He looked at me. “Yeah.” He flattened his mouth. He wasn’t going to share how he knew. That meant he had known who Payton was before Peter told him this morning, too. Or I was guessing. There was a look in his eyes, a deeper understanding than my little ten-and-three-quarters-year-old brother should have, but it was there nonetheless.

  He had known.

  “You want to know why Chrissy never said anything about being held captive?” I asked.

  He gave me a quick nod. “She said she didn’t know, but she did. She just told us she did.”

  Chrissy’s mouth had been open, but it shut with an audible snap. “Oh.” Her face tightened, stretched. Her mouth pressed down before it returned to a flat line. She angled her head to the side, speaking in Payton’s direction. “I couldn’t tell what side you were on.”

  Payton sat up in her seat. “I didn’t know, either. I knew they had you, and I knew what they were capable of.”

  Cyclone was looking between the two mothers, leaning against one of Payton’s legs. “So you both didn’t know and you couldn’t tell, so both of you didn’t say a word? That makes no sense.”

  Seraphina started giggling.

  “Where’s your brother now?”

  Kash glanced to Cyclone. “He’s at the apartment Bailey and I lived in.”

  “What’s he going to do there?”

  “He’s going to stay there, and he and I will work with the FBI to help find our grandfather. You know when they took your dad into custody?”

  Cyclone nodded, his eyes still glued to Kash.

  “That was the deal. We help them, and they release your dad.”

  Another nod from my little brother. Then, “Can we have pizza tonight?”

  Cyclone just solidified my theory.

  That was the gist of our family meeting. It was pizza for the rest of the night, and bowling.

  It felt almost normal.

  FIFTY-EIGHT

  Bailey

  Three months later

  Life didn’t go back to normal after that day, but there was a sense of weird peace that settled over everyone. The household, too. Maybe it was because so much had been unearthed, we all needed time to digest. Or maybe it was because we were all just exhausted.

  I knew I was.

  I knew Kash was. Seriously. Kash was really tired. That night, he crawled into bed and held me. By the time I rolled over, slid a leg in between his, and worked my arm around to hold him back, he was already asleep.

  He didn’t wake for a whole twelve hours.

  Peter spent the next month being with his family. I think he did work, but it was mostly in the morning. Kash told me that he had his “debrief” meetings with Peter in the morning, at an ungodly time of the day, but once we all met for breakfast, Peter’s phone was never brought out. He was with the family.

  We’d all taken to eating breakfast together before Cyclone and Seraphina headed to school. It was something they needed, but I think we all needed it. At first, Seraphina and Cyclone were both clingy with all of us. They weren’t super choosy about whose side they were sticking to. They’d go from one to the other as if they were scared one of us would disappear.

  After the first month, that got better.

  They returned to skipping into the room, eating at their own table, and then giving each adult a kiss on the cheek and a hug before being taken to school.

  Matt moved back into his penthouse.

  I returned to school. Not that I had really stopped going to school, but there’d been a definite couple weeks in there that I skipped. And I was in graduate school, so skipping was a stupid thing to do. I made up the time. The professors weren’t happy, but they understood. I was to start my paid internship with Phoenix Tech the next week.

  As for the rest, Payton decided to move permanently to Chicago, but she was moving into her own apartment. It was in one of Kash’s buildings, and I knew he offered her the free housing more because he wanted to watch her than for any other reason.

  It was still a kind gesture, just with invisible strings.

  Quinn was found guilty and sentenced to prison for twenty-five years.

  After the second month, Peter returned to his job again, and soon the family was hosting banquets and events at the house again. It reminded me of the summer when Quinn hosted them, but I realized this was normal life for everyone who was not a Hayes. Chrissy helped with the banquets, but they were mostly Peter’s deal.

  Chrissy returned to working part time at a private clinic not far from the estate, and stayed living at the Chesapeake.

  She was happy.

  Matt returned to his evenings at Naveah, with Tony, Chester, Guy, and the girls. I went, but not often. If I went, it was for one drink with my brother and then I would head up to spend time with Kash. If he was working or needed to remain working, I would do my schoolwork on his couch or curl up and take a nap. It was our new normal.

  The other thing that went back to normal was Kash’s notoriety.

  He returned to having his picture taken by local gossip sites.

  Word hadn’t leaked about Chase, but we all knew that was coming one day. I, for one, wasn’t excited for it to happen. The world would find out there was two of them, and the world would go nuts. There’d be a frenzy.

  I didn’t want that, but I totally understood it.

  FIFTY-NINE

  Bailey

  We were celebrating tonight.

  Our last day of classes was today. We had a weekend, and then my classmates and I were starting our internships on Monday. So tonight, we were doing a whole Long Island theme night. Everyone came together after being off doing their own thing.

  Melissa roped in Torie and Tamara, and everyone had started with the same bar/club crawl as we’d had for our girls’ night so long ago—or it seemed like so long ago.

  We went to the biker bar first.

  Then we went to Octavo.

  Now everyone was ending the night at Naveah, and I’d requested ahead of time to get the VIP booth for our group. Torie helped push that request through, mostly by marching up to the booth and shooing Tony, Guy, and Chester out of there. They weren’t happy when they saw that we weren’t alone. We had our guy classmates with us. Liam was back to being approved, since he moved out from living with Hoda.

  Hoda.

  I’d forgotten about her. I hadn’t seen her on campus or at the library at all. Team Batt maybe needed to do some investigating. The other thing new: Melissa and Liam came in holding hands.

  Dax, Shyam, and the rest of the guys were with them when they all arrived.

  “Hey, sister.” Matt bumped my shoulder next to me. “Where’s your man?”

  “He’s with his brother tonight.”

  “Really?”

  I nodded. I was having another Long Island, and I was right at the stage of alcohol where I wanted my man with me, but I was reining it in. I didn’t want to be one of those couples, who couldn’t spend an entire day away from each other.

  Nope. Not me.

  But yeah, I missed Kash. I wanted to see Kash.

  Fine. We were that couple. All gooey and cheese and mushy.

  Matt sighed. “I can already tell you’re going to be moping tonight. Go, sister.”

  “What?”

  He shook his head, flicking his hands in the air. “Go. You want your man, so go and get your man. Go. Find him. Drag him away from that brother.”

  “Oh no. I’m good. I’m with friends tonight.”

  “Go. To. Him.” He spelled it out, rolling his eyes. “It’s your turn, sister. Be selfish.”

  “You sure?”

  Matt mock-glared at me. “Now you’re pissing me off.”

  I laughed, finished my drink, and grabbed my purse before sliding out of the booth.

  “Where are you going?” Torie called out.

  I waved at her. “Gonna go find Kash! ’Night, guys. Don’t drink too much.” I grinned, because the guys were almost falling over by then. Melissa was buzzed, with Tamara drunk. Torie was the only one sober. I wasn’t sure what Matt was, but he hadn’t joined us until Naveah. He didn’t get the boot like the other guys. As for myself, I was definitely buzzed.

  Fitz moved in when I walked down the pathway. “I want to see Kash.”

  * * *

  It had been a whole battle.

  Fitz on one side.

  Me on the other.

  He was all like “You should stay, be with your friends.”

  And I was like “No! I want my man. Take me to my man,” in my drunken state.

  Fitz lost, and now we were outside my old apartment building and he was going in first. He said the coms weren’t working for some reason, so I stayed behind with Drake. Kash had taken to keeping Josh and Scott with him at all times, which I understood, but I missed the guys. When Drake got the notice to send me in, I was expecting to see Josh or Scott at the door.

  I assumed they would escort me upstairs, but it was a no-go that night.

  The building was probably on lockdown, so I headed up myself.

  I was just leaving the elevator when the door to our old apartment opened. Out walked Kash, alone.

  He was looking at his phone, but then looked up and stopped in his tracks.

  “What are you doing here?” He looked beyond me, his face darkening. “Why are you alone?”

  “Where’s Scott and Josh? They weren’t at the door.”

  “Who cleared you to come in?” His hand grabbed my arm, and he began pulling me toward the apartment.

  I went with him, frowning. “Fitz.”

  We were at the apartment, and he shoved open the door, pushing me in first. “Where’s Drake?”

  “In the car.”

  He hurried me inside, throwing the door shut. The lock was next, then the whole barrage of locks. He went to the security cameras next, cursing under his breath. “Chase!”

  Oh boy. What had I walked in on?

  Kash’s brother came out from the kitchen. “What’s going on?” He saw me, and he started to smile—then his brother spoke.

  “We’re under attack.”

  “What?” That was me.

  “Who?” That was Chase. He was much calmer; more efficient, too.

  Kash was looking at the cameras, then he called down. “Scott, Josh. Go to the east side. Twenty men are coming up the main elevators. They’ll come for us, but I want you guys to sweep in from the east, move slow and cautious.” He hit a different button. “Fitz? Come in, Fitz.”

  Chase was now waiting along with me.

  Kash was searching the security cams. He must’ve switched calls again. “I’m looking. My guess, our grandfather.” A pause, cursing. He hit a different button on his phone. “Drake! Move. Drake!”

  Chase disappeared into a room.

  He reappeared later with three vests in hand and a myriad of weapons in a bag in his other hand. I was pretty sure he wasn’t supposed to handle any of those guns like that, but he did, and he dropped them on the table way rougher than was necessary.

  “Base, this is Kash. We’re under attack at Chase’s apartment.”

  It was Chase’s apartment now? He was staying here permanently?

  While Kash kept talking to whoever was at base, Chase touched my arm, pulling me over to him. His eyes were serious, his face tight. “Lift your arms.”

  I did, and then because I’m me, I made a joke. “In two minutes, men will break into your apartment and take you hostage.”

  He paused, and the side of his mouth twitched before he finished strapping me into a vest. “Kash.” He picked up one of the other two vests and turned, tossing it in the air.

  Kash was coming over, his phone pressed to his ear. He caught the vest, putting his phone on speaker and placing it on the table. He put his vest on as he spoke. “ETA for the authorities?”

  Chase froze, midreach for his own vest. “No.”

  Kash didn’t spare him a look, putting on his vest.

  “There’s a patrol three blocks away.”

  “No. We don’t know how many are here. Any cops could get killed,” Chase hissed.

  I spotted a laptop on the kitchen counter and went over to it.

  Kash ignored his brother again, speaking over him, “We’ll do what we can, but warn the police about who they’re going against. Let them know we’re inside and we’ll be defending ourselves.”

  “Got it, boss.”

  Kash finished his vest, picking up one of the guns to check the barrel, and he reached for his phone. “What do you mean, ‘No’?”

  “I mean no. I want him.”

  I was typing fast, hurrying to break into the security feeds.

  “Bailey, what are you doing?”

  “Hacking.” My fingers were flying over the keyboard. This was my own system, too, but someone had changed some of the firewalls. The coding was different. Someone had hacked me? “Carry on with your fight.”

  Kash sighed, but turned to his brother. “If you want him, you get him before they get here.”

  “I want him.”

  “Then you get him.”

  Chase growled. “You’re not hearing me.”

  “I am hearing you, loud and fucking clear. You’re not getting it. These are Calhoun’s men, coming in to get you, but I’d be shocked if he was actually here. He’s not here. He’s tucked away somewhere safe where no one can put a bullet in him. Also, Calhoun alive is what the feds want. It was our bargaining chip so both of us don’t get arrested. Remember that time I broke you out of their custody? I got into a ton of trouble for you.”

  Another growl erupted from his brother. Something pounded the table.

  I was still working to undo some of this new coding, so I didn’t look. I was guessing it was his fist and not something else, like Kash, if they were going to start duking it out.

  “He deserves to die.”

  I heard more clicking sounds. Glancing up, I saw both were prepping their guns. A box of ammunition was open on the table between them.

  “Bailey,” Kash called.

  “Yeah?”

  “Are you in?”

  “Not yet. Someone changed my entire system. I have to figure it out.” I bit down on my lip.

  Now. This is the time when I should’ve been freaking out. I should’ve been, but I wasn’t. An eerie and unnerving calm had settled over me. As I continued going through the system, section by section, I couldn’t help but marvel at the oddness of my situation.

  I was in an apartment, one that I used to love living in, and now I was here with a secret twin who was fighting with the man that I love over the chance to kill his grandfather.

  I wasn’t freaking, and the only reason I could think why was that this was no longer new to me. I’d been through too much. If they were going to be successful and get me, I’d freak out then.

  I had fought back at round one.

  I had been drugged at round two.

  I had been paralyzed, then hysterical, at round three.

  This was round four, and I was somewhat finding myself wanting to vote with the secret twin. It was time to end this, and Calhoun dead was a viable option. There’d be no more rounds after this.

  Then I got into the system and booted up all the security feeds. “I’m in!”

  Hoda! I recognized her coding from school. She had a distinct style.

  The floor rocked under my feet, and I looked, belatedly, if we really were in an earthquake. No. Nothing was falling off the walls. That was me, having everything swept out from under me.

  Hoda must’ve been holding back, or learning hard over these last few months. I never knew what side she was, not really. Now I knew, I guess.

  “We can go there.” Kash pointed to a screen.

  Chase grunted. “The next one.”

  They both looked.

  Kash growled, “No.”

  Chase growled back, “Yes.”

  “The third one.”

  “No.”

  “Yes!”

  They were both silent, both studying the cameras.

  Chase gave in. “Fine. That sixth one.”

  No clue what he was relenting to.

  A sigh from Kash. “Fine.”

  No clue about that, either.

  “Good.” Both nodded together and looked at me.

  “What?” said Kash.

  “I have no idea what you guys just said to each other.”

  Kash bit out a curse at the same time that Chase hid a grin, looking away. They moved around me. Kash took my arm, dragging me with him. They both reached for a gun and began filling shoulder holsters that I’d not seen them put on.

  “Babe.”

  I didn’t like the sound of that. “What?”

  Kash was taking me to the back bedroom, grabbing the computer and handing it to me. “You know that time we had a conversation where I needed you to trust me? That you might not want to do what I needed you to do, but you just needed to do it anyways?”

  “No.”

  We were in the bedroom. He was leading me to my closet. “Well, we just did.” He swept the hanging clothes aside, ones that I’d left behind, then opened one of the drawers and touched a button. The back wall swung in, and my mouth was hanging open.

  “What is that?”

  He pushed me inside, hitting a light switch.

  I was in a room. It wasn’t a big room, but it was a room. There was a chair. Blankets. A caddy of water and those bars that could be eaten as a whole meal. In the corner was a bucket with a heavy blanket over it.

  Ew. I didn’t want to think why there was a bucket, but I knew. Some things you don’t want to know and you just know. That bucket was one of those things.

  “This room is an escape room.”

  I grunted. “No shit.”

  “The door is bulletproof. Once I close this, the edges will reseal. No one will know it’s here.”

  Oh.

  Whoa, whoa, whoa.

  I tried putting on the brakes, but I was already in.

  Kash pointed to a panel. “If we die, you can get out of here with those buttons.”

  “What? Die?”

  He bent, his mouth finding mine, but before I could swoon, he was gone. “I love you.” Then the door was pulled shut behind him.

  “Kash!” I was there, pounding on it. I reached for the handle—there was no handle. Why wasn’t there a handle? I could hear him slide the clothes in front of it again, and then … was that footsteps I was hearing? I moved to the other wall. What was on that side?