As a chill coursed through my body ever so slowly, the ache in my head suddenly disappeared.

  I held my arms as I climbed off the couch, grabbing my phone from the bedroom. Then I dialed my parents’ number.

  When I reached my mother’s voicemail, I ended the call and tried my father’s. Then a smile crossed my face as I knew what I needed to do. One more call to make. Only then would I find the answers. “Yes, I’d like to book a flight to San Diego.”

  Cain

  I stared at the text for the fifth time before heading toward the exit from the building. She was alive. Sage. The woman who’d haunted my dreams for years. The beautiful girl I would have given everything I owned to see just one more time. The stunning creature who’d awakened my black soul. Alive.

  Only she had a new identity, her face similar but different enough I hadn’t recognized her. But now, I realized there was no doubt. None.

  Everything made sense now. The way Rose felt in my arms. The intense connection. The electricity that I’d only felt once in my life with a girl who’d died because of my sins. Our sins. Our entitlement.

  She was alive.

  And she belonged to us.

  One thought burned into the back of my mind. Was she behind the nasty game? Had it been invented to satisfy a taste of revenge herself? I wouldn’t put it past her. As much as I wanted to keep her as our pet, spending days and nights embroiled in passion, if we found out she had anything to do with our planned demise, she would face my wrath.

  The three of us said nothing as we made our way into the night, leaving the asshole Bart to face a demise of a different level. I was certain whoever had used him would clean up their messes. That’s the way it worked. The players in the game were vicious. It was obvious they’d underestimated us.

  Perhaps I should feel guilty for leaving Bart to the wolves, but he meant nothing to me. I sensed Hunter no longer gave a damn about the lost revenue or the ploy used to get him to Chicago in the first place. It had been a well-orchestrated game, Rose learning much from her father. I wondered if the fuck was even still alive. I’d find out one way or the other, even if I had to go to Fiji personally.

  “You don’t honestly believe Rose is Sage.” There was no emotion in Cristiano’s voice, but between the three of us, the current ebbing and flowing could light up an entire city block.

  “What do you think?” I asked, cursing under my breath. Marty headed towards the SUV while we stood back under the dim light of the building’s entrance.

  “Rose is not the same person.” Hunter was defiant in his statement, but I heard the question in his voice.

  “You know there are too many similarities.” I paced the parking lot, needing to crush something between my fingers to try and abate the anger. “The fucking nightmares. The connection we share. The singing. She was a fucking music major. Remember?”

  “She doesn’t look anything like Sage.” Hunter’s insistence surprised me. Did he not see what was staring him smack in the face? She’d coordinated the attacks. She’d led the charge in seeking revenge because of the accident. I was certain of it.

  I was also certain I was maddeningly, shockingly in love with the woman. I hadn’t been able to get her out of my mind for more than a few seconds at a time. I scrubbed my jaw and tried to figure out how to handle this. I couldn’t allow her to destroy everything I worked so hard to achieve.

  “It’s her, Hunter. You fucking know it,” Cristiano said. Hunter had his hand wrapped around Cristiano’s throat in a split second, issuing a hard punch to his gut before slamming him against the brick façade.

  “You motherfucker!”

  “You know I’m right. There’s nothing we can do about it,” Cristiano threw out.

  Hunter refused to believe, pulling back then slamming his fist into the man’s jaw.

  “That’s it. Stop it, both of you. This isn’t solving anything. We need to think this through. If Sage is a part of this ruse, which I’m not ready to believe, she’s not working alone. There are too many working pieces, including being able to successfully handle an extortion scheme. I’m beginning to believe you were right, Cris, in that this isn’t her father’s doing either. We need to be smart about this. We’re acting like idiots, which is exactly what the perpetrator wants.” Shit. At this point, I had no idea what to think.

  “It’s not her,” Hunter insisted.

  “We can’t rule anything out.”

  “Fuck you!” Hunter crossed into my space, preparing to give me a beat down just like he’d done with Cristiano. Like hell I was going to allow that to happen.

  I shoved him hard and he threw himself at me, ready to tear me a new one. At this point, I wouldn’t mind getting bloody to ease the tension.

  Neither one of us had the chance, the roar of an engine and the pepper of gunfire taking precedence.

  “Fuck!” Marty snarled. I caught a glimpse of him, a bullet slamming into his shoulder. Bullets pinged against one of the parked cars, only inches away from both Hunter and myself.

  I dropped and rolled, reaching for my weapon, noticing Cristiano had bolted toward them.

  “Go. Go. Go!” he was yelling at Marty as he fired off an entire magazine of ammunition. He was always ready for a fight, his father’s tutelage superior even to mine.

  Another round of gunfire forced me to my knees. I reacted without hesitation, firing off several shots across the street. The fuckers had been lying in wait. They’d known we were headed to meet with Bart. Nothing was coincidental.

  “What the hell?” Hunter slammed his body against another SUV, jerking his head around the front fender. He carefully got off a couple rounds, but at this point none of the assailants were in view, the offending vehicle roaring off into the darkness.

  But they’d be back.

  They’d come here to do a job, and they wouldn’t leave until it was finished, or they were lying in a pool of blood. I chose the latter. I had far too much to live for.

  Including finishing the revenge started twenty years before. “That’s what we need to find out. We’re going to end this Goddamn charade once and for all.” I could tell the driver was turning around, ready to make another pass.

  Hunter laughed. “You remember what we did with that asshole back in Kentucky?”

  “Hell, yeah.” I peered over the vehicle, realizing both Marty and Cristiano had taken out whoever had been in position on land. With no other shots fired from other locations, perhaps the remaining assassins were in the unknown vehicle. We’d surrounded one jerk who’d been determined to take us down, stealing vital information from the Elite’s Estate. We’d hunted him. Cornered him. Flushed him out. Then we’d had our fun deep in the woods. Unfortunately, we didn’t have time to skin a cat, but we could corner the sons of bitches.

  It would seem Cristiano knew what we had in mind, directing Marty to the middle of the street. Hunter and I raced towards it as well, all four of us with our guns directed at the road. The assassins likely figured out what we were doing, slowing down as they approached. This would be dicey at best, but it was the only way to try and figure out who they were working for.

  I sensed the moment the driver pressed down on the accelerator, lifting my weapon even higher, using both hands. Cristiano took his time slapping another magazine into his Glock. A quick glance in his direction and the gas station sign highlighted his evil grin. The man lived for danger and bloodshed.

  Some people say near death moments go by in slow motion, allowing the participants to view everything that occurs frame by frame. Maybe I never gave a shit about anything but the outcome because in the matter of a few seconds, a barrage of gunfire ensued from both sides, glass shattering and brakes squealing before the vehicle suddenly veered off course, crashing into the side of a building.

  There was no time to waste, the stench of gasoline and the sight of black smoke rolling from the crushed hood a clear indication a fire would start at any time. We raced in the direction, hoping to obtain anything leading us to the instigator of the attempted assassination.

  I headed to one side, prepared to throw open a door.

  “Get down!” Hunter’s voice rang over the creaks and hisses. I did so without hesitation, the single shot followed by one of the enemies falling on his face on the pavement.

  I threw him a look of thanks, then grabbed the fallen man, dragging him away from the SUV. After patting him down, the only thing I found was his license. At least I had identification, although that might not help at all. Cristiano checked the others.

  “Nothing,” Cristiano barked a few seconds later. “They knew we’d check for ID.”

  I held up what I had and shook my head, all of us coughing. What a shitshow.

  The smoke was acrid, burning my eyes. Then a flame licked up from under the hood. The four men were dead.

  “Let’s get out of here,” I told them.

  “Boss. Do you want me to get a cleanup crew?” Marty asked, wincing in pain.

  “No time. I have a feeling the cops will be all over this.” While I didn’t like it messy, most of the police force was in my pocket, so there wouldn’t be any pushback. Still, it was obvious I was off my game.

  “Come on. We need to get back to the resort. We have some things to deal with.” There was a faraway look in Hunter’s eyes as he made the recommendation. I knew the moment I saw him with Rose that he’d been pulled into her sweet lair.

  I still found it difficult to believe she was Sage.

  A part of me wanted to shove her in a cage, force her to tell us the truth, then kill her. The other wanted to wrap her in my arms. Fuck. This whole thing was a mess.

  That we’d created years before. If only we’d kept our dicks inside our jeans.

  We jogged to the other side of the road just as the fire reached the gas tank. Flames rushed towards the heavens.

  I shook my head, then climbed inside. “You okay, Marty?”

  “Just a scratch, sir.”

  “Get it checked out back at the resort.” I rubbed my eyes before dialing Brock.

  “Boss,” he answered.

  “We had an incident. Make certain you get a couple other men on Ms. Sadler, and have others walk the resort inside and out.”

  “Uh, boss. We have an issue.”

  “What do you mean an issue?”

  “It’s Ms. Sadler.”

  I sucked in my breath. “What about her?”

  “Well, she’s gone. I’ve looked everywhere. She’s nowhere to be found.”

  CHAPTER 22

  Cristiano

  Betrayal was something I was used to. I’d grown up around it, first from childhood friends, then seeing traitors punished by my brutal father. Everyone had a price, a reason or a dollar amount that would allow them to shift from the right side of the law to the other. Or to betray a confidence or even the location of a friend or colleague.

  Or lover.

  Money and power were excellent motivators, but often the greatest influence on whether someone selected a different moral code was centered around the need for revenge.

  Both Hunter and I had seen it in Cain. We’d watched him hone his evil ways until he was certain of what he’d wanted, which was blood for blood given the murder of his brother. He’d suffered and still was suffering, never able to get over the horror. Unfortunately, he’d allowed it to consume his life, shaping his decisions, warping them until he’d become a stalker.

  Then everything had changed the moment he’d seen Sage years before. She’d performed magic, her goodness conquering a portion of the demons inside of him. There was no difference in the way he looked at Rose. For a man like Cain, it was as close to love as he could possibly get. She was the kind of woman who could be our salvation.

  Or she was our curse.

  Whether or not they were the same person was the question that would eat at the three of us until the truth was discovered.

  However, if she was, the ugliness around the truth would eat us alive.

  A single question nagged at the back of my mind and would until I looked her in the eyes again. Could a sweet, beautiful girl turn into a calculating monster, determined to destroy the three men who’d dared tempt her dark desires? I forced myself to think about the night from years ago. All three of us had pushed so hard to drive it from our minds, believing that we could let it go. We also were certain the incident would never come back to bite us.

  Sage had witnessed us handling Theodore, all three of us enraged that he’d dared attack her, attempt to rape her. We’d done so violently, our rage knowing no bounds. We’d been intent on killing him. That was in our nature. Even Hunter hadn’t shied away from hungering to take his life.

  Maybe the act had been the final nail in the coffin, our lives spent in private prisons after watching her broken body on the pavement, her mouth trying to form words from a broken jaw before slipping away into unconsciousness. Then we’d gone off the deep end.

  Our actions had been what nightmares were made of.

  What we hadn’t been certain given the tragedy was whether she’d seen Cain pulling out his knife. Even if she had, she’d fled prior to Theo managing to jerk out a gun, shooting Cain before Hunter wrestled it away.

  I’d been the one to pick up the fallen knife, finishing what Cain had started. I would rot in Hell for all eternity because of that and dozens of other atrocities I’d committed, but even then, I would have given my life to protect Sage’s.

  Just like I would now. Fuck. How had things gotten so far out of hand?

  I’d played over the horrific event in my mind so many times I could recite it, but as with all things, in time, certain aspects of what happened had begun to fade. There’s been so many people, the driver trying to flee the scene. Cain had almost beaten the guy to death.

  Then the police.

  The estate where we’d lived had been shut down, several of the Elite students expelled. The scandal had rocked the university, but with dozens of lawyers intervening, the fifteen minutes of malevolent fame had eventually faded. Even with everything that had gone on, including a criminal investigation into Theo’s disappearance, we’d been protected. The truth was that we’d been treated as the gods we’d believed we were, not facing one minute of punishment for what we’d started.

  Our vicious intentions.

  Was I the kind of man who could have remorse or guilt? I’d convinced myself a long time ago that I had no conscience. Hell, my father had nearly beaten it out of me, forcing me to handle aspects of punishment just to dull my senses. It had worked.

  Except for when I was with Sage.

  She’d been the light to my darkness, the reason I wanted to make changes in my life. It was ridiculous since I didn’t really know her, but that’s how strongly I’d felt. So had Hunter and Cain.

  Now, Rose.

  A beautiful, intelligent miracle with the voice of an angel.

  Who could be behind the acts of revenge. I found it impossible to believe and would argue it to my grave had my mother not betrayed my father long ago, leaving her only child in the hands of a bastard who could care less if I existed. A bitter laugh erupted in my throat.

  Hunter and I followed Cain as he stormed down the hallway towards her suite, his anger increasing. When he reached Brock, who stood by her door, I was certain Cain was going to kill the man. He issued two hard jabs to the man’s throat before pushing him up against the wall. “How the fuck were you stupid enough to allow her to get away?”

  Brock didn’t push back, didn’t struggle. He knew what would happen if he did.

  “I’m sorry, boss. There was a call about a fire on the floor. Management got everyone out. She managed to leave with the crowd. I tried to stop her, but she ran from me.”

  Shit. She’d planned it. What was she trying to do?

  Cain hissed. “She was responsible for calling it in. I don’t need to check. I feel it in my bones.”

  “Why? Where the fuck could she go?” Hunter demanded.

  “Maybe to meet with the people working with her. What else?” Cain remained adamant, but I heard his voice crack. He didn’t want to believe it any more than I did.

  “Get your head out of your ass, Cain. We don’t know anything for certain. I refuse to allow you to condemn Rose, who could be an innocent player in all of this. If you keep doing that, you’ll need to come through me. Got it?” Hunter’s upper lip curled as he fisted one hand and I took a step closer, daring him to try.

  “Fine. But we will determine if she’s involved.”

  “And if she is?” Hunter threw out.

  At this point I doubted we had a clue what to say. She’d already managed to crawl under our skin.

  “Search her room,” Cain stated as he pulled his hand away from Brock. “I’m going to hunt down her assistant. Maybe I’ll get some decent answers. I’m also going to have a chat with the detective.”

  “I find it interesting that this detective you talked to hasn’t called me,” I told him.

  “Me neither.” Hunter laughed. “Maybe the man you talked to isn’t a detective after all.”

  “Fuck,” Cain snarled, obviously realizing we were right. “This ends today. Period.”

  Mr. Omnipotent was at it again. He’d yet to learn there were some things and people he couldn’t control with violence.

  The lovely woman or women was a case in point.

  Damn it, my cock twitched just thinking about touching her. An ache had formed in between my eyes.

  The game had been well played. And planned. The three of us looked at each other for a few seconds, the tension palpable. We’d been big and bad wolves for years. To think it was possible that we’d almost been taken down by a beautiful woman was disturbing.

  Even worse was the fact that the three of us cared for her more than we wanted to admit.

  Cain narrowed his eyes as he looked at Brock. “I will deal with you later.” He moved towards her door, sliding his keycard into the lock.

  He didn’t bother going inside, his face remaining twisted as he headed for the elevators.