Bennett Mafia - Tijan Page 0,80

“Where’s Kai?”

“I don’t know.”

I turned back. She seemed solemn.

“What do you mean? Kai isn’t here?”

She shrugged. “After you must’ve fallen asleep, Kai came out, and he was at another level. I’ve never seen him like that. Between you and me, he was terrifying. I thought he was going to kill some of his men right then and there.”

The traitor. My father.

I remembered that part now.

Kai wouldn’t return until he had dealt with the traitor. I was sure of it. Jonah was coming, so all the questions I wanted to ask, there was no point.

Instead, I asked, “Tell the truth. Why’d you run?”

Brooke straightened up, her hands falling to her lap.

She expelled a frustrated gargle, her eyes flicking to the ceiling. “I wasn’t lying about it being about life and death. Kai found out something about Levi, and I’m terrified of what he’ll do with the information. I love this guy, Riley. He’s the one for me, and I couldn’t bear it if my brother destroyed us.” She snorted, leaning back in her seat. “I mean, if anyone’s going to screw things up, it should be me. Give me a chance here to mess things up myself.”

Raking a hand through her hair, she shook her head. “I’m a mess these days. How are you?” She gave a self-deprecating laugh, but her eyes focused on me. “You seem well, actually.”

“I thought Kai kept track of me?”

“He did, but I stopped asking for the reports. You went into the Network, and I knew you’d be safe.”

That was a year after she’d left school.

I snorted. “Thanks for your concern.”

She winced. “I know, I know. Going back after my dad died, it was different. Kai was even scarier. Tanner was pissy all the time, and Jonah turned in on himself. He wouldn’t leave his room some days. We were a mess. I’m a mess now, but we were worse then. I mean, Kai was sixteen. Our uncles kept trying to become our guardians, but Kai fought them on it. I don’t even know how he did it, but finally, they stopped. That probably took seven months. Seven months of hell—not knowing if we’d have to leave each other or what. Even the actual law came in a few times, social services and such. Kai bought them off right away. It’s such a joke sometimes. Our family gets away with murder.”

That was the truth. Literally. “Yeah…”

Brooke kept going, even a slight cheerful note in her voice. “Kai said something about your father. He knows you’re alive?”

I wasn’t sure how to answer, or if I even wanted Brooke to know.

I used to trust this girl. She gave me what I desperately needed. Security. Safety. Acceptance.

“You hurt me when you lied to me.” It stung to admit that.

She folded her hands together in her lap. “I know.” Her voice softened. Apologetic. “Are you mad that I involved you or that I lied?”

“Lied,” I said immediately. That was the truth. “I don’t mind that you involved me. I would’ve helped you anyway, but you lied to me. You didn’t need to lie to me. If you hadn’t, I could’ve helped you better. I would’ve understood.”

She tilted her head, questioning. “Has Kai said anything to you about Levi?”

Some of my anger faded, but not all of it. I was torn between so many things, and between more than a few people.

I shrugged. “We were in New York for a day; then we came here.”

“New York?” She sat up straighter. “Where in New York?”

I shook my head. “I don’t know. We didn’t go anywhere. We were at a house, and then we came here.”

But that first night… Kai went somewhere that first night.

“Oh. Levi had to leave for a trip. I thought he went to Boston, though.” She sounded disappointed. “Okay.”

We were silent for a moment.

“Are you going to run again?” I asked her.

She was the one to shrug now. “I don’t know. It depends on Levi, on where he is.”

“You can’t get ahold of him?”

“I couldn’t before you guys showed up, and now Kai took my phone. He gave me a computer that doesn’t have wifi. When Tanner or Jonah call, the guard gives me the phone and stands there. I’m only allowed to speak into it, that’s it.”

That was a bit much, but Kai had said he wanted to use Levi. He was his way into the Barnes family. I wasn’t even going to try to guess at what he was planning.

Unease crept down my back.

“Can I ask you

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