Page 66 of Explode
“Sure. But if she doesn’t, there is something else you can do,” Ashreplied.
“Go on.”
“Do a DNA test. You and Tucker were half-brothers, we’ve got thelegit test proving Tucker was your father’s son, we compare your DNA with Thorne’s and prove it’s not a match to yours.”
I thought about it for less than a second, it was a no-brainer. DNAdidn’t fucking lie, and I wanted everything in my arsenal to use against Thorne when the time came.
He’d spent years planning this, whether he believed he was Tucker ornot, it was irrelevant. He wanted everyone to think he was smart, that no one could outsmart him, and I was more than fucking happy to be the one to correct him and deflate his ego.
“Let’s do it, can you get it set up today?”
Ash grinned. “Who do you think you are talking to? It’ll be set upwithin the hour. All you gotta do is figure out how to get a sample of Thorne’s DNA.”
I turned back to Riley, her eyes narrowed in suspicion. “That’s whereyou come in, baby.”
“How?” she said skeptically.
“Graham Shaw. You need to call him and get him on board. He’llneed to get a mug or a glass or something Thorne has used so we can compare DNA.”
“And how do you expect me to convince him to do that?” shesnapped, glowering at me as if I had asked her to climb Mount Everest in a pair of high heels.
“You’ll figure it out, you charmed him once before when you got himon your side, remember?” I winked at her, letting her know that I knew all about her meeting with Shaw, Kimmy, Ernie, and the recently deceased Colin.
She scowled at me and tore her gaze away, but to my surprise, shedidn’t refuse, another sign she was invested in this war.
“Does this change the plan with regards to getting Thorne andHendrix to turn on each other?” Miles asked, causing Riley’s head to snap back to mine, and her brows furrowed in confusion.
“Yeah, he won’t go down without knowing the truth, but this changesthings. We’ll deal with Thorne, take him out of the equation, and then we’ll focus on destroying Hendrix,” I replied.
“Understood. I best go, I’ve got a date with my future wife,” Milessighed.
My lips twitched at the resignation in his voice. “How’s that going?”
“Don’t fucking start. Seriously, I’d rather spend the afternoon having aprostate exam without any lube than spend any time with the brat,” he huffed, promptly hanging up the phone. From across the table, Riley smirked, no doubt firmly in Sofia’s corner.
“I need to make some calls,” Ash said, pulling his phone from hispocket, and disappearing out of the cabin, leaving me and my brooding wife alone. Like mine, her mood had darkened since she’d returned from the meeting with Stephanie, and as much as she seemed on board with the plan, it was clear her anger towards me was back with a vengeance.
“What was Miles on about? What truth?” she asked after a beat ofsilence passed between us.
“Hendrix planned on double-crossing Thorne,” I said.
She gasped. “What?”
“Yeah. Although it shouldn’t have come as a surprise given hebetrayed me,” I replied, bitterness lacing my tone. The man had no loyalties to anyone but himself.
“How do you know that?”
“Alex Barnes.” Riley’s mouth dropped open as I stood, needing tostretch my legs. Everything about this damn cabin was too small for my build.
“I forgot about him,” Riley muttered. “Did you kill him?”
“Of course I did,” I replied. “He killed Jacqueline and he hurt you.”
“Technically, he didn’t hurt me. He didn’t even lay a finger on me, buthe did deserve to die for what he did to Jacqueline,” she replied, and the hint of pain in her voice hit me straight in the chest. She loved Jacqueline, the maid had become a friend to Riley, and I was sure she missed her.
“He did hurt you, Star. He killed Jacqueline. He might not have hurtyou physically, but I know that would have hurt you emotionally.” She held my gaze for a moment, her eyes softening as her lips parted to reply. But she closed her mouth and cast her eyes down at the table.
I ached with the need to reach out and pull her into my arms, butsomething told me to keep my distance because my wife was currently a silent ticking time bomb waiting to explode.
