Chapter 40

Forty

Rook

I woke up with Regan wrapped around me. Her leg was thrown over mine, her hand laying over my stomach, and her head tucked between my arm and chest. I had never woken up and loved my life as much as I did now. I was so close to having everything I wanted, but I needed to push a little further.

But I couldn't wait around any longer. I needed her dad taken care of so we could move on with our life. The blankets slid off of me and Regan did, too, as I slipped out of bed and changed before heading down to the kitchen.

It didn't take long for Regan to come down, her hair a mess and my hoodie wrapped around her. My chest tightened as she came over and slipped her arms around me.

"Are you making me breakfast again?" she asked, still sleepy.

"Yeah, Rebel. I'll have it ready for you soon."

She held on, moving with me around the kitchen as I cooked. How could I risk this being taken away now? Would I really have to choose between her and getting my revenge on her dad?

She sat, quietly watching me as I finished and slid a plate to her.

"This is pretty nice. I think I could get used to it," she said, smiling as she took her first bite. "Keep this up, and I might not mind you staying here."

I shook my head, laughing as I walked around to sit next to her. "I'll keep that in mind. I have a serious question for you," I said. I had stayed awake half the morning thinking this over and needed to know what she thought.

"Okay, I'm listening."

"If it wasn't your dad who did all this—the burning of my house, my garage, my parents—why would he put a hit out on me? Why specifically me? Anyone in our world knows we're a group and would put a call out for all of us."

She seemed to think it over, but she wouldn't meet my eye. "Maybe he saw us together at Sweet Haven and didn't like you. It's not like you make a great first impression." She nearly smirked, but thought better of it.

"If that was the situation, then he would know exactly who the girl on the back of my bike was before he set out to have her killed."

Regan didn't say anything, choosing to take another big bite of her pancakes. Finally, she swallowed and met my eye. "I don't know. Maybe he just wanted to get one of you, and not pay for you all."

"Come on, Regan."

"Come on, what? I need more proof, Rook. He's my dad. I mean, I'm pretty pissed about the business and Elliot stuff, but I can't completely think he's this big, scary bad guy without proving it. He is still my dad."

"Fine, hurry and eat, so we can go look through the office."

Her eyes narrowed at me as she finished up before heading out and right into the office.

Evie and Mason had been in here most of the night setting up Evie's little war corner. Her new computers cost a small fortune, but supposedly, they would do better than ever for getting her into any corner of the internet we wanted.

Besides that, the rest of the room had been largely untouched. I didn't want Regan to find any reason to not trust me.

"If we are going through the office, I have a question. Harper and I found something when we went through it. I wanted to ask you about before, but then all this happened, and I didn't have a chance."

"Okay, what is it?"

"In here," she said, walking around the large wooden desk. "There's a locked drawer here that Harper got in. The documents inside… I don't know what they mean. If you want me to believe you, start with opening that up and tell me what the papers mean."

I looked around for anything sharp enough to shove in and pick the lock, happy that it clicked open easy enough.

"At least you being a criminal is beneficial sometimes."

"Just sometimes? I think you've benefited from it plenty of times," I said, clicking open the small drawer and reaching in.

"It's almost got me killed plenty of times, too."

"Fair point."

I threw the stack of papers on the desk as the entire group filed into the office. Luckily, the place was big enough that everyone could spread out. I flipped through the pages, taking in every word before I said anything.

Lists of shipments, amounts of money, large and small, and different names were all there. Page after page of lists until I got to one with four shipment names with very large sums of money listed next to it.

The pack waited. Even Regan was quiet as I read until I handed it out for them all to see.

This would not be anything I kept secret. They passed it around as Aiden turned to me.

"Do you know what it is?" Regan asked.

"Can you tell her?" I asked Aiden. "Because I don't think she's going to believe me."

"They are shipments," Aiden started. "Ones that have gone missing over the past month and we have been trying to help find." He pointed out one of the larger ones. "We got this one after one of their runners snitched to us. The others haven't been found. The money amounts next to them are the values."

"What are they shipping that is worth millions?" she asked.

"Drugs. You know Asher, and you heard the conversation we had with Cross. These shipments have been going missing fast and causing an uproar. None of the top guys are happy and have started blaming each other."

"Why would my dad have the list?" she asked. I understood why she didn't want to understand, but we didn't have any more time for her to stay na?ve to it.

"The same reason your dad is also going and offering his services to the same guys he's stealing from. He's weaseling his way in as a trustworthy person to these guys while also stealing from them. I would bet everything I have left that he's also selling these shipments he's stealing to start taking over new territory. Once he has a bit of business, and the trust of all four of them, he will start pinning them against each other and hope they take care of themselves. Then he has a top spot at a table."

She was already shaking her head. "My dad wants to be what you are calling a drug lord? That's ridiculous."

Hero held up the papers, shaking them. "What the fuck do you think he would have these for, then?"

Hero was a little abrasive, but I was glad he was clear with his words. The proof was piling up, and it would be hard for her to keep pushing off the inevitable truth. I reached out, grabbing her hand and holding it tight. Part of me felt scared that she would run off, and the other part of me felt bad that the world she had known was falling apart.

"It might seem ridiculous, but the dad that you know is not the one everyone else knows. He's kept you locked up and pushed away for a reason, Regan," Evie said. "He didn't think you would go along with the things he wanted to do and found someone he thought would. Rook said that he saw you two at Sweet Haven. He knew who the girl riding with Rook was and asked to have you killed."

"Because you are smart, and he knew you were the one person close enough that could ruin his plan, and would," I said.

Regan hadn't cried or said a word, but she hadn't let me go either.

I pulled her closer until she fell into my lap, and I adjusted her there as I flipped through more paperwork.

Evie stepped forward. "I think you should see this, Regan," she said. "We all know about it and I think you deserve to know, too, even if you don't want to. I managed to connect this tablet to your dad's phone, including his texts."

Regan started scrolling through the ones I had already seen. The ones admitting to burning down our building, and burning down our home ten years ago, even the ones detailing him putting the hit out on us.

"He still didn't know it was me," she mumbled. "But he did it all?"

"It looks like it," Evie said, and I was grateful that someone else chimed in. I felt helpless. I didn't want Regan hurt, but she couldn't hide from the truth, either.

The front door to the house opened and slammed shut, and we all froze. I nodded to the pack as footsteps headed our way. They all stepped back, with Hero and Mason by the door and Aiden moving closer to Evie. Regan's free hand fisted into my shirt, and I held my breath, wondering if Cameron would walk in and this would all be over soon.

But it was Elliot's face that filled the door, and I felt Regan stiffen on top of me.

He glanced around, his eyebrows furrowing as he looked at everyone. "What the fuck are you all doing in here? What's going on, Regan?"

She didn't say a word, and he was already pulling out his cell phone. Hero and Mason grabbed him before he could, forcing him further into the room until he was sitting in the chair across from us.

"Hey, Elliot," I said, smiling with Regan on top of me. "Come to check in with dear stepdad and get some cash? I wasn't taking you for someone wanting a sugar daddy, but I really shouldn't have ruled it out."

"Oh, fuck you. He's a business partner, not a sugar daddy."

"No? You sit around and do nothing but chase after him and he pays you. Isn't that a sugar daddy?"

"I believe it is, but usually there's sex involved," Hero said, looking Elliot over. I swear Hero looked at people like they could be his next science experiment, like he was inspecting them to figure out how to best cut them up.

"What are you doing to me?"

"Depends," I said.

"On what?"

"On what Regan wants." She glanced down at me, eyes wide. "You make the call, Rebel. What do you want done to him?"

"Rebel?" Elliot asked. "That's what he calls you? And you like this, Regan? You know what he does and you go along with it?"

"Go along with it?" I asked with a laugh. "I'm having her run it now."

"And yes," she said, sitting up straighter, "I like it."

I reached up, pulling out the necklace she still wore. I grabbed the heart, and flipped it between my fingers before using it to pull her lips down to mine. "I think saying you like it might be an understatement, Rebel." I felt her thighs clench and tried to tame my own thoughts. "I told you, you left a prized possession on the side of the street with me. I took her, and I really have to thank you, Elliot. Without you, I would have never met the woman of my dreams."

"You think she's the woman of your dreams? She's boring and useless."

"You hear that, Rebel? He thinks you're useless. Do you want to tell us what you would like his fate to be? Should we kill him now? Take a few fingers off first? Maybe just cut out his tongue for saying those things to you. Why don't you tell us what you want done to him?"

"And you all are going to listen to her?" he asked, eyes wide.

Evie walked over, falling back into the chair next to him. "Don't like a woman you tried to kill having control of your fate?" she asked, before flipping out a knife and slamming it down into the chair, right between his legs. It didn't hit anything, but he still screamed as though it had sunk into skin.

"Shut up," Regan yelled, moving to the edge of my lap. "Why did you walk me down that road? Were you trying to kill me?"

Elliot's eyes were wild as they jumped from the knife between his legs to Regan. "No!" he yelled, the panic in his voice bubbling up. "Well, no, I wasn't going to kill you, but we thought if you went missing, it would save me and your dad some work!"

"How sweet. Too much of a coward to kill her yourself, and too stupid to know if the person you were leaving her with would kill her or take her. I've never been happier to ruin someone's plans. What do you want with him, Rebel?"

"Can we start by shutting him up now?" she asked. "I don't know if I can hear any more of that."

"The tongue, then?" Hero asked, already pulling the knife out of the chair and leaning over him. Aiden grabbed his head, tipping it back so Hero could force his mouth open.

"Wait!" Regan said, attempting to get up, but I pulled her back. "Leave his tongue for now! Just gag him."

"Why?" Aiden asked. "We don't mind doing it if that's what you want."

"Just not yet. In case we need any more information from him."

"So smart, Rebel. Alright, keep the tongue."

Hero rolled his eyes. "I swear if you don't let me?—"

"Oh, knock it off, Hero," she said, almost lovingly. "There will be plenty of time for you to do your freak stuff."

He grinned back, stepping away to lean against a window as Aiden gagged Elliot.

My chest swelled with pride. She wasn't shying away or scared. She was ready to take on the world, and I only hoped nothing was going to stop her from doing it at my side now.

A fucking queen. I smiled up at her as she scowled at Elliot. My lap could be her throne any day of my life.

The front door slammed again, and my heart rate jumped. I think it was finally time to get my revenge.