Burned Hearts (Burned 3)

But then I realized my ace in the hole.

I glared at Wayne, hoping to evoke his anger—I had a feeling I’d need it to get to the heart of the matter. To make the exact words fall from his mouth that would secure this confession.

I said, “So Bryn Hilliard is pulling your strings. I thought you were smarter than that. Because now you’re his bitch.”

There it was.

Fury flashed across Wayne’s face. “I am a master at what I do. And guess what? When those idiots who wanted back into the Lux—Bryn included—get their balls nailed to the wall because they were too stupid to cover their tracks and the FBI and IRS caught up to them, I’m going to take my millions and drift away. Disappear into thin air. Poof!”

He was beyond sinister and insidious. He was evil. Chillingly so.

But also delusional. That was his weakness. I wouldn’t be dumping Breaking Bad so quickly.

“You’re missing some marbles, Wayne, that’s for sure. First, those ‘idiots’ will point fingers at the person who actually planted the bomb. They’ll want to take you down with them. Second … have you watched the news lately?”

He eyed me suspiciously. “I don’t have time for the bullshit on TV.”

“That’s too bad. Because that hotel you worked at in Las Vegas—overseeing some of the construction—was about to implode because it was so shoddily built. Except that suddenly it became a crime scene.”

His jaw worked for a moment. I’d thrown him for a loop. He said, “I knew they were bringing down the hotel. What’s the crime?”

“You really a

re a moron of epic proportions. A sneaky moron, but a moron nonetheless. While disassembling the tower that can no longer stand on its own and will topple over and kill thousands of tourists and wipe out some of the Strip workers discovered bodies in the concrete pillars. Bodies.” I gave him a knowing look. Time for my full-court press. “All three were ID’d. They used to work at the Lux, right at the time you signed on. One of them happens to be your brother, Xander. Or should I say, used to be your brother.”

His head jerked back and he stumbled away from me, reeling. That was my brass ring!

I inched toward him. “Yeah, good in theory hiding the bodies in thirty stories of cement. Until those thirty stories have to come down.”

“Shut up about my brother, Ari.” His tone was ominous, foreboding. His jaw tightened. His shoulders bunched. His fists balled at his sides.

But I kept at him. “What happened, Wayne? Was Xander on to you at 10,000 Lux? Did he know how you were sabotaging the resort so it couldn’t open? Did he know you were working for the investors who’d been cut because they were corrupt? They turned to Vale Hilliard to come up with a plan to cripple Dane—and Vale hired you to do that dirty work. Xander knew, didn’t he? So did Jess Nichols and Mike Donaldson. How? Did they help you, or did they just catch you in the act? Are you really not as brilliant as you think?”

“You fucking cunt!” he erupted. Heads whipped in our direction. Price leapt to his feet but didn’t move in.

I felt the clock ticking down. I was about to lose Wayne. He’d storm off. This was my one and only chance, so I went full throttle.

“You killed those three men—your brother included. Why? Because you didn’t cover your tracks as well as you’d thought you had?” I demanded, plunging in the knife. “Then you helped Vale kidnap me and you blew up 10,000 Lux—for the money? Or to prove you were better than Vale Hilliard—a billionaire by heritage? While you’re a nickel-and-dime loser.”

“He was a waste of a goddamn trust fund!” Wayne bellowed.

Around the periphery, I saw men—general bystanders—starting to move in, cautiously, apparently ready to jump to my aid but not sure at what point to intervene. Probably wondering if Wayne and I were just having a lovers’ quarrel over losing money at the casino. Wayne looked crazed. Likely what gave my would-be heroes pause.

And, clearly, Price was waiting to see how far this would go. What other information I could pry from Wayne. Not a comforting thought, though at the same time I wanted to see how far I could take this.

“Was it even Vale’s idea to plant that bomb at the Lux?” I asked.

“Right. Like he’d think of that? He was a pussy,” Wayne hissed. “Plain and simple.”

“You could have killed about forty people that night.”

“Do you think I care?”

“Of course not. You’d already murdered three. What’s forty more?”

“Or forty-one?” he demanded cryptically, under his breath, as he glared at me.

I choked on fear.