Total pages in book: 147
Estimated words: 141556 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 708(@200wpm)___ 566(@250wpm)___ 472(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 141556 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 708(@200wpm)___ 566(@250wpm)___ 472(@300wpm)
Finally, as the main course is served, Roman sets down his fork.
The sound is soft. A small click of metal against porcelain. But somehow it silences the room.
“I’ve always believed in the importance of family.”
The words hang in the air. Everyone goes still. Even the candle flames seem to stop flickering.
“Family is everything. Loyalty. Honor. The willingness to do what’s necessary to protect what’s ours.” His eyes move around the table, touching each of us in turn. Sawyer. Kade. Levi. Elena. Saint. When they land on me, they stay. “Wouldn’t you agree, Calder?”
“Of course.”
“Of course.” He picks up his wineglass, swirls the dark liquid, and takes a slow sip. Takes his time. Letting the silence stretch. Letting the fear build. “So imagine my surprise when I learned that someone in this family has been keeping secrets.”
My heart stops. Restarts. Keeps beating somehow.
“Secrets that could destroy everything we’ve built. Everything your grandfather built. Everything I’ve spent thirty years protecting.” He sets the glass down with a soft click, the sound impossibly loud in the silence. “Secrets involving federal agents.”
The room goes absolutely silent.
Saint’s grip tightens on my leg. I feel Sawyer and Levi and Kade all turn to look at me, their confusion shifting to something else. Something colder. I feel the weight of the wire against my chest, suddenly obvious, burning like a brand.
Kade’s face darkens, betrayal twisting into rage. Sawyer goes carefully blank, but I can see the calculations running behind his eyes. Levi just stares, mouth slightly open, hurt flickering across his features before he can hide it.
Elena sits frozen at the end of the table, her hands still folded, her face the color of old bone. She won’t look at me. Won’t look at Roman. Just stares at some fixed point in the middle distance, like she’s trying to disappear.
Roman’s smile is cold as a Montana winter.
“Now.” He folds his hands on the table, mirroring his wife’s posture, a mockery of prayer. “Let’s talk about how you were going to hand me over to the FBI.”
Calder
The silence that follows Roman’s words is absolute.
It stretches for seconds that feel like hours, thick and suffocating as smoke. I can feel Saint’s hand locked around mine under the table, her pulse racing against my palm. I can feel my brothers’ eyes on me, their shock and confusion and betrayal bleeding into the air like poison.
And I feel nothing.
Not fear. Not panic. Not the hot rush of adrenaline that usually comes when everything goes to hell. Just a strange, cold calm settling over me like fresh snow.
Because the worst has happened. The secret is out. Roman knows.
And now I’m free.
Free from the weight of the lies. Free from the constant vigilance, the paranoia, the exhausting work of keeping every plate spinning. Free from the illusion that I might survive this intact. I’m going to die tonight. Maybe not in the next five minutes, maybe not even in the next hour. But Roman will kill me for this betrayal. That’s not a question. It’s a fact, as certain as the mountains outside these windows and as inevitable as winter.
The only thing that matters now is making sure Saint walks out of here alive.
I reach for my wineglass with my free hand, bringing it to my lips. The red liquid tastes like copper and oak. I swallow slowly, deliberately, then set the glass down with a soft clink.
“So.” My voice comes out steady. Almost conversational. “How long have you known?”
Roman’s cold smile widens. He settles back in his chair at the head of the table, looking pleased with himself. Like a cat that’s finally cornered the mouse and wants to savor the moment before the kill.
“Does it matter?”
“Curious, is all.”
“Long enough.” He picks up his own glass and swirls the wine. “Did you really think you could coordinate with federal agents without me finding out? That you could plant recording devices, have secret meetings, pass information, and I wouldn’t notice?”
The wire burns against my chest. Still recording. Still transmitting. Reese is hearing all of this, wherever she is. Hearing Roman confirm everything. It’s not the way I planned it, but it’s something. Maybe enough.
“You’ve always underestimated me, Calder. All of you have.” Roman’s gaze sweeps the table, touching Sawyer, Kade, and Levi. “You think because I drink, because I delegate the dirty work, that I’m not paying attention. But I see everything. I always have.”
Sawyer sits frozen across the table, his analytical mind probably racing through scenarios, calculating odds and outcomes. His face is carefully blank, but I can see the tension in his shoulders, the white-knuckle grip he has on his fork.
Levi is on the other side of Saint, closer than I’d like. His easy charm has evaporated, replaced by something harder. Younger. The kid who used to follow me around, asking questions, wanting to be just like his big brother. That look in his eyes now feels like a knife between my ribs.