The Insiders (The Insiders Trilogy 1)

He was fading. He turned, his eyes downward now. “She doesn’t. Does she, Kash? She has no clue about you, about your family, about—”

“Enough,” Kash said. “You have two choices. Walk out there with us, or get carried out.”

“Why?” Matt’s nostrils flared as he took one large sniff.

“Mama Quinn wants a family day.” Kash’s words were short. “All of us.”

Matt rolled his eyes upward. He swung a hand out again, gesturing to me. “Not her. She’s not included, and you know it. What are you going to do with her?”

“Her” was standing right here.

“She’s coming with.”

Matt studied Kash, looking at a face I couldn’t see because Kash was still mostly in front of me, and whatever he saw, he began laughing. He slapped his knee. “This’ll be good.” He bobbed his head, mind made up. “All right. You don’t have to knock me out. I’ll come willingly. Anything for those fireworks.” His eyes swung my way on that last word.

I wasn’t getting a good feeling about this.

“Let’s go.” Kash stepped farther back, his arm extending toward the tent. He wanted Matt to lead the way, and noting it, Matt mumbled, “Yeah, yeah.” His hand fisted in his hair a second before falling to his side as he headed for the tent’s entryway. Hearing the end of our conversation, a guard opened the flap, and Matt was able to step right through.

He didn’t wait, veering in the direction of the cars. He had to right himself a few times before walking into someone, but Kash commanded, “Flank him.” And the guards left us alone, hurrying to close ranks about Matt. They steered him toward the cars.

I was waiting, but Kash didn’t move to follow. He was watching Matt’s progress, still from inside the tent. The flap was being held open by one remaining guard.

Not knowing what was going on, I started forward.

Kash caught my arm. “Hold up.”

“What is it?”

I wasn’t feeling good about this—or, well, about any of it. Matt was mean, seriously mean. Hearing about it, being warned about it by Kash, hadn’t fully prepared me for what I saw just now. It was like walking on a bed of embers. I had no idea where to step to go forward, and I was starting to become wary about Kash, too. It seemed there were even more secrets he was hiding.

He closed his eyes for a second, rubbing at his forehead, before he looked at me. There was exhaustion in there, but also the same wariness I was feeling. “I need to know how you’re doing.”

“With what?”

He nodded behind me, his hand going into his pocket. “With Matt. His attitude. With what he’s spilling, or insinuating.” A new light shone from him, bright and yearning, and before he blinked it out, he stepped close to me. His head dropped so he could see me better. Only a few feet separated us, so he also dropped his tone and I could still hear. “Matt is more bark than bite, but his bark can hurt. I’ve witnessed it before, and he’s doing it again. These guys…” He looked past my shoulder, his gaze hardening. “They don’t grow up wanting things. They grow up being bored. They don’t have normal worries like the rest of us.”

Us?

“And because of that, they like games and they like toys and they like to get their kicks from places they shouldn’t.” His eyes found mine again, a warning in them. “Matt’s not intending to hurt you, but he’s not being considerate, either. He won’t see how he’s battered his toy until it’s destroyed. Then he’ll feel bad. Then he’ll stop and think on what he shouldn’t have done, but not till then. It’s been his way since he was a child.”

A heaviness came to my shoulders, pushing me down.

I thought about what he was saying, but I wasn’t worried about Matt. I really wasn’t. My brother didn’t have the capability to destroy me.

Kash, on the other hand …

“Matt’s nothing more than a spoiled little grown boy,” I said. “There’s good and bad in there, but he needs to learn to make the good more than the bad.” My tone was dry, because that wasn’t my job. It wouldn’t be my job. “I can handle him.”

“But?”

Kash moved even closer.

“I asked you once if you were head of my father’s security.” I tipped my head back as Kash finally, finally closed in. One foot gone. Six inches melted away. He was there, right there in front of me, and his eyes were looking right into me. “You said you weren’t. Did you lie to me?” I remembered what else Matt had said. “Matt said his mother was dumb, but not yours.” I waited, seeing the wariness flare forward in his eyes. I kept on. “What about your father? Your mother? What was your family like?”