Page 55 of The Verdict

My heart beat with a heavy, dragging thump like the hoof of a bull dragging in the dirt, ready to charge.

“Sergio. Juan. Alvaro. And Merritt. That makes four.”

“And there was nothing—no arrest or questioning the brothers after the heist?” Ace wondered.

Ty made a low noise as he skimmed the case files. “Looks like police arrived and shot Juan, but the rest of the group got away. They interviewed Sergio, but even though his alibi was questionable, they couldn’t link him to anything, and the diamond was never recovered.”

A chill snaked around my spine.

“If there were five of them, one being Merritt, one dead, and the other two matching their criminal records, then the fifth…”

“Is the leader,” I finished for Harm. “And he’s probably the one who has the diamond.”

“What are you thinking?”

“Diamond robbery went south when the younger brother was killed. Rest of the crew split up and fled, the leader with the diamond.” I counted off each step in the process. “Heist is all over the news, so the leader has Wheaton alter his appearance… but why? They all wore masks.”

“There were rumors that they had an inside man in the police because they were never caught,” Daria chimed in with a shrug.

I hummed, thinking out loud. “Something about that heist split them up. Some reason that made Merritt come to the States and had the leader undergo surgery.”

“Not some reason. Eighteen million reasons,” Dare said low. “Something got botched, and the leader decided a three-way split of the money was better than four. He cut Merritt out of her share and changed his face so she couldn’t go to the authorities and sell him out.”

I gritted my teeth, finding it hard to argue with his theory. There was no other explanation for why she’d go after men she’d worked with. No other explanation for why she’d worked as a damn teacher if she was sitting on that much money—eighteen million reasons for why she’d so easily bash my head in.

“So she’s after the diamond—or her share of it—and they’re trying to eliminate her.” It was crystal clear in my mind. Everything that happened. Every scenario I’d found her in.Every lie she’d told.“What can you find on Sergio? There’s got to be some information on file for him when he came here.”

Harm stepped forward. “Rhys, you should stay and let Rorik?—”

“I’m fine,” I snapped. “Or I will be once we have her—once we have the drive.”

“I found something. An address—an apartment rented to Sergio Morte in the city.”

Ty looked at Harm for permission to continue, and our team leader gave the slightest resigned nod. I bit my tongue so I didn’t lash out at them both. Regardless of how I felt, Harm was still in charge. Whether he was called team leader or MC president, there was a reason we all held fast to his decisions, and I would now if he insisted. But he wouldn’t.He couldn’t.

“Harm…” I had to do this, and he knew it.

Harm gave the slightest nod, and an instant later, my phone pinged with the information.

“I’ll go with you,” Dare offered, and I was glad for it. I needed someone who understood how I felt. I needed someone who knew I needed some latitude to handle Merritt when I found her.

“Rorik, you should come, too,” I said low. Not for me.For her.But I kept that to myself.

“Be careful,” Harm warned with a hand on my shoulder, lowering his voice as he added, “Vengeance is just as blinding as desire.”

Chapter Twelve

Merritt

Iwatched the shadows move across the expansive living room, the only life in the stillness. The apartment reeked of cigars—Jupiter’s nasty little habit; the warehouse in Barcelona we’d worked out of always smelled of them. Of him. Thick and smoky and presumptuous.

I breathed deep anyway, needing to keep the pain at bay. My side burned like that knife had buried a fire inside my stomach. A raging, spitting inferno. But I didn’t have time to stop—to recover.Or to worry about Rhys.He was okay—would be okay—as long as he stayed away from me.

That was the lesson of loss—my lesson. Anyone I dared to care about, I’d inevitably lose. My father. Mamá. Saturn. Saba. I wouldn’t add Rhys to the list. I would do anything—risk anything—to protect the man who’d risked everything for me.

My finger tapped on the armrest of the leather chair, giving an audible pulse to my unease.

I’d slipped into the apartment without issue. It wasamazing what confidence, a leather jacket, and a pair of sunglasses could do. It was a nice place—more extravagant than I would’ve expected from men who’d lost out on their last big score, but who knew what jobs Jupiter had concocted in the last five years.

---