He couldn’t be in the same room as his brother—Ian. Not his brother. His brother was sitting beside him. Ian was a piece of shit who’d brought chaos into his life and might have killed Margo.

No.

No, she was fine. They had to be. Margo and their little lemon drop.

She was strong and wouldn’t take any chances. He was the hothead, not his girl. She thought things out and knew how to deal with crazy fucking people. She loved him, after all.

Nick turned him away from the projector screen that had a video up of what Aidan and the rest of Roth Defense were doing in the war room. Or whatever the crew wanted to call the hub of technology and military-looking dudes that had three percent body fat and were five hundred percent badass.

They had been outfitting Ian with some sort of listening device when suddenly, things changed. He couldn’t get the whole story from this viewing room, but it had lasted only a moment. Then the nerd brigade had descended and Ian had been deposited on a seat in the corner of the room with Zoe at his side.

As if he should be allowed any fucking comfort.

“It should be me going.”

Nick leaned forward, his elbows braced on his knees. “I don’t think we have a choice on this one. If we want Margo back, we have to use—”

Simon gripped the arms of his chair. “That little shit was in on it. What if he…”

He couldn’t voice it. It would make it real.

“What if he’s still in on it?” Lila asked from the doorway. The unflappable woman they always counted on looked drawn and exhausted. Her long hair was usually pulled back and ruthlessly neat, but now it flowed over one shoulder, making her seem younger and unsure.

But there was still some fire in her eyes. “I’ve been digging into everything I can find about him and his mother. And it’s not fucking much.”

Nicky stood and went to her, sliding his arms around her tightly. In a rare show of emotion, Li buried her face in Nick’s chest. Simon had to look away from the intimate exchange. Because if Lila was feeling hopeless, then they were so very fucked.

Nicky sat back down, dragging his wife onto his lap so the three of them were huddled together at the conference table. It was just as rare that Lila would allow such a move while at Ripper.

But nothing was the same as it had been. Absolutely nothing.

“Did they call again?” Nick asked as he rubbed her lower back absently.

“Just the once,” she said.

“Do they know?” Simon’s voice was hoarse.

Maybe this time, their secret was a blessing.

“What?” Her voice gentled. “About the baby? I don’t know.” Lila closed her eyes. “How could you not tell us?”

Simon picked at his cuticle on his ring finger before fisting his left hand. His wedding ring glowed in the low light. He had to focus on that and not the worst case scenarios screaming in his brain.

He knew Lila had been running around doing everything she could for him—for them. Because she loved Margo almost as much as he did. But talking about this felt bigger than he could deal with. “At first it was because we knew the tour was important to all of us and we could be jeopardizing it.”

“Fuck the tour.”

Simon’s eyes widened at Lila’s harsh voice. “You say that now, but remember how adamant we were about Jazz and Gray holding off on getting pregnant? Then we’re the assholes? We felt like shit. It wasn’t planned.”

“We figured,” Nick said with a humorless laugh.

“She told me right around the time the Ian thing happened. Everything was such a mess and then there was this thing that was just…”

“Yours?” Lila covered his hand.

Simon blew out a slow, shuddering breath. “Yeah. Just ours. And we were going to talk to you guys about it right before all this happened.” He laughed. “We were looking at houses, for fuck’s sake. Being all grown up and teasing each other about it and then she was just…” His voice faded away, ground to dust.

“Oh, Simon.”

To go from pure joy to pure terror in a second. It felt like a million years ago, not just this morning.

His gaze locked on Ian, who was tucked in tight with Zoe. “And now I’m supposed to trust this piece of shit to get my wife back? My pregnant wife? Why did they have to go after her?”

Why wasn’t it me?

The commotion on the screen dragged his attention back from the guilt and shame spiral. It had been a long twelve hours since they’d taken her. Hours to obsess and plot Ian’s murder.

To wonder where she was.

If she was okay.

If they were hurting her.

If his lemon drop was still safe and warm.

Donovan turned toward the camera they were watching through, his phone to his ear.

Simon stood. “Turn up the volume.”

Lila popped up off of Nick’s lap and scrambled for the remote.

“I understand.” Donovan’s voice was low and even. He held up his hand to Simon as if he could see him tearing for the door.

Hell, he probably had a camera in the room they were in as well, for God’s sake.

Ever since the Snake incident, Donovan had been near obsessive about security. And for once, Simon was grateful.

“No, we haven’t contacted the police. I’d like to speak with Margo, please.”

“Fuck this.” Simon scrambled for the door, ran down the hallway, and into the communications room. He crossed to Donovan and tore the phone from his ear.

Donovan whirled on him, his icy eyes flashing rage and surprise. Simon didn’t have enough time to process that. All he knew was he needed to hear Margo’s voice.

“Put my wife on the phone.”

“You’ll speak to your wife soon enough, Mr. Kagan.” The voice was British, but polished with fake gold instead of Donovan’s effortless sheen.

“Now. Not a fucking dime unless I know she’s okay.”

“We both know that’s an empty threat.”

The phone went dead in his hand. He curled his hand around the slim phone until he heard a pop from the seams.

Goddammit.

He stalked to Donovan, who had already moved across the room. “Don’t you ever presume to think you can take care of my affairs. That’s my wife and you’re cutting me out of everything. ‘Put Simon in the little room so he does’t freak the fuck out.’ I’m not some fucking pawn.”

The room was deadly silent save for the odd beep and whir from the machines.

“Let’s discuss this next door.” Donovan’s features were stony, but there was compassion in his gaze.

Simon hated him for being so cool while he was borderline insane.

“What does he want?”

“Money.” Donovan’s expression changed, his eyes narrowing with fury. “He’s an opportunist in every sense of the word. Which is dangerous, because he’s looking at angles instead of sticking to a plan. So, I need you to trust that I won’t let anything happen to Margo. She’s mine as well. I know you think of me as the man in the tower with too much money, but let me be clear. You don’t know me. And I do whatever is necessary to keep me and mine safe.”

Simon swallowed. That was probably the most he’d ever heard Donovan say at one time. He always seemed to come lording in and out of their lives, but for the most part, he trusted them musically. Trusted Lila to keep them on an even keel.

Only lately had things become so incredibly out of control.

“Let’s go next door and I’ll explain what’s happening. I’m sure you’ve seen a lot of things going on in here that you don’t understand.”

Rather than answer, Simon handed Donovan his mangled phone.

Donovan arched his brow at him before slipping it into his pocket. “Come, let’s talk.”

Simon glanced at his brother, still sitting with Zoe. Ian’s fingers were locked together, and eyes so very much like his own were stark with too many emotions for Simon to process.

How could Ian look so much like him? It was like looking into a mirror from five years ago if there’d been no laughter and love in his life. Ian might be twenty-five, but his eyes were so much older.

But he couldn’t feel bad for him because he didn’t have any room for that right now. There was only rage and ice warring inside him.

He turned his back on his brother and followed Donovan into the hall. He couldn’t look at all the people working on his behalf. If he did, he’d fall into the chaos that was swirling beneath his feet. Everything was so beyond his control right now.

“How can you trust him with Margo?”

Simon picked up the pace at Lila’s shrill voice. Christ, all of them were falling apart.

“Shut the door, Simon.”

He did it without complaint only because he wanted to hear what was going on. Slamming the door—or Donovan’s head into the door—would be counterproductive. And he could be a fucking adult.

For Margo.

It was all for Margo. He just had to keep telling himself that. Everyone’s goal was to get Margo back.

“All right, first of all, the transfer will be at a remote location which Jerry will be calling us with at dawn.” Jerry’s name was said with such derision Simon almost smiled. The distaste on Donovan’s face was clear for everyone to see.

“Dawn? What is he, a Bond villain?” Nick folded his arms.

“I don’t think you’re far off, Mr. Crandall. I believe he thinks he’s far more intelligent than he is. Unfortunately, that also makes him a bit of a wildcard.”

“And these Call of Duty dudes? Do you think it’s smart not to involve the cops? Not that I’m the first one to call on the boys in blue,” Nick finished when Lila gave him a look. “What? I can be smart about stuff.”

“While not eloquently stated, you’re not wrong. Aidan Roth and his team are very professional. He’s a former SEAL with a lot of high profile clients. They are no stranger to kidnappings, I’m afraid. Though their particular talents lie in extraction mostly. We’ve discovered a few things while speaking with Ian.”

Nick arched a brow. “Did it include waterboarding? I’d have been interested in watching that.”

“He’s been very forthcoming.”

“He got caught.” Simon leaned against the door. “He’s saving his own ass.” He pushed off the door. “Did you talk to Margo?”

“No, I was attempting to facilitate that when—“ He cleared his throat. “Well, we will work with what we have, won’t we?”

Simon fisted his hands. “How do we know he isn’t just going to kill her?” Asking it made his entire body throb from his hair to his toes.

He couldn’t lose her. He wouldn’t survive it.

“It’s always been about money. This Jerry person fancies himself a businessman. Ian is convinced his mother is more in control of Jerry than the man realizes. I don’t have enough information to know if that’s accurate.”

“You’re not sure he’s telling the truth?” Lila asked.

Donovan let out a slow breath. “It’s not that. Each of you knows your own truth. It doesn’t always line up with an outsider’s perception, now does it?”

Each one of them looked away. Because that was the heart of everything in the end. They’d all had secrets at one time or another, but only his brother’s included something life and death.

Ian.

Simon dug his fists into his blurry eyes. He’d been awake for close to twenty hours and he hadn’t managed to eat anything. Hell, he’d only drank half a bottle of water all damn day.

“While we were digging through Ian’s background, my Lewis Corp. security found something that might help our situation. Not in any physical way, but perhaps it will set minds at ease.”

“Nothing about me will be at ease until Margo is in front of me.”

“No. I’m sorry, Simon, I agree. But with Ian being our sole source of information, it helps to have as many details at hand as possible.” He pulled a phone out of his jacket pocket. Not the same one Simon had half crushed. This one was sleeker and looked much like an iPhone, but not one he’d ever seen.

Leave it to Donovan to have access to an unreleased one.

He set the phone on the conference table and pushed play. “Based on the time stamp of the surveillance, it was just before he came to see me.”

“Surveillance?”

“Just listen.”

There was a rustling then Ian’s voice boomed into the room. Small and hesitant, talking to his mother. The audio changed again and then it continued.

“Because he was smart—far smarter than me. If something hurts you, you should rip it out. Not sit there and nurse the pain until it’s part of you.”

Then there was sharp banging.

Simon winced. He knew that sound. Knew it from his own days of not knowing where to put the rage. How many nights had he been beaten and bruised by his father and left without an outlet for the anger? How many fights had he gotten into with other kids? With Nick?

He swallowed at the broken speech. The one-sided conversation with Ian and the woman who had given birth to them.

“He didn’t know where you were or even if you were still alive! You wanted everyone to think you were dead. Just vanished into the ether so when I pulled off this ridiculous scam, it would seem more real. But it’s not reality. You know what’s reality? I’m a fool. A puppet. Because even if I do this, even if I steal from your son—your own goddamn son—you still won’t love me. You don’t love me any more than you ever loved him.”

Ian’s voice was ravaged and broken.

Simon wanted to shut it off. To slam his hands over his ears.

“No, you’re right. I just know what you told me. You said he was your favorite. That it hurt you so much to leave him, but you’d done it for love. And then the man left you because of me. Because you were pregnant with me. I was the cause of the loss of all your great loves…your son, the man you wanted to be with. But I was always there, wasn’t I, Mum? I always kept fucking trying.”

The noises that came from him reminded him of a dying animal. Such loss and so much pain.

Simon didn’t want to know any of this.

He lifted his gaze to Donovan’s impassive face. The older man stared him down—daring him to continue to listen.

Simon fisted his hands.

“You’re right. It’s my fault I agreed to any of this.”

A door opened and shut in the audio then it changed once more. Jesus, just how lit up was this fucking building? Everything was under a microscope.

“I should’ve just taken my sentence. At least I’d be free now. At this rate, I’ll never be free. You’ll both see to that, won’t you?”

The shocking laugh was like an icicle scraped over Simon’s spine.

“And I still won’t have a mother who gives a shit about me.”

“I didn’t have a fucking plan! Except to somehow come here and make the impossible work. He was never going to pay for your return, and I was the idiot who couldn’t see how flawed this thing was from the start. He would never throw good money after bad. Wiser than me, he is. But I can learn.”

The one-sided conversation made it a little difficult to understand all the nuances, but there was one truth. Either he was the best fucking actor Simon had ever heard or he was having an epic awakening.

“It means I’m done. I’ll pay Jerry back every cent I owe him, and I’ll do it as fast as I can. But I’m not going to be his toy any longer. Or yours. I’m not going to lie to my brother. Not any more than I already have.”

“I already am. If Jerry wants to talk to me, he knows how to find me.”

“No!”

Simon jumped at the vehemence and panic in the voice. It filled the room and made all of them lean back. All but Donovan. Because of course he’d already listened to this. Already had his cards close to the vest.

“You fucking stay away from her. I’ll fucking kill you. Kill him too. If you even think about—”

There was a crash, then the audio was abruptly cut off.

Nick scrubbed at his hair. “He set that up.”

“I’m not sure he’s that good of an actor.” Donovan picked up the phone and slid it back into his pocket. “Unless you’d like to listen to it again to make sure.”

“No.” Simon’s voice was a croak. He couldn’t listen to that again. He didn’t want to know about the whys. They didn’t matter. Nothing mattered but getting his wife back. “He still brought this to our door. He’s to blame.”

“There’s little doubt that Ian made poor choices, but I wanted you to see that he may not be the soulless viper you want him to be.”

“I don’t care.” Simon met Donovan’s gaze, then swung to where Lila had turned into Nick’s arms. She was just as shattered as he felt. He locked eyes with Donovan. “I don’t care if he saves fifteen kittens from a five-alarm fire every fucking day of his life. Nothing makes up for what he’s done.”

Donovan nodded. “I just wanted to give you some perspective.”

“Since you have everything being recorded in this place, were you able to gather any other information that would help us?”

“Aidan and his people are working on an angle. It seems that Ian’s co-conspirators didn’t trust that he’d do his job.”

“Growing a conscious doesn’t mean dick right now. They still managed to take Margo in fucking broad daylight.”

“This is more a technical detail that might help us. It’s the first mistake they’ve made. At least the first we’ve found. We may have a way to pinpoint where they are.”

Simon crowded into Donovan. “And where Margo is?”

“We’re doing everything we can. Now we have to wait for the call. I suggest you get some rest. I put together some food and drinks in the room down the hall. And also a few make-shift beds.”

Simon opened his mouth, but Donovan gave him a steely look.

“I get it. I wouldn’t be able to sleep either. But at least put yourself somewhere quiet. We need everyone as clear-headed as possible.”

Clear-headed? There was no way he’d be anything close to clear or sane until Margo was back in his arms.