Forbidden (Blood Ties #7)

I asshole with the gun turned, holding open the door. “What?” He snarled.

A twitch came in the corner of my eye as I neared him. I lunged, grabbed his gun, and wrenched it from his grasp faster than he expected, then shoved the weapon in his face. “I hear you drag this against any fucking wall again and I’ll make you eat it, you understand?”

“The fuck you DO!”Kane bellowed, drawing my focus.

I didn’t have time for this asshole. I drove the gun against his chest with a brutal blow and shoved through the door, leaving the guard behind. That goddamn nerve in my temple was pulsing by the time I’d hurried to the doorway to my brother’s office…and saw the carnage.

My gut clenched as I scanned the dark room. Coulter stood to the side, watching as his men tore Kane’s office apart.

“What the fuck is going on here?” I barked as his men yanked the cables from the back of the desktop computer, taking the entire system toward the door.

“Exactly what it looks like.” Coulter murmured. “We are taking over.”

Kane’s eyes were wide, his hair disheveled as he stepped in the guard’s way, stopping him with a hand. “Do I at least get it back?”

The guard just looked at Coulter who gave a jerk of his head. In an instant they had destroyed everything. Files and folders were strewn across the floor. Cords had been ripped from the wall…and I couldn’t do a goddamn thing about it.

“Hale is going to be fucking furious.” I forced the words through clenched teeth and turned my gaze to Coulter.

The bastard had the nerve to smirk as he glanced toward Kane before turning toward the door. But Thomas was there, standing in the middle of the doorway, stopping him with his sickening, bloody stare.

Coulter met my brother’s stare, then lowered his gaze to his clerical collar. “You’re next, Priest.”

You’re next?

My jaw flared, still I did nothing as Coulter pushed through, leaving his goons to follow.

“Riven.” Kane snarled.

“Easy.” I warned, watching them leave.

But inside, my mind was racing. The moment we were alone, I glanced around the chaos. There was no doubt the office was bugged. I doubted there was a place in this goddamn building that wasn’t…unless.

I lifted my gaze to Thomas who stared at me.

“The rectory.” I muttered.“Now.”

There was nothing we could do for Kane now, or his files. No doubt any type of effort to gain access would be met with the same warning I’d been receiving for hours…access fucking denied.

Kane followed as I spun toward Thomas. All three of us headed back along the corridor and turned left, making for the goddamn farce of all of this…the rectory.

The moment we pushed through the wooden double doors, the choking stench of stale air hit me. But I was beyond caring as I strode through and left Kane to come in behind.

“What the fuck are we going to do?” Kane pushed past, then turned on me, stabbing his finger toward the door. “This is out of fucking hand.”

Itwasout of hand. That was putting it mildly. But right now, we had a plan we couldn’t blow. “Nothing.” I answered. “We do nothing.”

“Nothing?”Kane snarled, his eyes wild. “That’s five years of my goddamn life there.”

I stepped closer, keeping my voice low. “And is that more important than our plans?”

He stilled, rage turning his light green eyes dark like emeralds.

“We have to be smart about this. Every fucking step we take is calculated. As of right now, we’re flying blind here. We have no direct confirmation that Hale is in control here.”

“In control?” Kane muttered, looking away in disgust. “This has his goddamn stench all over it. There’sno way in hellhe’s handed over the reins to that…scumbag.”

Not willingly, anyway.