Page 99 of Tempt

“No. Do what you have to do.” I didn’t have to think about my answer. Joe gave me a tight nod and hit the gas pedal.

I turned my gaze back on Nicki. “No more secrets. I want to knowexactlywhat I’ve gotten myself into.”

“The Sutherland family has been part of the Duncan Boys Mob for damn near two hundred years. We’ve headed it up twice before our father took control thirty years ago. He’s been in charge ever since.”

Mob. Gang. Criminal organization.It didn’t matter what she called it—it was organized crime and organized crime was always the same. A life sentence. Dedication to the family at all costs. Nicki and Theo were owned by Donald.

No wonder Nicki never left her flat and Michael had run away. “That’s why Michael left?”

Nicki’s face fell. “Father went after him at first, but realized the only way he was coming home was in a body bag. Mother bought him off and they’ve agreed to leave Michael out of the picture permanently. That leaves Theo.”

I didn’t want any of this to be true. “Because Donald has to have asonto pass the organization down to,” I said. “Or he permanently loses control.”

Nicki nodded, looking pretty damned relieved that I was following along and she didn’t have to baby step me through everything. Although, I kind of wanted to go back ten minutes to when I was sightseeing with friends and had zero clue the man I loved was in ten different shades of shit.

“Theo has been avoiding the inevitable for years. He’s done everything short of leaving London. He’s built his own life, his own business, and insulated himself with enough money and protection for royalty…but it won’t stop Father from trying. Especially not now that he’s this close to losing the last of his influence over Theo.”

“Does Theo know this?” The car was spinning…or maybe that was just me.

“Of course he knows. That’s why he’s doing everything he’s doing. This is Theo’s grand attempt at breaking free of it all. He’s using Dan and Toni. And it looks like it’s working.”

There were too many players in the game and not enough certainty. “What do I do?” There were very few times in my life I wasn’t certain where to go or what to do, but this one of them. It was disconcerting to feel so clueless.

“Right now,” Joe said from the front seat as he turned yet another corner and gunned the engine, “you let us do our job.”

I glanced at Nicki, but she just shrugged and sat back in her seat. “Welcome to the Sutherland family. Still sure you want to stick around?”

“I can’t imagine what Christmas looks like.”

She grinned. “A lot like this actually. Father pretends we love and adore him, Theo sits politely, and I cause as much trouble as possible.”

“Charming,” I murmured. The Sutherlands were in deep with the underworld. How did Theo think he could ever escape all of it?

“Unfortunately you don’t get to pick your family.”

“I think Theo is.”

Nicki frowned. “Yes, I do believe you are correct.”

Joe took us on a winding route, eventually coming to a stop in front of the renovation building. Today the crews were back to work. Scaffolding on the front of the building had at least five men working on the façade. Dust clouds bloomed from the back where the new construction was being done.

Not exactly the most private location to have a family reunion, but this was where all roads seemed to lead.

“Inside,” Joe commanded.

As we ducked inside the building I heard the squeal of very expensive tires coming to a sudden stop. Seth led us through the renovation building and out into the new construction, down the stairs, and into the subfloor where they’d been working before.

Nothing had changed since I last saw the dark room where Theo had carefully planned everything—except that Toni and Dan were now sitting in chairs instead of hanging from chains. I noticed—in the moment I had to take them in—that their hands were loosely bound, but not their legs. It struck me as odd, but I didn’t have time to think about it.

Beside Theo, Seth, and Joe, there was also Higgins, Martin, and two other guards. That made seven, plus Nicki and me.

Theo kissed me, his eyes dark with a determination and rage that bordered on terrifying to see, and then shoved me behind him while Higgins did almost the same thing with Nicki. They’d pushed us back several feet when the sounds of heavy boot steps echoed off the concrete walls just before three men appeared in the doorway.

There was no mistaking the family resemblance of the man in the middle. Donald was an older, slightly angrier version, of Theo.

And I was in a tiny concrete room filled with professional killers.

My heart hammered in my chest so hard I could feel it in my temples. I wasn’t supposed to be here. I knew what this was—it was the end. One way or another Theo’s old life was ending. Maybe it was fate Donald had come after me and forced my presence at this auspicious occasion.

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