He walks right up to me, grabbing the back of my neck. “At the start, yes. But not recently. We’ve begun to realize you’re not our enemy. We set this as a test, to see if we could trust you.”
“I guess I failed, huh?”
“You’ve just proven yourself now.”
I focus on the other part of his statement. “Why did you think I’m your enemy? And why didn’t you just come out and ask me about it?”
“Why didn’t you?” he asks in a softer tone.
I sigh, wondering how best to answer that. We both know this is more than just their trap. “Because I wasn’t going to do it.”
He nods, and I see the acceptance in his eyes. “I pushed you to it last night.” He grips the nape of my neck harder. “It was bullshit, babe. I told him what he needed to hear.”
“If you thought I’d betrayed you, why wouldn’t you have meant it?”
“You already know the answer to that.”
Prickles of awareness dance around the room, and he’s saying so much by not saying anything.
My tongue darts out, wetting my lips, and his eyes follow the movement greedily. “I’ve been so pissed all week that you did it. We didn’t think you would.”
I narrow my eyes to slits, because really? He smirks, instantly understanding my implication.
“Okay, Galen thought you would, but the rest of us bet on you remaining true to us.”
“Figures Galen would be the doubting Thomas.”
“Galen’s got…issues,” he says.
That’s putting it mildly.
“Discovering The Sainthood was responsible for your abduction softened him a bit, but he still doubted your loyalties because it takes a lot for Galen to trust people.”
“I can’t dispute that, because I did do it in the end.”
“You’re making it right now.” He pulls me into his chest, and I wrap my arms around his waist.
I look up at him, as his hands rest on my hips. “I’m sorry, and I regretted it the moment I did it.”
“It’s okay. There’s no harm done, and maybe, it was a good thing.” He takes my hand, bringing me back to the bed. He pulls back the covers, and I climb in.
“Why?” I ask when we’re sitting up, side by side, with the covers pulled up to our waists, our backs leaning against the headrest. “What don’t I know?”
“The Arrows have been making aggressive moves to take over our patch since we relocated to Lowell. They have gradually been getting braver. Sinner’s going nuts, and he’s not the type to sit around and wait to be attacked. He likes to bring the fight to his enemies.”
This is something I already know.
“One of our initiation tasks was to come up with a plan to draw them out. To force them into making a move so we can begin to take back control. Everyone wants to know where our warehouse is. It’s our most closely guarded secret.” He threads his fingers absently through mine. “So, we came up with a strategy. We’d give them a false location. False details of a new shipment. And then lie in wait for them to attack. Neutralize the threat.”
“The warehouse isn’t in Landing’s Lane?”
He shakes his head, grinning. “We use that premises for interrogation purposes, but we never store our supplies there. What most people don’t know is, we have a number of hidden locations. That’s just one of them.”
“If I didn’t fall for the trap, how were you going to lure them out?”
“We have a large crew who stays in the shadows. They have their finger on the pulse of the streets. They would’ve slipped the intel and ensured it got into the right hands.”
I twist around on my side so I’m facing him. “I didn’t give them the intel, so who did?”
“I have no idea, and that changes things.”
“What does Sinner think happened? Did you tell him it was me?”
“Hell no!” He stares at me incredulously. “He thinks we planted the intel.”
“And if I hadn’t fessed up, would you have told him the truth?”
He shakes his head. “No way. I’m trying to keep you out of that asshole’s net.” My eyes pop wide. He cups one side of my face. “I meant what I said before. If he got a hold of you this time, he would fucking break you apart, Harlow. I couldn’t save you last time, but I’m sure as fuck going to try to now.”
I want to believe him, yet it doesn’t explain their treatment of me at the start. “You obviously didn’t care about that when you first came here, so what’s changed?”
He caresses my cheek with his thumb. “A fuck ton of stuff. But mostly, we know Sinner and the controlling board of The Sainthood have been lying to us. They told us you had evidence that could put half the organization in jail. We were told to intimidate you. To scare you into telling us where you were hiding it. But you fought us every step of the way, gaining our respect and admiration. And everything that’s happened since has us questioning the whole fucking thing. It reeks of something darker at play.” He holds both my cheeks in his hands. “We know you’re planning something, and I think it’s time we joined forces.” He rubs his thumb along my lower lip. “War is imminent, and you need to be on the right side.”
The implication is clear, and if it was just standing by their side, I could handle it. But there is a lot more to it than that.
Can I stand beside The Sainthood in this battle, even if it’s a lie? If it brings me closer to the truth, then yes, I can and I will do it. But I risk losing them if I hide my true agenda.
I stare into his eyes, pondering what to say.
I want to trust him so badly.
But I just can’t.
“He killed my dad, Saint. And even while he was alive, he made his life hell. Of course, I want Sinner to pay and I’m doing everything I can to make sure that happens.”
“Unfortunately, your father sealed his fate the instant he laid eyes on Giana,” Saint admits. “It’s unfair as fuck what’s happened to him and to you, but you’ve got to understand Sinner is a fucking psychopath. I’m scared for you. I know he’s got plans. If you have what he’s looking for, we need to consider giving it to him. We might be able to use it to negotiate a way out.”
“What is it he thinks I have?”
“Video footage showing members of The Sainthood raping, torturing, and killing Commissioner Leydon’s wife.”
CHAPTER 32
“THE SAINTHOOD DID that?” I remember it well because when Daphne Leydon went missing, after failing to return home from work one evening, a manhunt was immediately launched. The case went global because she’s not just the police commissioner’s wife, she’s the niece of the US president.
“You really didn’t know?” he asks.
“Look at my face.” I point at myself. “I’m telling the truth. I don’t have any video.”
“The murder weapon is missing too.”
I shake my head. “I don’t have either of those things. I swear.” I’m so confused. So much of this doesn’t add up.
“I believe you.” He rests his forehead against mine for a moment. “But Sinner thinks you have it because your dad had it and now it’s nowhere to be found.”