Page 20 of Theirs to Corrupt
“You have no other family?”
“My parents are dead,” I reply, the familiar ache of loss smacking me in the stomach. “Car accident two years ago.”
Neither man seems surprised.
“No extended family? Aunts? Uncles?”
“No.”
“Friends?”
No one is capable of protecting me from Axel. I shake my head.
“What do you know about your brother’s…business?” Link asks, his voice carefully neutral.
“Not much.” Since my hands are shaking, I slide my water back onto the island. Then I wrap my arms around myself, not as if that will actually protect me. “After our parents died, Axel…changed. He took over my dad’s accounting firm. Then the gambling started.” Unless it had been going on for a long time and I didn’t know. “He won some, and it made him…” I think back. “Obsessive. Then he started to lose.” I sigh. “He kept telling me he was going to win big, the next time.” The losseskept piling up. Sure he had some good days, just enough to keep him hooked.
Pax’s jaw tightens.
“I tried to get him to stop…”
“And the debt?” Link prompts.
How much does he know? “My brother has kept me in the dark. But I overheard things. Phone calls, conversations when he thought I wasn’t around. He owes money to some dangerous people.”A lot of money.
“And that’s where you come in,” Pax says, his voice low and angry.
“Yes.” Anger sears me. “A couple of months ago, I found an email he was writing. He said he had anassetthat could clear his debts.”Me.
The silence thunders.
Both men’s eyes are cold. Calculating. Dark. “I ran,” I continue, my voice barely above a whisper.
“Look, Tessa…” Link plows a hand into his hair.
I tilt my head. Though I don’t really know him, I’ve never seen him looking anything less than totally in control.
“He owes money to the mob.”
Themob?Beneath me, the room tilts, and I grasp the edge of the island to steady myself. Frantically I shake my head.“No…”I grab my purse and shove my keys inside. “I have to go.”Run. Again.
Link shakes his head. “You’ll stay here while we figure out a more permanent solution.”
“I can’t.”
“We have resources,” Pax says.
Though his voice is steady and firm, it doesn’t reassure me.
Shaking my head, I rush toward the back door.
“Think it through,” Link urges.
Frantically I turn the knob, but the door is locked. Of course it is. I watched Pax type in a code.
“You have nowhere to go,” he adds.
Maybe the shelter for now? While I figure out my next move. “One of you can drop me at my car.”