Page 14 of Unmask
“You’re family. Now let’s go inside so you can tell me what kind of trouble we’re dealing with,” he said, reaching for the door. I climbed out, clutching my phone as Grayson followed behind. As soon as I stepped through the front door, Brock shut it with a quiet click before turning to face me. His eyes were brimming with concern. “Have you eaten?”
“I had a piece of toast,” I admitted to my pathetic food intake. I hadn’t had a decent meal in what felt like days.
He nodded toward the hallway leading to the kitchen. “Grayson will fix us something to eat.”
Brock’s best friend snorted. “Since when did I become your chef?”
My cousin hooked an arm around my neck, giving me a quick squeeze before he answered Grayson. “Since you’re the only one of the three of us who can make something edible. Dad life has taught you a few things.”
Grayson rolled his eyes. “Do you even have any food here?” he asked, raising a brow.
My cousin’s lips thinned as he went to the fridge, me tailing behind. “Definitely not.”
“I’ll order us something,” Grayson grumbled, digging out his phone as he went to sit at the table.
Brock grabbed three drinks, handing me one as he passed by, and sat across from Grayson. He slid the can down the table, and Grayson snagged it before it went sailing off the edge. “Tell me what happened yesterday,” Brock said, popping the top on his can, the carbonation hissing.
Sitting in an empty seat, I gave Brock and Grayson the rundown of events while we waited for our food to arrive. When I finished, the kitchen was quiet, except for the soft hum of the refrigerator and the occasional scrape of Brock’s fingers against the wooden table. As Brock and Grayson digested everything, my fingers gripped the edge of my chair. I thought unburdening the secret would take away some of the pressure pressing on my chest, but my pulse still hadn’t settled after spilling everything, the lies, the manipulation, the fucking betrayal.
I expected Brock to be pissed, but the storm brewing in his eyes was something else entirely. “So let me get this straight.” Each syllable dropped like a threat, fury braided into every breath. “Donovan Corvo didn’t just manipulate his way into getting guardianship of you. He rigged your father’s will to make sure it happened?”
I nodded, my throat tight. “Yeah. And his sons were in on it.Kreedwas in on it.”
Brock muttered a curse under his breath, pushing back from the table so abruptly that his chair scraped against the tile. He got up, pacing, shaking his head like he was trying to make sense of it. “I knew it was weird when your father gavehim,of all people, guardianship. It didn’t make any sense to me. They’re gonna fucking pay for this,” he growled. His hands curled into fists at his sides. “They messed with the wrong family. I gave him one shot. He won’t get a second. Not from us.”
My chest squeezed at the possessiveness in his voice. Brock had always been protective. “I just want to forget they exist,” I admitted.
“Do you think Kreed or Donovan will let you walk away?” Grayson asked, voice deceptively calm, giving Brock a moment to collect himself. He didn’t need to press the question. It already clawed at the back of my mind.
“I don’t know why they’d want me to begin with.” I wrapped my arms around myself, the chill in the room suddenly more noticeable. “My parents are gone. They got their revenge. What importance could I have now?”
Grayson didn’t blink. “Control.”
The word hit harder than I expected. “I don’t understand.”
“You know about the Vipers Nest now,” he said slowly, watching me like he wasn’t sure how much I could handle. “You know your father was the head of the crew.”
I let out a dry laugh. “Yeah, don’t remind me. I still haven’t come to terms with that side of my dad yet.”
Brock and Grayson exchanged a brief glance, but it was enough to set uneasiness squirming in my chest.
“With you under their thumb, they can use you as leverage. A bargaining chip. They can force the Vipers’ hand and make them surrender what your father spent his life building.” Grayson’sgaze sharpened, voice dropping low. “Your dad didn’t just build the Nest, Kay. He hid things in it, things bigger than drugs, bigger than money.”
I swallowed hard. “What do you mean?”
“Ledgers. Records. Names,” Brock cut in. “Politicians, cops, businessmen—all the assholes who kept the city in his pocket. He wrote it all down. Insurance. Blackmail. Enough dirt to bury half of Elmwood alive if it ever saw the light of day. Where do you think we get half of our intel?” Brock’s brows lifted. “That’s what Donovan’s after. Not just you. Not just revenge for his wife. If he controls you, he controls that legacy. He can use you to unlock everything your dad left behind.”
I shook my head, my stomach twisting. “I don’t have any of that. I don’t know where it is.”
Grayson leaned forward, his elbows braced on his knees, his eyes never leaving mine. “You don’t have to know. You are the key. The bloodline. The heir. As long as you’re breathing, you’re leverage to be used to give up this information, and every crew in this city knows it.”
Cold sank into my bones, heavier than the snow still clinging to my boots. My father’s sins were chained to me, inked into my skin like some invisible mark I couldn’t scrub away.
Brock sighed, rubbing a hand down the stubble peeking from his chin. “It’s a fight you never should have been brought into. I’m telling you what your father would want me to say. You don’t want to get mixed up in that world. He didn’t want that for you.”
A shiver crawled down my spine, but I refused to look away. “So what the hell am I supposed to do?”
He braced a hand on the counter, casual in a way that felt anything but, a glint gleaming behind his eyes. “I should tell you to leave, to get the hell out of Elmwood.”
