Page 54 of Unmasked Rivalry
“She went to Ralston?” I whisper.
“Yeah,” Ruger sighs. “She made a deal. Said she’d work for him, earn enough to pay off my debt. He was always onto Uncle about this place, about the farm, about his cattle. It didn’t take much to convince him.” He looks at me. “She took it in her stride, handled it like a boss, but eventually, I tried to pull her out, but she wouldn’t listen. She said she liked the way it made her feel—useful, needed. The power, money, I don’t know. She started running for him almost every week. More and more, until she barely slept.”
“She could have told me,” I say, voice small. “I would have—”
He cuts me off, gentle but firm. “You were making a life for yourself, Cal. She was protecting you. Same as always.”
The bitterness inside me knots into something I can’t even name. “So what happened?”
Ruger exhales. “We tried to quit. I told Ralston I was done, that Harper was done too. He didn’t like that, not even a little. Next thing I know, I’m in cuffs, set up for a drop I didn’t even make, and Harper...” He doesn’t finish. He just looks at me, the rest of the story hanging in the air like the warning before a tornado touches down.
“She died.”
He nods once, jaw twitching. “I got the news two days after I got arrested. They said accident, but I know it wasn’t. Ralston doesn’t leave loose ends.”
I hold my breath. “You think Ralston had her killed?”
“I fucking know it.”
We always were suspicious of Harper’s accident, but to think he actually took her life because she didn’t want to work for him anymore makes my skin prickle. Was Harper murdered? I reach over and take Ruger’s hand, squeezing it.
“So Knox set you up, but he didn’t know you were trying to get out? He thought you were the one keeping her in there.”
Ruger nods. “Yeah, can’t blame him. She went real weird, was obsessing, not sleeping, always sneaking around. I don’t know what happened, but it changed her and he assumed it had something to do with me. He wasn’t wrong, he just wasn’t on the right path.”
“He still set you up for something you didn’t do,” I mutter under my breath. “He could have fucking spoken to you, to her...”
“He did, Cal. We wouldn’t tell him a damn thing.”
I go silent, wanting to argue, but not knowing exactly how when my argument feels empty.
“He didn’t do it to hurt me, Cal. He did it because he had to. All these guys, the club, they live in this world where you have to pick your own family, even if it means crushing someone else’s.” He sighs, rubbing the bridge of his nose. “He is the reason I’m out right now.”
I blink. “What?”
Ruger nods, staring straight ahead. “He was the one who made a deal. They’ve been after him for information on a drug ring for years now, and he told them he would give it to them if they let me out. They agreed. He signed his safety over to give me back to you.”
I gasp, the words washing over me and making my insides twist.
“Why would he do that?” I whisper, my throat tight.
“The man clearly loves you, no other reason he would risk that much.”
Love?
He thinks Knox loves me.
Does Knox love me?
Tears burn under my eyelids.
Rats aren’t taken kindly to in Knox’s world, and if someone finds out he handed over information, his life is on the line. He knows that, better than anyone, and yet he still did it. He did it so he could right his wrongs, he did it to prove I matter.
I have forgotten how to breathe.
Ruger squeezes my hand, bringing me back to reality.
“Don’t be mad at him too long, sis. I made my bed, I made my choices, and I had to live with them. Knox was protecting what he loved, can’t fault him for that. Besides, I like knowing the lengths he’d go to for those he cares about, especially if that person is my sister.”
