Ryder (Slater Brothers 4)

“This is as real as it gets, Branna.” Ryder said, trepidation in his tone. “We were all arrested one time in the States… we did nothing wrong, but the cops arrested us one day just so they could get our finger prints and DNA on record. They knew who we ran with and I guess they didn’t want to take any chances with us. When the cops here ran the prints, they found us through the system, and the FBI was flagged and immediately flew over here. Marco was well known to them, but they could never pin shit on him because his crew was so good at what they did. They wanted to know where he disappeared to, and they also knew we had something to do with it because a source told them Marco came to Ireland after us and that he never left.”

I clasped my hands together, just so I had something to hold.

“Are they goin’ to arrest you both for murder?” I asked, and then held my breath as I awaited his reply.

“If I didn’t do what they wanted, then yes, they would have arrested us, but I did what they wanted so no, they won’t. That was the deal they offered me, and I took it.”

“They can do that?” I questioned with disbelief. “They will completely let you get away with murder if you help them?”

Ryder nodded. “They have our prints on the plastic, but that’s their only evidence and while it’s a crucial piece, there is so much more they can’t get us on, but I didn’t want to test them and actually make them dig for something else to convict us with. I did what they wanted and they let us off the hook.”

“But how?” I pressed. “Does there not have to be a trial before a judge—”

“Not with these people, Branna. The Feds can be just as corrupt as gangsters. They can make everything disappear if they get what they want, and all they wanted was information on Brandon Daley’s dealings. I never confirmed it, but they know Marco is dead, and that actually made them happy. Everyone hated him.”

“Are you’re sure what you did was the right thing?” I asked, worried sick this would blow up in his face.

“What choice did I have, Bran?”

My shoulders sagged. “None, I guess.”

“I know it was risky, and that I can’t trust them, but if I refused their deal, then they’d have arrested me and Dominic. They don’t care about a couple of dead untraceable bodies because they know who they are without me having to say it. No one misses evil gangsters, Branna, especially the law.”

“I understand that, scarcely, but what exactly were the terms of the deal?” I asked as a pounding took up residence in my temples. “What did they expect of you?”

“They wanted me to wear a wire, and get a job running shit for Brandon. He is squeaky clean, and is more private than Marco ever was, which made him a mystery to the Feds. They wanted to know who his contacts were, where he got his product from… they basically wanted to know everything about him.”

“The FBI has been keeping tabs on Brandon?” I questioned with raised brows.

“Of course, everyone with power like him is on the Feds’ radar.”

That shouldn’t have been a surprise, but it was.

“So the deal was for you to be a mole, pass on information and that’s it?”

“Almost,” Ryder said on a grunt. “Marco, the son of a bitch, had me listed as owner on a lot of fucked up properties where shit went down in the city. He had contacts everywhere, and filing the fake paperwork to make me look like a legit owner of somewhere wouldn’t have been hard for him. Now, since I’ve been living here the last five years the Feds know I physically had no interaction with any of the properties, but because they were in my name, I was responsible for what was found during the busts.”

Oh, my God.

“The Feds threw out the cases as part of the deal, but they refused to pick up the bill for ‘damages’. They said they would clear me of any wrong doing if I paid it instead. I didn’t have a choice, they could have deported me and tried me in the States for that. And when my sentence there was up, I could be brought back here to be tried and imprisoned for murder. I had to pay them a lot of fucking money to make that bullshit go away, but I didn’t have enough so Dominic and Alec gave up their shares from what they earned over the years and helped me. Kane did too, but because he has his business, he wasn’t broke like the rest of us. I told you that I got mixed up in a bad investment deal when you asked where the money went because I didn’t want to tell you the truth, and to be honest, if I hadn’t ruined everything and you never noticed the change in me, I would have never told you.”

“You’d keep this from me?” I asked, shocked.

He’d really keep this from me?

Ryder nodded and without hesitation said, “I’d do anything to keep you safe from harm or worry. Anything.”

I didn’t know whether to be annoyed over that or appreciative.

“My brothers, bar Damien because we never want him involved in nightmares like this, helped me with my job. I had to look like a shiny diamond to Brandon so he’d learn to trust me. I had to run every shipment successfully, and turn him a sizeable profit. I didn’t want to be at this for years, so I needed to fully invest myself back in the life to make it end faster. I had to be become close to him. But by bringing myself into his world, I pulled away from you. I didn’t want to, I didn’t even notice it at the beginning because I was so stressed out. I now know I was bringing my anger and resentment for the situation I was in back home to you, and you didn’t deserve it.”