Carter

“You’re going to keep her here?” It’s not much of a question from my brother; more of a statement as he looks around the cell. Jase was the middle child of five boys and never learned how to start a conversation without being direct and blunt. I

suppose I can’t blame him. The thought reminds me of Tyler. The fifth brother who died years ago. His memory numbs the reality of the present, but only for a moment.

Jase leans against the far wall with his arms loosely crossed and waits for me to answer.

We leave in only an hour. Each small tick of the Rolex on my wrist reminds me that I’m so close to having her. Only time separates us now.

Glancing from the thin mattress lying on the floor to the metal toilet on the other side of the cell, I tell him, “I think I’ll add a chair.”

His quizzical expression only changes slightly. He may not even realize it, but I see it on his face. The disappointment. The disgust. I can hear the unspoken question that lingers on the tip of his tongue as he shifts his gaze from me to the steel door behind us. When did you become this fucked up? He has no idea.

“I’ll need a place to sit.” I keep my voice even, almost playful as if this is a joke. It’s Jase though, and he knows me better than anyone. Much better

than either Daniel or Declan. The three of them and I make the four Cross brothers. But out of all of us, Jase and I are the closest.

As much as I can hide the anxiousness of getting my hands on Aria from everyone else, he can see it. I can tell by how careful he’s been around me since I told him.

“How long?” he asks me. “How long what?”

“Will you keep her here?”

“As long as it takes.” For what? The question is there in his eyes, but he doesn’t ask it and I have no intention of telling him regardless. I could lie and tell him as long as it takes for the war to end. As long as it takes to see if she’ll be useful in negotiations if Talvery wins. The lies could pour from me, but the truth is simple. As long as it takes for me to decide what I want from her.

“There’s no shower,” he remarks.

“There’s a faucet by the side of the toilet and a drain. She’ll figure it out while she’s in here.”

Time passes and a chill settles in the already cold air. I know this is something I’ve never done, and it crosses more than one line. But in times of war, there is no right and wrong.

“I could give her other things. Little by little.” Although I’m answering his question, I’m merely thinking out loud.

“Last time I was here, I was getting some very useful intel,” Jase comments as he moves to the corner of the room. I know he’s looking at the rim of the drain, inspecting it for any remnants of the blood.

The cell has only been used for one thing prior to this. It’s what Jase excels at.

“Are you planning on getting information from her?” Jase asks with genuine curiosity and before I can answer he quickly adds, “I don’t think Talvery is known for speaking business openly.”

I would commend Jase for prying, but this isn’t a matter I want him or anyone else involved in. She’s mine and mine alone in this deal. And I’ll do whatever I want with her. My brothers and everyone else can go fuck themselves where she’s concerned.

“No, I don’t think she knows anything.”

Jase walks casually around the small room. Ten feet by ten feet. That’s more than enough space. His boot brushes against the mattress and then he

kicks it. There are no springs or coils in the thing. There’s nothing in here she could use as a weapon.

I made sure of that.

“Just a mattress and a chair?” he asks, still skirting around the questions he wants answered. After years of me leading us and making the decisions, he knows better than to question me, but this is fucking killing him. It’s eating him alive that he doesn’t know what I want to do with her or why I want her. And the knowledge that it’s killing him only thrills me.

“For now. I imagine she’ll put up a fight, so the fewer things in here, the better.”

“And you think this means we can trust the Romanos? He risks everything to get the girl and hands her over to you, and you trust him to go to war? If he really has her and is willing to give her to you?” He’s still pushing, still digging.

“We can’t trust anyone.” I make sure he meets my gaze as I add, “That truth will never change.” We only have each other. That’s how we’ve survived, and it’s the only way we’ll keep surviving.

He’s smart enough to see it. I figure Jase will understand why all this is happening before anyone else. That’s his job—to gather every piece of information, by any means necessary.

“So this is a test?” he asks, his brow furrowed with a deep line. He’s lucky he’s my brother, and that I still feel guilty for dragging him into this mess. For pulling all of them deeper into the hell I’ve created.

“The Romanos want the Talverys dead, and the Talverys want the same. It’s all over a decade-old feud for territory. The Romanos need allies and the upper hand. It was only a matter of time before I agreed to war; she just ended up being the first casualty. I wanted something, and Romano is going to give it to me, so we back him instead of the Talverys.”

“Casualty?” he asks, confirming whether I really intend to kill her.

“If she stays with her father, you and I both know she’ll die by his side… or worse,” I say calmly as I leave the cell, Jase’s footsteps echoing behind me.

“Why save her?” Jase’s question lingers in my mind. Agreeing to take her was a risk I shouldn’t have taken.

“It was an impulsive decision.”

“That’s not like you,” Jase presses, and I have to steady my breath to stop myself from telling him to back off. He has no idea that Aria once saved my life. No one does, not even her. Whether I resent her for it, or something else, I haven’t decided yet.

“What do we do with her after this is over?” Jase asks.

I close the steel door firmly, then pull the edge of the painting back over the barely visible slit in the frame. The door is designed to be concealed. If you didn’t know how to move the painting just right to unlock the hidden seal, you’d never know a door was there.

It’s a soundproof cell, impossible to find. Impenetrable, with an electronic cloak that silences any form of tracking. This is Aria’s new home.

His question lingers as I turn away from the cell. What am I going to do with her afterward?

“I haven’t thought that far ahead,” I reply, and the tone of my voice puts an end to his questioning.