Page 112 of Poisoned Pawn

“Oh, I wouldn’t do that if I were you. Haven’t you been wondering where your friend got to earlier?”

I fail at masking my emotions, and that just makes Rook all the more pleased.

“She’s currently sitting in a hospital waiting room full of worry over her father. They say it’s touch and go as to whether he’ll pull through you know.”

The guy finishes unlocking the last cuff, then hooks an arm under mine and pulls me to my feet.

“You wouldn’t want her to be in a bed next to her father now, would you? Let’s go.”

I’m ushered along by the other guy as Rook leads us to the front door and a waiting car. Once again, I’m bundled in the back with Rook.

I feel his eyes on me and turn to him. “What?”

“Curiosity,” he says, tilting his head at me.

I look away not wanting to feed his damn curiosity about anything. I can’t quite figure out if he was always this deranged or if the bullet to his brain made him this way.

“I imagine witnessing the murder of your mother so brutally had quite an impact on you.”

I close my eyes and breathe deeply through my nose to calm my racing heart. It’s the only acknowledgment I give that I heard his statement.

“Not to mention what my brother and his friends did to you. It’s a wonder you aren’t locked up in a mental hospital, too traumatised to function normally.”

His attempt at triggering me earlier didn’t work how he wanted, so now he’s trying the psychological path. Trying to get inside my head.

“Your point?” I ask, finally turning back and giving him my focus.

A small curl of his lip shows he thinks he has me. “No point, Anastasia, just making conversation. You know, I understand how hard it must have been to grow up without a mother.” When I don’t respond, looking away again, he continues regardless. “She wasn’t around much when I was a kid. Too busy making a new family.” His tone is bitter and full of resentment. “After Aaron was murdered, she vanished. Poof, gone. I had my father of course, but a man is no substitute for a mother.”

I roll my eyes at the insinuating cliche. “Let me guess, you blame her for the way you turned out?”

He laughs; it’s a deep mocking laugh. “No, no, that doesn’t make any sense now, does it? If that were true, you’d be a drug addicted whore like your mother.” He pauses, as though waiting for me to respond, but I give him nothing. It’s not like his words aren’t the truth. “No, my mother holds a gold medal for being responsible for making me a Shadow, but the trophy for who I am today goes to Carter fucking Beckett. And tonight, he’s going to pay the price,” he finishes as his phone rings, and we come to a stop.

“Tell me what I want to hear,” he snaps down the line. He’s quiet for a moment as he listens, then there’s a loud thud as his fist slams sideways into the car door. “And there’s no way to get in? …Fuck!”

He ends the call and exits the car, slamming the door behind him. I watch as he paces, holding the phone to his ear again before he begins shouting when whoever he’s calling answers. It’s muffled, but I make out Erica’s name before he walks too far away for me to hear anything more.

I look at the driver, but his focus is straight ahead. I think about trying the door, but then dismiss that idea because even if it’s unlocked, how far am I going to get with Rook already outside the car. Instead, I look around the car for anything I can use as a weapon or give me an idea of what Rook has planned.

I’m just lowering the armrest between the backseat when light fills the sky to the left followed by a loud explosion.

CHAPTERTHIRTY-FOUR

CARTER

“That’s fantastic but unless you can tell me where the fuck your son is, this little…reunion will have to wait.” I’m shocked that Rook’s mum is here, but I’m even more shocked that she is friends with Lennox and married to Frankie. This is fucking insane.

“I don’t know where he is, but I do know that the meet with Pavel is a trap.”

“If you came out of hiding just to share that, then you shouldn’t have bothered. Not to mention whose mother you are!” I snarl, thinking about her being Aaron’s mother too. A man that… I shake the thought away.

“Carter,” Lennox and Frankie say at the same time with the same level of warning in their tone.

Interesting.

I point my finger at Frankie. “You knew all this fucking time? I should shoot the pair of you arseholes.”

He scowls at me. “The fuck I did. I’m just as surprised as you are.” His focus turns to Lennox and Sloane.