“Anything you can do, I can do better.”

* * *

PRESENT

Sheldon took me shopping for a change of clothes just as Dash had promised. I expected it to be a brief trip out, but we spent the entire day out. Four years ago, I wouldn’t have been caught dead in a chain store. I had always preferred to make my own clothing, but with each year that passed, I looked less like me. I no longer felt like me anymore.

We stopped for lunch and she filled me in on everything that had happened over the years while I’d been gone. Out of everything, I was mostly surprised to find that Keiran had been a large part of Sheldon’s strength during her pregnancy and after. And when she revealed what happened to Kennedy, I realized keeping my predicament a secret was endangering more than just my family. Later, when Dash arrived to pick me up, I knew what I had to do.

“Are you ready?” he asked when he walked through their front door. I studied the stress lining his face and heard the fatigue in his voice.

“Not quite. We need to talk.”

He rubbed his hand across the back of his neck impatiently. “We can talk at my place.”

“We can’t. It involves them as well.” Keenan had been sitting nearby, playing on his phone, and pretending not to listen.

He lifted his head and said, “I’ll get Shelly.”

I couldn’t break my gaze from Dash’s so I nodded that I had heard. “What is this about?”

I shook my head. “They need to hear it, too.”

Keenan and Sheldon entered the living room, and I took a deep breath that was supposed to be calming, but all it managed to do was to get caught in my throat along with the words.

I ran through everything that happened Saturday and Monday night, calling for every detail, but the ability to start escaped me. I stood up to pace and found it easier to speak with each step.

“The day of the wedding, I came home to visit my mother. I’m not sure exactly what happened or how she knew me.” I wasn’t making much sense and was rambling to keep up with my racing mind. At the back of my mind, I realized my heart pounded out of pace and my palms began to sweat.

“Slow down,” Dash ordered. “Who knew you?”

“Not who. Them.”

“You said she.”

“There were men who found me and forced me into this unmarked van. She is their leader. Anyway, she said she had a job for me and I could live if I completed it. She drove me to your parents’ home after that and they dumped me there.”

“What did she want?” Keenan demanded.

“She, uh… she wants Keiran—” My tongue twisted and my gut knotted.

“She wants Keiran?” Sheldon’s voice was full of surprise.

“No. Um… She wants him… dead.”

The room filled with silence. Everyone’s mouths were agape as they stared at me. Keenan was the first to speak.

“You’ve got to be kidding me,” Keenan mumbled. “This is the second attempt on his life in less than a year.”

Sheldon had filled me in on Kennedy’s kidnapping a few months ago. She was ransomed for Keiran’s death and whoever was behind it wanted Sheldon to make the hit.

“Who? Do you know who?”

“We know who physically took Kennedy, but we don’t know who was behind it.”

“Where are the people who took her?”

“Extremely dead.” Keenan smirked.

“They could have known—”

“They didn’t know anything.”

“Well then, I think I know who did this.” They all looked as if I’d grown an extra head.

“How?”

“She told me who she was. She said it didn’t matter.”

“Who is she?”

“Esmerelda.”

“Esmerelda Phalan?” His lips twisted with disgust and confusion.

“We didn’t exchange last names, but whoever she is, she’s dangerous, and she knows who we all are.”

“How do you know?”

“Because when she took me the second time after I had tried to leave, she threatened my family if I didn’t kill him. She’s been watching all of us.”

“We need to tell Keiran.”

“Keiran and Lake left for California this morning.

Keenan’s shrug of his shoulders was nonchalant, but his voice was thick with authority. “Then I guess we’re taking a road trip.”

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

DASH

“FUCK, BABY. WHEN I get you in my bed, I want you naked and on my cock. Don’t make me wait, Lake.”