Cuffed by His Charm (Dirty Little Secrets 4)

I shove my hands into my pockets and shut my eyes, forcing myself not to move, staring out at Ryder’s command center. I’ve done enough already.

I’m not sure how long has passed when Ryder breaks the silence. “Fuck, Gabe, I’m terribly sorry,” he says. “Had I known you were going to talk to her, I would have told you not to.”

I rub my tired eyes, emptiness, anger, relief, and so much more roaring through me. “You didn’t do this, I did. I should have believed her, no matter what you told me. That will forever be on me.”

It’s not something I want to talk about further, and I’m only too happy when Alex reenters the room. “Okay.” She hurries back to her spot next to Ryder. “Now that we know who is behind this, how would you like me to proceed?”

She asked Ryder, but I respond, “Find out everything and anything you can on her brother.”

Chapter 3

McKenna

In the shadiest part of San Francisco, in the one place you don’t want to go at any point in your life, I use a key to enter the one-room shithole of an apartment that belongs to my brother. I don’t even have to take a step inside to know something is terribly wrong. The sense of danger hangs thick in the air as I enter Evan’s ransacked apartment.

While he’s never been the cleanest of people, the place has been turned inside out, papers everywhere and furniture overturned. Obviously, someone was here looking for something very specific. Now knowing that, apparently, my brother was in a partnership with a reporter at a trash magazine, I can only imagine that perhaps Evan recorded the wrong person, and they wanted that recording back. Or he owed someone money, and they were looking for that cash.

They’d never find it. My brother’s broke.

Dread covers me like a cold blanket, and as my mind takes me to the worst place, a creak sounds behind me. I whirl around, ready to defend myself, but my fear is meaningless. “What are you two doing here?” I ask, placing my hands on my hips.

Ryder brushes past me, entering the apartment, scanning the area from left to right. “When Alex showed you out of headquarters, she put a tracker on you.”

“She did what?” I lift my arms, glancing over myself, looking for anything that resembles a tracker.

Ryder approaches, stepping in behind me, and tugs on my shirt. “It’s here.” He holds up his hand, showing a small black sticker.

“You do realize how wrong it is that you put that on me, right?”

“Of course, I do.” Ryder places it in one pocket then pulls black latex gloves from the other and begins putting them on. “But I had no doubt that you would lead us to where your brother might be. Therefore, as sorry as I am, it’s also a necessary evil.”

I don’t know how I can hate what he’s said and yet somehow understand at the same time. Though my thoughts are halted when Gabe steps closer to me, gives me a good once-over, then sighs heavily. “I know being tracked is invasive, and I’m sorry about, McKenna, but we need to get to the bottom of this, whether you like that or not. Your brother needs to be stopped, one way or the other.” He pauses. Then arches a single eyebrow. “Would you have told us where to find him?”

I pause and ponder, then frown, crossing my arms.

Gabe inclines his head. “Exactly why we didn’t ask.”

And just like that, he’s done talking and begins looking around the apartment. Regardless that I’d love to point out how many laws they’ve broken, Gabe’s also not wrong—my brother has been secretly recording them and selling their stories to a tabloid. He does need to be stopped, and that’s exactly what brought me here. To tell him to turn himself in to the police. Protecting Evan isn’t an option at this point. And when Gabe gives me another quick look, I see the torment there; he’s not enjoying any of this.

I stuff the remainder of my objections away, because neither Gabe nor Ryder had any choice in any of this. Evan did this to them. Still, I worry about when my brother faces down the wrath of Ryder and Gabe. “Let’s say you do find my brother, what do you plan on doing with him?”

“I want him to stop selling our private information,” Gabe says gently, glancing at me over his shoulder. “We won’t hurt him, if that’s what you’re worried about. Though I think that point is moot anyway.” His gaze sweeps the room. “It appears he’s already in a shitload of trouble.”

I follow his stare, looking at the mess before me, and my heart sinks. Sure, Evan gives me more trouble than at most times I think I can handle, but he’s still my brother. I love him. He’s the only family I’ve got. My mind begins to swirl with unthinkable horrific things, including that it’s quite possible my brother is hurt somewhere.

Evan, where are you . . .

Just as coldness sinks into my bones, Ryder’s warm voice breaks through. “Alex,” he says, talking into the cellphone that’s in his hand. “We’ve got a situation here at Archer’s apartment. It appears that he’s either been robbed or there was a fight.”

“Give me a sec here . . .”

There’s clicking coming through the cell’s speaker, indicating Alex is typing on her laptop. Then, the clicking stops, and she says, “All right, from what I can see, the cops don’t have him, and he’s not at any local hospitals. Anything else?”

“Not yet,” Ryder states. “I’ll be in touch if there’s any other developments.” He ends the call, shoving his phone into his pocket. “You said that your brother is likely behind this because of money, do you know of any other trouble he could be in?”

“No.” I hug myself harder now, suddenly feeling very cold and very much alone. “He also doesn’t really tell me things. The only time we talk, it seems, is when I’ve bailed him out of trouble.”

“Is that your choice or his?” Ryder asks. There’s no judgment in his voice or his expression.