Page 99 of Hard Wired

Chapter Thirty-Two

Raymond, Dominic thought. What have you done?

His brother’s eyes didn’t meet his.

Dominic’s hands were sweating. He rubbed them against his jeans. His cheek ached where Alexi had hit him. He’d gone for the man’s gun when they were getting out of the car, so he’d deserved it. But hell, that fist to his face had really hurt.

Not as much as this, though. Seeing Raymond here with their uncle’s tentacle around him. Charles Traynor was far shorter than the Crane men, and he didn’t have their looks. But he had the cold dead eyes of a shark. Charles gazed fondly at his younger nephew.

“Raymond here arrived last night. My original plan had been to draw you out by telling you we had him. I know you have a soft spot for your brother, so I was sure you’d come running. But Raymond didn’t think so. He thought you’d see through the ruse. So we were just going to let you stew for a while, until we could track you down. But you see, Ray? Your brother did come for you the minute he found out you were missing. I should’ve put a bet on it. You would owe me a drink right now.”

Dominic was glad to see Raymond unharmed. But his rational mind didn’t want to acknowledge the truth, even though it was standing quite literally in front of him. He stared at his brother, both needing and dreading to see the confirmation in Raymond’s eyes.

“You didn’t. Please tell me you didn’t.”

Finally, his brother looked back at him. And there was nothing. No trace of the boy Dominic had thought he knew.

“You were going to betray our family. From the minute you were arrested, we all knew you would cave. Warren never should’ve put you in charge. If he’d trusted Charles back then, none of this would ever have happened.”

“He’s right,” Charles said. “You just weren’t cut out for this sort of thing, Dominic. Your weaknesses were always going to condemn you, and Warren should have seen that. But it was your choice to take affirmative steps against us. I tried to warn you. If you’d just done as I said, you could’ve come back into the fold. It’s too late for that now.”

Dominic could barely speak around the rock in his throat. How long had his brother been lying to him? How long had he been working with their uncle, plotting this takeover? Was it really since the arrest months ago?

That was what Raymond had suggested—that he’d never believed Dominic was strong enough to withstand the government’s pressure. And he’d been right. But the one accomplishment Dominic had thought he’d made in his time as leader was keeping Raymond out of it. That was the single truly decent thing he’d ever done.

And he’d failed at that, too.

Raymond was part of the Syndicate now.

Charles was going to have the younger man ruling their family business right by his side. For how long, it was hard to say. But it wouldn’t last. Charles would already be looking for the first opportunity to rid himself of Raymond Crane the moment the kid was no longer useful.

Maybe even as soon as Dominic himself was out of the way.

“I’m sorry it had to be this way, Nic. I tried to give you a chance. You should’ve just let me go.”

Dominic cringed at the nickname. “If you expect me to beg for my life, I won’t. But Raymond, are you sure you truly know what you’re doing? Haven’t you noticed our uncle has some new friends hanging around? He’s got Russian hackers working for him. You know our dad would never have invited outsiders into his circle. Who are they, Russian mafia? You really think you can control them, Charles?”

His uncle put his hands in his pockets. “You’re more observant than I gave you credit for. Or perhaps it’s Sylvie Trousseau who helped you figure out so much.” He smiled over at Sylvie, who was still in Aaron Sandford’s grip. “You’re right, I do have some new allies. They’ve proved very useful. We have a joint venture, and it was your father’s shortsightedness that limited him rather than protected him. It kept the business from growing.”

“But how long until they decide to turn that table over and take everything you’ve got?”

“That’s where loyalty comes in. I wouldn’t expect you to know much about that. But my friends also know what I’m willing to do for them. And they show their gratitude back to me. For example, later today they’re going to send a car for you. I expected it might be difficult for Raymond to see his older brother suffer. So my friends are going to take it out of my hands completely. They’ll take care of your punishment, and they will make sure it fits the severity of your betrayal.”

The room was starting to spin. “What about Sylvie? What’s going to happen to her?”

“Don’t worry, you’ll stay together. They’re going to bring her along as well. I’ll let them decide how they want to handle it, whether they want to take advantage of her obvious skills with a computer, or if they’d prefer to use her for…something else.”

Dominic closed his eyes, swallowing down the bile that had risen into his mouth. “Raymond, I am begging you. If you ever loved me at all, don’t let them do this to her. It’s all my fault, so I’m the one who should be punished. I know you’re a decent man. Help her. Please.” He kept repeating the word. Please. Please.

“You’re just making yourself look pathetic,” Charles said. “You might as well just accept that—”

“All right.” Raymond pushed his hands into his hair. Sweat had broken out along his brow. “I’ll keep Sylvie with me.”

Their uncle’s expression turned menacing. “That’s not your decision.”

“Am I your partner or not? I say she’s mine. Nobody else is touching her.”

Dominic couldn’t breathe as he looked between his uncle and his brother.

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