Page 6 of Shamelessly Loyal

“Told you,” Freddie said, though his tone was far from smug.

“You sound certain,” Pretty Boy said, though there was less challenge in his tone now.

“That’s because I am, I’ve known Emersyn since we were five. Granted—we haven’t always been in the same places, and we had a hard time keeping in touch sometimes. Nonetheless, we never gave up on each other, and I’mnotgiving up on her now. As much as I hated not knowing exactly where she was, I was happy knowing she wassafe.”

And I had wanted to press her a dozen times, but she’d seemed so sure…

“She never told me why you took her, and I don’t care right now. I’m just glad you did. Her going back was never the plan.”

“The fake IDs,” Liam said abruptly. “You got them for her.”

“Yes, a new identity, cash, anything she needed to not be Emersyn Sharpe anymore and disappear.” I’d gone straight to Fletcher. Adam’s cousin was much more laid back than he was, yet he was also clever as Hell and had access to everything I needed. He hadn’t even asked me a lot of questions, when I would have paid the full price he insisted on the friends and family discount.

It was for Emersyn, so honestly, I’d have paid it in blood.

“Where is she now?” one of them asked. “Where is she that you’re so damn worried about?”

The ice in my veins chilled even further. “If he’s done what I think he has, and if the rumors are true, he’s sent her back to Pinetree.”

“What the hell is Pinetree?” the newcomer demanded.

“It’s a psychiatric facility,” Liam answered, a muscle ticking in his jaw. “A very exclusive one.”

“You’ve heard of it?” That was useful, because I wasn’t sure how to explain the nightmare fuel that place provided to the children and black sheeps of the wealthy circles I traveled in. “All I know is that if she’s there, we need to get her out. I have the money and the connections, but I have no way to get in, and I don’t think I could anyway—the last two times he sent her to that place—she was different when she came out.”

“Different, how?” Pretty Boy invaded my space. Worry, not an ounce of threat stamped on his face. It wrenched at my heart. “There was never anything about her being in a facility.”

“Of course not, it wouldn’t reflect well on the family. But I knew. Some of us knew, because we saw what happened after. The only reason they sent her there was to control her—to take away who she was, and I couldn’t stop it before. Icando something now.”

“That’s where we come in,” the big guy said. Like the doctor, he’d said almost nothing.

“Exactly. I just—I just don’t know how to make it happen, and I need help to get her out.” If I thought for a second Adam would back my play, I’d have gone to him. Our parents’ affair and subsequent marriage aside, we had Andrea in common.

Sometimes I thought she might be all we had; only he wasn’t a monster. His concern for Emersyn when we were kids had never been feigned. Nor his concernaboutmy friendship with her. I’d have begged if I had to, but he’d all but disappeared over the recent weeks. The one person who might know where he was, wasn’t speaking to me. It didn’t help either that my last conversation with Ezra had been a drunken rant that still stung.

“Tell them,” Rome said, cutting across the sea of debate and argument. He wasn’t looking at me or talking to me, for that matter. He was looking at his brother. “It’s time, tell them.”

I just needed them to help me help her. Their reaching out when they did? It was a lifeline I’d grasped and then dove into the dark water after. Maybe I’d drown, but not before I got her help.

I could do this much.

ChapterTwo

MILO

“You wanna tell me why she’s locked in your room?” Kellan asked, and I spared him a look. “Or not,” he continued. “Keepingherhere, not your best idea.”

Was he for fucking real right now? Lainey Benedict didn’t belong in our world, at all. Of course, I would have said Ivy didn’t belong here, either. This wasnotwhat I wanted for Ivy, and that was before I began to vanish into a morally gray area, all in the name of protecting my brothers and building a life worthy of my sister.

The gray I traded for the bankrupt. “Go away, Kel. Fix the shit you can fix and back up the boys so they can find my sister.”

He frowned.

“What?”

“Why aren’t you going with them?”

Anger lit a match and tore through me like a kerosene-fueled fire. Only I said nothing becausewhy wasn’t I going?It was a damn good question. I wasn’t on parole, so I could leave the state. Ivy needed me…