Chapter 48

After collectingCrispy and a hastily packed overnight bag, Ash found himself rocketing down I-40 west toward the one place where Kayla would be safe.

Steele Ridge.

The closer he got to his family’s compound, the more knotted his stomach became. He was about to ask his brother Zeke for a favor and he had no idea of his reception after their falling-out yesterday.

Getting Kayla away from the city and all of her responsibilities would also give them an opportunity to have a long, uninterrupted chat. His pulse kicked up a notch when his mind flashed back to Wade mouthing the name of who put a hit on the governor.

HCVS.

The company that had been pouring buckets of money into Krowne and Associates.

Ash rolled up to the Friary’s security panel, entered his code, and waited for the large gate to crank open. When nothing happened, he glanced at the panel and noticed an error message.

Invalid code.

He reentered his number.

Same result. A growl erupted from his throat.

“What’s the matter?” Kayla asked.

“Dear brother deactivated my code.”

“Because of your argument?”

“Because of a hundred thousand different reasons.” Ash hooked his wrist over the top of the steering wheel and thrummed his fingers against the dash.

He could either sit out here like an idiot all night, call Zeke and grovel until he opened the gate, go around the asshole and narc on him to their mother, text one of his brothers and put them in the middle—again, or turn around and deal with Wade and Co. by himself, placing Kayla in greater danger.

“What are you doing?” Kayla asked into the silence.

“Thinking.”

“About?”

“The most painful way to end my brother.”

“Want me to call Liv and have her buzz us in?”

“No, that would put her in an awkward position.”

“We could stay in a hotel tonight and deal with this in the morning.”

He shook his head. “I want you on the other side of that gate. It’s the only way I know you’ll be safe until we figure out who’s behind all this.”

“What did Mason say to you, right before he took off?”

He’d avoided talking about this on the ride here, not wanting his attention divided by driving, watching for tails, and concentrating on not only what she told him but what she would no doubt leave unsaid.

Now, his only distraction was his near overwhelming need to pull her into his arms and cover her mouth with his. For months, she’d been traveling around in a vehicle with a contract killer. One moral code away from death.

He didn’t know where the hell they were going from here, but a niggling fear told him he was about to lose her.

“Ash?” she prompted into the silence.

Angling his head toward her, he drew in a breath to share Wade’s confession, only to be interrupted by a gruff voice. “You gonna sit out there all night?”

Ash closed his eyes for a fortifying second before he stuck his head out the window and spoke into the panel’s intercom. “I’d be at the house already if someone hadn’t deactivated my code.”

“No one canceled your code,” Zeke said. “You’re family. A pain in the ass, but family.”

“Explain why my number isn’t working, then.”

“Rohan sent out new ones last month. Did you update your records?”

Heat laughed its way up his neck and revved around his ears. He sagged back in his seat and knocked his skull against the headrest.

A soft, feminine chuckle broke out beside him.

“It’s not funny,” he growled, pulling up Rohan’s text.

“Watching the two of you is the best show on earth.”

Ash clamped his teeth together, entered the new code, and eyed the gate’s opening with intense annoyance.

As he pulled away, Zeke’s amused voice reached through the window and flicked his ear. “We’re all in the Great Hall.”

Wonderful. Group humiliation. His favorite.