Page 127 of Steel

“We never needed you to get the flash drive out of the club. We just needed them to find it. We needed them to wonder why a traitor’s daughter would be looking for it. We needed them to doubt you. It’s the only way Ghost would trust it.”

Dimitri walks up to me, grabbing my jaw and forcing me to look at him when I try to pull away.

“The harder it was to hack, the less they’d suspect what we were doing. And the more Steel focused on you, the more distracted he was to what he’d just let in.” Dimitri pinches my cheeks with his hold, and tears sting my eyes. “You think you were there to take something, but you weren’t. You were there to deliver the package. The moment Ghost hacked that drive, we got everything we were looking for.”

A tear rolls down my cheek. “You planted a virus.”

“Something like that.” Dimitri grins. “All thanks toyou.”

“I didn’t do anything for you.”

“But you did dosomething for us, didn’t you?” Dimitri drags his thumb over my mouth, and the feeling like I’m going to vomit returns. “You kept Steel’s attention. You were the perfect little distraction, being Helix’s daughterand all. He was too busy focusing on your pretty face to see us coming.”

“And what if he had decided I was a traitor like my father instead of keeping me around?” I glare.

Dimitri drags his hand down my throat, and I push him away, but he just chuckles.

“Steel isn’t blind, and he’s not known for killin’ women.” He stands up, pacing the room again. “You’ve got a pretty face and a traitor’s blood in your veins. Everything we needed to keep Steel’s attention while Ghost let us in.”

“You can’t—”

“We already did.” Dimitri grins down at me. “And now my son gets to watch and learn while I make your boyfriend’s club suffer for everything they’ve done to the Iron Sinners over the years.”

“Don’t do this,” I plead, hating that I have no other choice. “You can’t take Austin.”

“He’s mine.”

“He doesn’t even know you.” I shake my head.

“And whose fault is that?” Dimitri yells.

A shiver runs down my spine, and I get a glimpse of the man my mother spent Austin’s life running from. The real reason she probably avoided Vegas for the past four years. If Austin was here, Dimitri could have gotten to him sooner.

“Please.” I climb to my knees, trying everything I can for my brother. “Austin is only four. He’s not going to trust you. He’ll be scared. Please let me see him. He needs a familiar face.”

I think of anything—say anything—to try and talk my way out of this.

“He already has a familiar face.” Dimitri smirks. “One Steel made sure he was nice and comfortable around from what I can tell.”

My eyebrows pinch as the memory of being dragged into the van floods back to me. “Reyes.”

The last thing I remember before the world faded out was Reyes grabbing Austin. In my haze, I wanted to think he was trying to save him. But he wasn’t.

Steel trusted him to protect us, and now they’re going to use that familiarity against my brother.

Dimitri nods. “Steel should blame himself, honestly. He’s the one who gave a prospect full access to his life. Who do you think planted the flash drive in Helix’s room in the first place? It’s not like he could walk up to Ghost and hand it to him. They’d be too suspicious.”

“Reyes is an Iron Sinner?”

“Born and raised.”

“But how…?” Jameson would have looked into a new prospect, and Ghost seems like someone who doesn’t let things like that get past him.

“Let’s just say Steel’s not the only one with resources now. It doesn’t matter how deep Ghost digs, he’ll never be able to discover who Reyes really is.”

Who he really is?

A traitor.

---