48. Cash

48

CASH

Stepping through the doors of OPS felt like a dream, but not the kind anyone would want to live. I felt nothing but hollow. Since the moment I pulled the trigger, all I could think about was how the one person who was part of me in every way was now gone. Not a lot of people really understood the twin thing. In fact, some twins never felt the connection I had with Rafe. For us, it had been different. I always knew when he was around. I could feel his eyes on me in the darkest moments of my life.

Just as I felt his eyes on me just before I took that shot.

There was a picture of us when we were born, and I would find it. We were laying in the crib together, our arms wrapped around each other as we slept. All my life, I thought it was a little weird and creepy, but now all I could think about was how it was symbolic of how we would live our lives.

No, we never really got along the way others did. Anyone who knew us would think we were enemies, and that was partly true. But we were always watching out for each other, even when it didn't appear so.

When I was taken in place of him, he assumed my identity so easily that he fooled nearly everyone I worked with. It was only because Rae had such a keen eye that she knew to keep digging. And while it wasn't his best moment, he did what he had to for me.

Now, I stood in the doorway of OPS, staring at the sea of faces. Every one of my employees and their spouses was here for me. They didn't all get along with Rafe, but they knew what he meant to me in some way or another.

"Boss," Rae said, stepping forward.

I saw the blank look on her face and knew immediately what she was thinking. Rae didn't do well with emotional stuff. If it were anyone else, she would probably tell me to buck up. But she had helped Rafe once before. She was in the same position as me, knowing he was up to something that he couldn't tell us, and hoping it all turned out well in the end.

"What can we do?" Red asked.

I didn't know what to tell him. I was still reeling from the whole thing. It had been less than a day since I took that shot.

Less than a day since I killed my brother.

Less than a day since I lost my other half.

"Cash?"

I looked up at the sound of Eva's voice. Not even that could ground me right now. But when she ran at me and leapt into my arms, I held her tight, hoping to soothe her in some way. It probably should have been the other way around, but again…I was fucking hollow.

A hiss of cold air skittered along my neck for just a moment and a voice very much like my own whispered in my ear.

You fucking make them pay.

I spun around, thinking I would see him behind me, but there was no one there. My heart hammered in my chest as I listened for the sound of his voice again. But silence was all that remained. I would never hear his voice again. I would never look at the face identical to my own.

I would never get the chance to tell him that I fucking loved him, even if he was a fucking asshole.

So much had been left unsaid between us, and I had a feeling Rafe wanted it that way. But I would regret for the rest of my life that I hadn't tried harder to have a better relationship with him. Maybe I could have stopped him from making such a deadly choice. Maybe we would have figured out how to end this together.

Instead, the only thing left was to avenge him.

To take from them what they took from me.

Zavala was dead, but The Syndicate was very much alive and running. The figureheads were being replaced, but the men who worked for Zavala still needed to be hunted down. The men who tortured my sister were still on that island. I would not rest until every fucking one of them was dead, just like my brother. They would rue the day they ever crossed a single member of my family, and then I would watch them burn to ash.

I saw the determination in every single man and woman standing before me. Deep down, they all knew what I needed, and I knew they would fight beside me until the end. The battle might have been lost, but we'd win the fucking war.

Lock stood tall with his arms crossed in front of his chest. "Tell us what to do, boss."

"We fucking break them."