Page 75 of Uncharted Desires

“But why?”

“That’s a question you’ll have to ask him. After I called you, I had Stacy call the cops. She’s much better in a crisis with a language barrier than me. They should have arrested him and Dec by now.”

“Dec was a part of this too?”

Kat nodded.

West felt a piece of him break off. A piece of his life now gone. He and Luke had been through so much together, and now he realized his best friend had never really been his friend at all. A friend would never stoop so low. Kat had shown him that people could be real and genuine, and as much as it hurt to know that his and Luke’s friendship hadn’t been real for a very long time, there was still a chance for him to have a real connection with someone.

“I want to talk to him and Declan.” West pushed off the ground, but he wobbled.

“West, you were almost blown up. You need to go to the hospital.”

“No, not until I talk to them. I must know why. I’ve been nothing but fucking loyal to them, and they betrayed me.” West heard his voice falter and hated himself for having any emotion for either of those pricks.

Something in his expression must have worked because Kat conceded, turning to find Stacy in the crowd.

“Stay here. I’m going to see if the ambulance will take you to the hotel first.”

West watched Kat walk to Stacy, and he knew he was the luckiest man in the world. His life had been saved yet again by this perfect woman, and that wasn’t even why he loved her. She was strong, sure, but beyond that she was kind, caring, and real. He would always have the true, authentic Kat, and that meant more to him than anything.

One very long ambulance ride later, West was propped up in a chair in the hotel’s outdoor café waiting for his moment of reckoning.

Kat was standing behind him fiddling with the zipper on her hoodie. “You sure you want to do this? You could just send them off to prison.”

“I need to know why.”

“I think the fact that they’re assholes would suffice,” she mumbled under her breath.

West smirked, knowing Kat had never liked Declan or Luke, and now he would always trust her judgment when it came to who to trust.

Three cops walked in and gave him a quick spiel about not getting out of his chair, not touching them, and some other safety measures. West didn’t care. He just wanted answers. And then he saw the bastards. They were both handcuffed, and the cops dragged them into the café.

West’s eyes narrowed on the raw marks the cuffs had left on Luke’s wrists and almost laughed at how soft Luke was. He wasn’t going to survive the Indonesian prison for one second, and as far as West knew, Indonesia didn’t have an extradition treaty with the states.

While Declan looked him right in the eye, Luke looked everywhere but at West. He leaned forward in his chair, slightly annoyed that they were standing and he was sitting. The power dynamic felt off.

“Can we get them chairs?”

One cop nodded and two chairs were instantly procured, and they shoved the two men into them.

Much better.

West steepled his hands in front of him. Now what the fuck was he going to say?

Declan made it easy on him, speaking first. “What do you want, Monroe?”

West pushed his hair back. “I just want to know why. After all these years, why the hell would you steal from me?” His eyes shifted to Luke, then back to Declan. “Scratch that. I know why you stole from me. You’re a selfish bastard with a cocaine problem, always have been. But why would my best friend try to kill me?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“The hell you don’t! Kat overheard you guys. Thanks to her I’m still alive, you fucking idiot.”

Declan let out a humorless laugh. “No, Luke’s an idiot. Once your accountant found that money was missing I knew it was only a matter of time before they traced it back to us. I’m good, but I’m not that good. You know your little buddy here runs through his trust every month faster than his daddy gives it to him? He found out what I was up to and forced me to give him a cut, or he’d tell you. Turns out money is more important to him than loyalty.”

West tried not flinch at Declan’s words. He wouldn’t let them see that their betrayal hurt.

“I told Luke I’d take him down with me if he didn’t take care of you.”

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