting for me. Counting on me. I canfeelit.”

Fisting the knife harder, I slice it across the scar on my palm, the one from my wedding night. It splits easily, blood welling hot and slick, dripping onto the wood floor.

“You know how Dad always said blood’s thicker than water?” My grin is feral as I lift my hand. “Eve’s blood’s in my veins. Do you care now, brother?”

Nick’s mouth hardens. “Don’t mistake my desire to keep you safe for not wanting to help your wife,” he seethes. “If you’d stop charging like a bull for one second and think, we wouldn’t be wasting time arguing.”

Huh, that gets my attention.

“This is obviously personal, which means every move is,” he continues. “And since Shelby’s had pretty much unlimited access to you, and to us, there’s no shortage of shit she can use.”

I let the words jump around in my head, considering them. Well, fuck. I’ve been looking at this all wrong, haven’t I?

Shelby wants to hurt me, or us. That means she’ll go for the fucking throat. And by taking Eve, there’s only one other wound she can apply pressure to.

“Ruby,” I whisper.

He nods. “I believe so.”

“How?” Carolina demands.

“I’m not sure yet,” Nick replies. “But we need to figure it out if we want to get ahead.”

Chapter 32

The Trickster

The man reeks of fear. It’s in the piss soaking his trousers, in the sweat beading across his scalp, in the way his eyes skitter anywhere but me. I’ve seen men broken in the cage he runs, beaten bloody for sport. None of them looked this pathetic. Then again, they didn’t have me to answer to.

I crouch in front of him, resting the knife flat against his thigh, not piercing, not yet. He flinches anyway, jerks against the ropes binding him to the chair. His lip splits wider when he tries to speak, teeth slick with blood.

“P-please… I d-don’t—”

I drive the blade in slowly, inch by inch, right above the knee. His scream cracks against the concrete walls of my basement, high and desperate, before dissolving into a sob.

“You’ve seen them,” I murmur, quiet enough that he has to strain past his pain to hear. “I’ll say their names one more time. Caleb and Shelby. They were there at the last fight.”

“B-but—” The man howls when I retrieve the blade and run it across an exposed rib.

“Don’t waste my time,” I warn.

He shakes his head, ragged gasps tearing through him. “I-I don’t know w-where they a-are.”

“Liar.” The word hisses from between my teeth. Rage coils tight in my chest, choking, suffocating. My blade twists deeper before I can stop it, his scream ripping raw through the air.