Page 117 of Word to the Wise

This man standing in front of me now isn’t the man I met six years ago. He isn’t even the man I walked away from a couple of months ago. Carter lost me, and now he’s losing his business. He’s devolving in front of us.

With the state he’s in, I have no doubt he’ll make good on his threats. And I don’t know how far he’s going to take this. There’s no more holding back. He’s spilling out every dark secret he would have veiled in a lie last time I saw him.

He doesn’t care anymore.

He has nothing to lose.

And that’s the most terrifying realization of all.

“Of course I knew Sienna. She was dating my buddy.” Carter tilts the gun and smiles.

“You were friends with Gabe,” Mason guesses at the same time I’m thinking it.

Carter nods. “How do you think I got introduced to your father? Las Vegas, San Francisco… doesn’t really matter when it comes to shared business interests. Gabe knew someone looking to expand into my city, and I was looking for an investment.”

“Match made in corporate heaven,” Mason huffs, not amused.

“Yeah, I like that.” Carter grins, clearly not picking up on the sarcasm. “Gabe set me up with Rick Zane, and when I came to Vegas to sign the deal, we went out to celebrate.”

Celebrate.

A sour feeling stirs in my gut.

“Gabe was always good for his connections,” Carter says. “Money. Drugs. Pussy. But I never understood how he got such a cute little thing like your sister to fall for him.”

Mason takes a step forward, so Carter turns the gun on me, freezing him in place. Mason might not care about self-preservation, but he won’t risk my life for revenge. And Carter knows it.

“Don’t pretend you knew who my sister was.” Mason’s neck tenses with his words.

Carter narrows his gaze, tilting his head to the side. “Why not? I knew her better than you think.”

“Fuck you.” Mason snaps.

But Carter just smirks.

“Sienna was sweet. Didn’t fight back as much as this one.” He glances at me, clicking his tongue on the roof of his mouth. “She knew how to take it.”

“I swear to fuck—” Mason drags his hands through his hair, and I sense him wanting to move with every ounce of his being.

But he can’t so long as Carter is using me against him.

“What, Mason? Disappointed your sister was a coked-up slut?” Carter grins. “Or are you disappointed she was a whore who tried to lie and say she didn’t want it?”

Want it?

The story Mason told me replays in my head. About how Gabe threw a party for his friends, and after Sienna passed out, he let them in the room with her.

His friends.

Carter was one of them.

“You raped her.” Mason’s neck flexes as he comes to the same realization I do.

Pain swims in his eyes with every word, and I’ve never seen him this broken. It’s like he’s been punched in the gut when no one has made a move. And the hits keep coming. One after another as Carter continues taunting.

“I had my fun.” Carter shrugs. “We all did. And when she said she was going to rat on us, I took out the trash because that’s what I’m good at.”

I take a step forward—not caring if he pulls the trigger.