Page 116 of Poisoned Pawn
She steps inside. “Seb called, apparently Erica got a message on her phone from Gage asking where she is. He wants to know what you want to do.”
“This could work for us.” I quickly explain about Shane’s phone and Koda hacking into Rook’s. “I just need a place to lure him, and with the added bonus of thinking he’s going to get my sister too, he won’t be able to resist. His ego is too fucking big.”
“I might have somewhere. Give me two minutes to make a call,” Roxanne says before hurrying off back downstairs.
I slowly follow, hitting the bottom step as Roxanne begins talking into her phone. The atmosphere in here hasn’t cooled much with Aidan on his phone in the kitchen, pacing back and forth, and Maddox and Zak sitting on the sofa and watching Frankie and Sloane at the dining table.
I stop and lean against one of the pillars, hands stuffed in my pockets. Frankie spots me and makes his way over, leaning on the other side of the pillar.
“I had no idea, Carter.”
“If you had, would it have stopped you marrying her?” Forgetting everything else, it’s the most important question and reminds me of a similar conversation I had with Star about knowing who she was that first night.
“No,” he answers truthfully, and I respect that.
“Then everything else isn’t important.”
“That’s very diplomatic of you, and not what I expected.”
I shrug. “Sounds to me like you have enough shit to sort out, so no point in me giving you more. I have my own to deal with.”
I push away from the pillar, checking my watch as I walk to where Roxanne is still talking on the phone. She spins to face me as she says goodbye.
“Well?” I ask impatiently as Aidan joins us.
“Rick reckons the original safe house he set up for Erica will work. It’s out of the way but close enough to not seem like a trap. Although he’d rather you didn’t destroy it”
“Can’t promise that, but I’ll pay for any damage,” I tell her, my mind turning to how this will work. I look at my watch again.
“I’ve got a dozen men plus Maddox, Zak and Frankie,” says Aidan, then looks to Frankie. “Being responsible for the death of your wife’s son doesn’t amount to wedded bliss,” he tells him with a shrug, then turns back to me. “And Rox and I will be coming with you.”
I’m shaking my head before he’s even finished. “No!”
He points a finger at me. “It’s not negotiable, Carter. You want him to think he’s coming for Erica, right? Then there’s no way he’d believe you left her so open after going to all the trouble to move her. That means he won’t be alone. And I don’t give a flying fuck how good you think you are, I’m not letting your ego cost Star her life.”
I rush forward, angry that he’d think I would be so fucking careless with her life, but Roxanne’s hand on my chest stops me.
“I’d put a bullet in your fucking brain before I’d let anything happen to her. The fact you would even suggest otherwise is bull-fucking-shit!” I spit at him, jabbing my finger into his chest.
Aidan smirks. “Spoken like a true villain.”
My phone rings in my pocket, and with eyes still holding Aidan’s, I answer.
“We’re all set,” Koda says.
“Good. Here’s the address. This is what I want you to do.”
CHAPTERTHIRTY-FIVE
STAR
“Holy shit!” I mutter, ducking involuntarily. A large plume of smoke fills the sky, and I can just make out Rook a few feet away stepping backwards as fire licks the night sky.
Whatever the hell that was, it went off like a bomb.
Carter.
The car door opens, and Rook drops back inside. His phone is still to his ear, but he’s not speaking. The unmistakable sound of a ringing phone echoes from the other end of the line before abruptly cutting off to voicemail when no on answers.