“I knew I was being watched back then,” I mutter, remembering the biker in the parking lot after my lunch with Morgan. How I’d told Roman, and he’d dismissed my concerns as paranoia.
“Sorry, Sunshine,” Roman murmurs, and the guilt in his voice does nothing to soothe my irritation.
For a minute, we’re all silent. I can’t process everything I’ve just learned yet, not when I’m exhausted and afraid and still don’t understand everything. I stare at my hands, spread flat on the table, and try to make sense of a world that keeps shifting beneath my feet.
Dragon breaks the silence, his voice cutting through my thoughts. “Where have you been for two years, Kit?” he asks, leaning forward in his chair. “And was the man who broke into Kayla’s house tonight one of yours?”
Kit just looks at his brother, a smile playing at the corner of his mouth. “Roman wasn’t the only one I needed to destroy,” hesays, his voice soft but venomous. “I could have just killed them all, but it’s so much more satisfying to burn everything they hold dear to the ground, just when they think they’ve won.”
Dragon’s eyes narrow. “You’re talking about Naomi and the rest of the Rejects.”
Kit snorts. “Who else?”
He leans back in his chair, stretching his long legs out in front of him. “I knew that if Naomi felt like she won, she’d get arrogant. Sloppy.” His smile widens. “And then I’d get the information I needed to burn her world to the ground.”
“Do you have that information now?” Dragon asks.
“Oh yes,” Kit says, and he sounds so gleeful that it sends a shiver down my spine.
“But then who was in my house tonight?” I ask, my voice stronger than I expected. “And why were you there?”
Kit shrugs, his eyes sliding away from mine for the first time. “He wasn’t one of mine.”
There’s something in his evasive answer that strikes me, and I follow my instinct. “But you knew he was going to be there.”
Kit shifts uncomfortably, and I know I’ve hit the mark. His discomfort is fascinating, this man who seems incapable of shame or regret, suddenly unable to meet my eyes.
“Were you trying to protect me?” I press, watching his reaction closely.
He looks even more uncomfortable now, his jaw tightening. Roman stirs beside me, his body tensing as if ready to launch across the table.
“I was protecting her just fine,” Roman growls.
Kit snorts again. “Sure you were.”
“Who sent the man?” Dragon asks, dragging the conversation back on track.
Kit doesn’t answer directly. Instead, he leans forward, elbows on the table, eyes intent. “It’s a funny thing, isn’t it,” he says,his voice contemplative. “That Kayla’s car broke down that night right at a point where she’d be the most isolated.”
Roman goes very still beside me. “What are you saying?”
Kit just smiles, the expression cold. “My man wasn’t the only one looking for Kayla on the road that night,” he says. “He just got there first.”
My blood runs cold as the implication sinks in. Someone else was hunting me that night. If Kit’s men hadn’t found me first, I might be…
Before anyone can respond, there’s a sharp knock at the door. It swings open before Dragon can call out, revealing a man with wild eyes and an agitated manner.
“Sorry to interrupt,” he says, not sounding sorry at all, “but some idiot let it slip to Finn that Demon is here, and the kid went crazy.”
He runs a hand through his hair, which is already standing on end. “Now Mason has three fewer teeth, and Doc had his very pleasant evening with Skye interrupted to tend to Raptor because Finn hit him over the head with a chair.” His voice rises with each injury he lists. “He has a concussion and needed six stitches.”
Gigi shakes her head, a long-suffering expression on her face. “The boy is too much like his father,” she mutters. She puts her knitting away and pats Kit’s knee. “We should go stop Finn before he kills someone.”
Dragon rises from his chair, looking at Roman and me. “Kayla looks dead on her feet,” he says, his voice surprisingly gentle. “She should rest. We’ll hash the rest of this out tomorrow.”
He gestures to the door. “Someone will show Kayla to a room where she can sleep.” Then he turns to Roman. “We’re about to question the man who broke into Kayla’s house. Want to join in?”
Roman nods, a hard gleam entering his eyes. “I do.”