Jonah Bennett (Bennett Mafia)

Tanner was right next to her. My eyes urged him to hug her, comfort her, do something.

He just grinned and took a drink of his wine.

Then, after a moment, Brooke seemed more focused. She looked at me, her eyes softening, and turned to Carson next to me. I expected her to harden. She didn’t. The two of them watched each other, sizing each other up, but there was no hostility.

I was confused.

“He never fought for her,” Brooke said after a moment.

I felt that, a direct hit to my chest. But she was right. I hadn’t.

“He kept her separate, but he shoved his brother out of the way for you.”

Kai shook his head. “It’s not the same situation.”

Brooke turned to him, raising her chin, a little unsteady. “You’re right. Maybe. I have no idea the situation with this one, but he never brought Melissa around. Whatever the situation, I know she wouldn’t have been in the same room with all of us. He’d have kept her somewhere else, locked away. But this one, she’s here. She’s at his side. That says something.”

Tanner finished his wine and stood, picking up the now-empty bottle. “Why are we cooking dinner? It’s ten at night.” He looked around. “I ate. Brooke ate on the plane. Kai, you probably ate on your flight down, too.”

Brooke finished her wine. “I needed to do something.”

As if on cue, Carson’s stomach grumbled.

Everyone heard, turning to us.

“Sorry.” Carson’s hand went to her stomach. “Didn’t eat all day.”

“See!” Brooke snapped her fingers, surging to her feet. “There. I knew there was a reason I started cooking. Someone always needs to eat, no matter what time of day.”

Tanner snorted. “Saved by the hostage.”

Brooke’s face went flat. “What? She’s a hostage?”

Tanner cringed.

Kai shot him a look. “No, Brooke. She’s not, but on that note, the rest of us are going to my office. It’s business. You’ve stated you don't want to know.”

Brooke’s eyebrows went up, and she looked ready to fight, but her shoulders soon deflated. She nodded, wrapping her sweater tighter around herself. “You’re right. I don’t want to know until the day I have to know. On that note, I should call my husband.”

She crossed to the door and stopped to look at me. “I’m sorry for your loss, Jonah. I’m sorry you have to go through this.”

My throat swelled up, but I nodded. “It’s getting better. Every day.”

She probably didn’t believe me, but it was the truth. And I felt sort of wrong about it, because that shouldn’t have been the case. I should’ve still been devastated, and a part of me was, but…a part of me wasn’t.

I didn’t know how to wrap my head around that.

“Office,” Kai said. “Now.”

Carson gave me a look.

Right. She needed answers.

So did I.

Chapter Twenty-Six

CARSON

These people were terrifying, but also fascinating.

The sister? I had no idea what I thought of her now. Emotional at first. Hurt. In pain. Then there was a glimmer of depth, but she was in shock. That much was obvious. As for Tanner, I felt like he’d love to string me up and gut me one organ at a time, telling me jokes as he did. There was no way to read him. He had a firm wall up to everyone, even his family…or so I thought.

As for the oldest, my first impressions were the same: cold, ruthless, cunning. But he loved his family—and they all loved Jonah.

As we went to yet another part of the house (not a shock at this point), I pushed aside the fear and started observing them. The two brothers kept glancing at Jonah, measuring him.

It was almost as if he had surprised them?

Jonah had a good heart. I couldn’t explain how I knew, but I did. I’d known it the first moment I saw him, almost like something clicked for me. It was new.

Yet as we went inside this massive, dark office, I knew Jonah would try to get answers for me. I lo—liked. Liked. I liked him even more for that.

“You said Carson’s sister got free tickets and a VIP pass from a contest?” Jonah asked.

Kai had moved to his desk and was going through some papers. He looked up and gave his brother another one of those measuring looks before he gave Tanner a nod.

Tanner moved forward, taking out his phone. He also pulled out my phone and tossed it to Jonah, then pushed a button on his phone.

He placed it in the middle of the desk on speaker. “Go ahead,” he barked.

“We looked through Carson’s phone and found nothing there,” came a voice from the phone. “She’s legit, but researching her story, we found some items. The older sister, the one getting married, received an email about a contest for Mustangs tickets. She responded to the email, but it was a fake. It looks like she entered the contest, but that data doesn’t exist. It was a dummy database. We found the email congratulating her, and a number for her to call to claim the tickets. That number is also a dummy number. It no longer exists, but we think when she got the tickets, she was also given the VIP pass for Bresko’s.”