Brighter Than the Sun

Rusty drew away and hugged her arms around her middle as she faced the room full of people all staring at her for answers. She closed her eyes as more tears leaked down her cheeks.

“Her real name is Stella Huntington.”

“What the fuck?” Joe demanded.

Donovan held his hand up. “Let her explain, Joe. We don’t have much time.”

Rusty closed her eyes once more and her voice quavered as she made her next revelation. “Her father is Garth Huntington.”

The room went utterly silent as shocked looks came at her from every direction. Then an explosion of responses echoed over the room. Joe was torn between shock and betrayal. He didn’t understand any of it. Zoe—Stella—whoever the fuck she was . . . Her father was a crime lord who headed one of the biggest criminal empires in North America?

Rusty hurried back to Joe and hugged him tightly before leaning back and staring earnestly into his eyes. “She didn’t use you or betray you, Joe. She was running for her life. I created a new identity for her. An airtight one. One that couldn’t possibly link her to Stella Huntington. She had no idea who or what her father was until some asshole played her in an effort to get to her father, a father who never gave a shit about her, who spent her entire life telling her what to do, how to be, who to be, how to dress. He dictated every aspect of her life.”

She sucked in a deep breath before anyone could say anything because everyone looked like they were about to erupt. She continued on breathlessly, the words tumbling out so fast even she had a hard time following her train of thought.

“Sebastian, the bastard who got close to her, used her and played on her insecurities and her need to be loved for the first time in her life, did so in an effort to get to her father. When he realized her father didn’t give one fuck about her, his plan changed. Zoe overheard him on the phone with someone saying that she was no longer of any use because the old man didn’t give a shit about her, so using her as a pawn was pointless, and he planned to kill her.”

A round of curses went up and Joe’s face tightened to the point of fury.

Rusty put her hand on his arm, feeling the coil of muscles tense and spasm beneath her touch. “Please, let me finish,” she begged.

“She panicked. She knew no one and had no friends. Except . . . me. We did meet when we were in college. That much is true. She attended UT. She came to me because she had no one else to turn to, and thank God she did. After a lot of hacking and long hours of mind-numbing work, I created an entirely new identity—a new life—and Zoe Kildare was born. It was the name of the imaginary friend she had growing up because she had no one else,” Rusty whispered painfully. “I created her entire life from birth to the present, complete with social media presences and contacts, an Amazon account with a history of purchases that matched her new persona. I got her a birth certificate issued in her new name, Social Security card and driver’s license as well as recorded attendance and graduation from DePaul University in Chicago.

“We laid a lot of false trails to separate parts of the country, even opening a bank account on the East Coast. And since most people trying to disguise themselves can only cut, not grow, their hair, I not only dyed her hair from its original red color, I meticulously layered in extensions so they looked as natural as possible so her hair appeared a good six inches longer than her actual length. I created an entirely new look for her, so much so that her own father wouldn’t recognize her.”

“Holy shit,” Donovan said in awe. “You managed all of that, Rusty? Shit, even I came up with nothing except what you created when I did some digging on her.”

“Why the hell didn’t either of you tell me?” Joe asked painfully. “I would have never left her alone and unprotected. This would have never happened. I understand why Zoe wouldn’t—couldn’t—trust me, but why didn’t you, Rusty?”

Her eyes filled with tears. “I couldn’t betray her, Joe. How was I to know you’d fall for her or even take an interest in her? If I betrayed her, if she even suspected I had confided the truth in any of my family, she would have run and she’d be dead right now.”

Sam cleared his throat to get Joe’s attention. “I’m sending Rio and his team to gather the wives and hole up at Ma’s. We have no way of knowing what this asshole has planned, if he’s still in the vicinity or off to parts unknown, but we’d be dumbasses if we took anything for granted. No one goes anywhere until we get this figured out. Steele, I need you to go pull surveillance footage of the cabin and surroundings, including the outside perimeter of the compound, but leave P.J. and Cole to provide cover here just in case.”

Joe shook himself from his terror long enough to issue orders to his team as well. “Sky, you and Swanny do a complete sweep of the bedroom and be careful not to contaminate any potential evidence. Edge, I need you and Ryker on the lookout around the cabin and search for any tracks, footprints or tire marks.”

Then he turned back to Rusty, trying to wrap his head around the deception he’d become unwittingly mired in.

“What was this asshole’s name again? The one who fucked her over in order to get to her father?”

“Sebastian, but I doubt it’s his real name,” she said bitterly.

“Damn it, Rusty, you should have come to us with this,” Sam said in frustration.

His other brothers voiced the same nearly in unison.

Rusty turned from Joe, but he saw the flicker of pain and betrayal in her eyes as she did and as she saw the accusation written on every one of his brothers’ faces. Even Nathan looked angry, which seemed to be the final straw for Rusty.