Page 72 of Reckless: Chaos

“She risks her life to save people.” Each word comes out like broken glass. “While daddy dearest hunts them down like animals. She loses sleep trying to protect them. While he...”

Something wet trails down my arm. Blood from his torn nails or his throat. Don’t care which.

“Jinx.” Cayenne’s voice cuts through the chaos in my head. “He’s not worth it.”

“But he could be fun.” The words come from that dark place inside, the one that likes to count the ways people can break. “I know fifty-seven ways to remove fingernails. Want to see?”

“Later.” Her hand on my arm feels like a tether to sanity. “We need to get to that server.”

Reality bleeds back in slowly. The prisoner’s purple face. Ryker’s tactical stance, ready to intervene. The fresh blood on Aria’s pink nails.

“Fine.” I release him, watching him crumple like the waste of space he is. “But if you ever compare her to him again...”

I lean close, letting him see all the creative ways I’m imagining his death.

“I’ll show you exactly how different they are. One body part at a time.”

His whimper follows us out into the night. Music to my fractured mind.

Chapter 16

Cayenne

Full circles are funny things.Here I am, back in the same spot where my girls found me this morning, legs stretched toward a yard I can barely see through boxes I’ll never unpack. The emerald beanie feels different in my hands now—less like comfort, more like goodbye.

Amazing what a few hours and some creative interrogation can do to your perspective.

The basement apartment holds shadows I didn’t notice before. Or maybe they’ve always been there, and I’ve just been too busy playing house to see them. Every corner feels like it’s watching, wondering if I’ll turn out just like him.

Just like Sterling.

Just like father dearest, who didn’t just let my mother run—he made her run. Who’s been playing chess with people’s lives while I fumble around trying to save them, accidentally leading him right to his targets.

The sound of footsteps on the stairs doesn’t surprise me. Neither does the rich scent of coffee that precedes Ryker’s entrance. He’s always known exactly what I need, even when I wish he didn’t.

“Thought you might need this.” His voice carries none of its usual alpha power. Just quiet understanding that makes what I have to do so much harder.

“Thanks.” I accept the mug without looking up, but he settles beside me anyway, close enough that his leather jacket brushes my arm.

“Quinn’s going to kill me,” he offers after a moment. “For letting Aria anywhere near an interrogation.”

A laugh bubbles up despite everything. “Pretty sure Aria can handle herself. Did you see what she did with that nail file?”

“I saw Jinx falling in love.”

This time my laugh comes easier. “They do share a certain creative approach to violence.”

His shoulder presses against mine, warm and solid. “You okay?”

Such a simple question. Such a complicated answer.

“I really didn’t know.” The words spill out before I can stop them. “About Sterling. About any of it. I thought it was just a coincidence—the name, the company. Even when things started connecting, I never thought...”

“That he was your father?” Ryker’s voice stays gentle, but I catch the way his hand tightens on his knee.

“God.” I let my head fall back against the wall. “All this time I’ve been investigating him, trying to stop him, and he’s been what? Watching me? Tracking me? Using me to find his targets?”

“You couldn’t have known.”

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