His head throbbed so bad it made it hard to think.
“Fuck, I hate getting knocked unconscious. Makes me grumpy as hell,” Hunter complained. “And I’ve got rope burn on my wrists. Those fuckers know nothing about tying knots or what type of rope to use.”
“Somehow, I don’t think they cared about your comfort,” Gray Mathers said dryly. He handed Connor a glass of water and some painkillers.
Gray and Jaron had arrived a few hours after Ria left. They’d brought two of the new guys that Hunter had hired with them.
She’d left. With her brother. He hadn’t even known she had a fucking brother. What else didn’t he know about her?
“Was her name even Ria?” he muttered.
Hunter and Gray looked over at him. They’d already filled Gray in on what happened. Jaron and Micah were outside keeping watch. Although Connor didn’t expect any more problems.
“They called her Ria,” Hunter told him. “I’d say it was her name. Or a nickname.”
Not that it meant much. She’d lied.
“She never mentioned a brother.”
“You couldn’t have known she wasn’t who she said she was.” There was sympathy on Gray’s face. He and Hunter knew what Greta had done to him. But the last thing he needed was their pity. Not when he’d been so stupid. He’d trusted her. Believed what she’d told him. And he’d been a sucker again. He clenched his hands into fists.
“Hey, number three, do something useful and find me something to drink,” Hunter grumbled.
Finn Stewart had worked for Black-Gray for over a month now, but Hunter claimed he’d hired so many new people he couldn’t keep track of their names. So he numbered them.
He really was an asshole.
“You want to go after her?” Gray asked.
“No.”
Hunter nodded. “Good call. She was just going to waste resources, having us protect her from a killer. Now her brother can do it.”
Fuck. How had he forgotten about the threat over her head?
“We need to figure out who killed Trevor.”
Hunter groaned. “Do we have to? The guy was a douche.”
“Roarke’s going to want to know,” Gray told him dryly.
“Why? Trevor was the blackmailer. He’s gone now. Ria was in danger, but she’s gone now too. Far as I can see, job well done.”
Connor gave him an incredulous look. “This guy could still come for her!”
“And get through Frederick Cardello’s gang of goons? I think she’s safer than the president at this point.”
“What?” Connor turned to him. “You know her brother?”
“Well, I don’t know him personally. Don’t have much to do with the Chicago Mob.”
The Chicago Mob? Frederick Cardello? Holy shit.
“Fuck. I didn’t recognize him.”
“Not many photos of him circulating,” Hunter told him. “No reason why you should have.”
“Why would Freddy Cardello’s sister be working in a BDSM club in Waco?” Gray mused.