Page 87 of Rise of the King (Checkmate 5)

“You took out Trenton Neal. And Stan Corrin.”

That makes him pause. “I know those motherfucker’s names,” Kane says. “But I didn’t pop them. You dialed the wrong number, boy.”

“Peter Aguilar.”

Kane’s thick brow lifts. “You’re throwing names at me, but I don’t know that one.”

“You were in his club! You slit his throat in March and took off with valuable information.”

“Ah… I beg to differ. I was here in March.”

“I saw you, man!”

One of the soldiers on the stairs.It hits me like a bolt of lightning, this is the asshole who stood outside Pete’s door that night and assumed I was Kane. He’s the guy who snorted blow from a Senator’s daughter’s belly.

“I’m not sure what you saw, but it wasn’t me. This sounds like a giant misunderstanding, so give me the girl, then stand still so I can end your miserable fucking life.”

“No!” The soldier backs up until he and Andi stand only three feet from where I do, and the nerves flooding his system waft into the air. “I’m not dying here today.”

“You kinda are, motherfucker.” Spence lets off a second round and looksalmostsorry when the soldier’s hand explodes right beside Andi’s head. His gun flies into the air, and Andi screams, grabs her ears, and drops to the ground to take cover.

The soldier turns with his shattered hand pressed to his chest and cries out when a second bullet pierces the back of his thigh. He’s determined to run, because he drags his dead leg through the garage door, only to stop again when I step forward and block his way.

Lifting my Glock and pressing it to his forehead, I take sick pleasure in the way he automatically drops to his knees and prays to whoever the fuck is listening to save his miserable life. “I believeI’mthe man you’re looking for.” Pulling my beanie up and revealing my face, I smile when his eyes roll into the back of his head. “Guess he forgot there are two of us.”

“What the fuck?” Racing to the garage door where I stand, Eric’s light eyes flick from my face back to Kane’s. To mine. Then back to Kane’s.

If there are any men watching us right now with our heads in their scopes, we’re all dead, because no one pays attention to anything outside the bubble Kane and I create despite the twenty feet of dead space between us.

Spence steps forward with squinted eyes as though he can’t bring me into focus. “Am I high?”

I jump when a gentle hand presses to my back. Without looking, I bring Soph close but hold her behind me.

“I don’t understand.” Jess fights against my brother’s tight hold. His muscles bulge as he watches me. His jaw ticks, and his eyes glitter with something that isn’t happiness. “Kane, let me go.” She pushes at his hands, grunts when he holds tight, and finally breaks free with a huff. Walking forward slowly, the blonde-haired, blue-eyed bombshell stares into my eyes, but mine remain on my deathly still brother.

Say something. Put me out of my misery!

“I don’t understand what’s going on right now.” Jess walks around Spence’s massive frame, then ducks under Eric’s arm to get closer. Andi is helped from the concrete floor and thrust into Cruz’s waiting arms as the other twin emerges into the fray and jumps forward to rescue her sister, only to be pulled back by an unrelenting Angelo.

Stopping in front of me, Jess arches her neck back and squints her eyes. Licking her lips, her hand comes out to touch, but she pulls it back time and time again. “What’s… what’s…” She shakes her head. “What the fuck?”

Clearing my throat, I choke out a nervous, “Jess?”

Eric’s suspicious eyes snap wide when I speak. Like he’s never heard me speak before, or maybe it’s just that he hasn’t heard me sober in so long…

Instead of words, Jess steps onto her tiptoes and reaches forward with a shaking hand. I don’t stop her. She won’t hurt me, and I won’t hurt her, and right now, of the ten or more people standing in this dark garage, she’s the only one brave enough to step forward.

Gently, with a feather-light touch, she fingers my beanie back until she uncovers the star-shaped scar, then she snatches her hand back and clutches them both to her chest. “Is this a dream?” She turns to Spence, then to Eric. And all the while, Kane stands back as though I am a stranger, a dangerous stranger he has no intention of approaching. “Is Kane still dead, guys? Was this all a dream?”

“Not a dream.” Clearing my throat, I wipe a hand over my top lip and try again. “Ah… This is… I guess it’s kinda awkward.” Slowly extending a hand and going slower yet when Spence’s gun rises, I meet Jess’ eyes and nod. “My name is Jay Bishop. We met once before.”

She doesn’t take my hand. She doesn’t evenpretendto take my hand. Instead, she tugs my shirt and has Spence shooting wary glances back to my brother. Stepping closer and pushing my shirt up, she runs a gentle hand over the scar on the front of my stomach where a bullet pierced my lung and kept going. When she can’t find the second, she grabs the loops of my jeans and spins me so she can study my back.

A man who has lived the life I have wouldn’t normally turn their back to the enemy, and right now, they feel like the enemy. They’re not on my side, that’s for fucking sure.

Soft fingers stroke my back, passing over the two scars the way Sophia’s do when we’re lying in bed, but when I look down and meet Soph’s eyes, I’m met with something similar to that in Kane’s.

No one is on my side right in this minute.

---