Hard Fought (A Stepbrother Warriors Novel)(45)

"Me," I say, completing his thought. "They were looking for me."





Chapter Twenty-Nine



"I just want you to be sure."

"I am sure. Are you?" I answer, looking frankly up at Carter's bright green eyes. Working with him lately has made it even more difficult to resist him.

"You know I am, but you have more to lose than me."

"They deserve to know why all this security has been following them. Maybe only Jack and I are directly in danger, but Bree has already been collateral damage. Who knows what could happen next?"

Carter nods just as Bree bounces into the room. "What's up? Is this a family meeting, like they have on sitcoms?"

"Something like that," I answer.

"Nothing like that," Carter counters, and I can't help but smile. Jack walks in a moment later, and takes a seat across the room from Bree. Carter still doesn't know about their relationship, so they're still taking pains to hide it. Anne breezes in as he sits, and Carter moves behind her to close the door to the den.

Before I can get a word out, Anne takes a deep breath. "If this is about you two, just say it. We'll manage to work it out somehow."

I blink in confusion and alarm. "Wait, what?"

"If you and Carter are...you know...just tell me."

"Oh, no!" I respond. "No. No, no. That's not what this is about." Though of course she's not entirely off base. Bree and Jack both cover their mouths to keep from laughing as Anne turns bright purple.

"I'm sorry!" she exclaims. "I thought I sensed something...I don't know. Oh, jeez, I'm sorry, I didn't mean—"

"No, no, it's alright," I hasten to interrupt. "It's actually about something entirely different. It's about all the security." I glance at Carter and he gives me a nod. "I know my father said that there was no specific threat, but actually that's not true. He's been secretly funding a Mexican cartel so that they could gain control over ports on the country's Western coast and then allow Burke Shipping free access."

To my surprise, Anne bursts out laughing, then glances around the room. "Wait, are you being serious? That's insane!"

"Companies have been getting involved in armed conflicts for decades, if not centuries, Mom, supporting the side that will benefit them the most financially," Carter breaks in somberly. Anne's face pales and she glances back to me. I take a deep breath, grateful for Carter's support, and continue.

"The problem, besides the legal and ethical concerns of course, is that the other cartel is now royally pissed off, and has a habit of going after their enemies' children as retribution. Right now, their enemy is Burke Shipping, our father is its face, and that makes us the target," I say, turning to Jack.

"That is quite an accusation," Jack says evenly.

"I know. I think you should all see this," I say, bending down to press play on my computer, which I left sitting open on the coffee table. The tape of Bree's accident plays and I hear her gasp as she recognizes herself in the images.

"I didn't know there was a tape," she murmurs quietly.

"It was being kept hidden," Carter tells her.

"So you didn't just trip...and that man just left her there," Anne says. "Why would they do that?"

"Because...because..." Bree responds airily, then closes her eyes. A slight frown creases her forehead, and I can see she's struggling to remember something. I glance at Jack. He looks strained, watching his girlfriend dredge up painful memories while he can't do anything to help her. She opens her eyes. "The car did that on purpose. I remember it...and then I hit my head when I dove off the road, and the man came up, and he said something. 'It's not her,' he said."

"Who?" Anne asks.

"Alexa," Carter tells her. "They are specifically targeting Jack and Alexa, and saw a young woman leaving the house, and mistook Bree for Alexa until they were up close. That's why they didn't shoot her."

"Shoot her?" Jack exclaims, nearly jumping out of his chair.

"See the way he reaches behind him, into his waistband?" Carter says, rewinding the tape. "He's going for a gun."

Anne stands abruptly. "No, no. This is too much. I just can't...Bree, do you believe all this?"

Bree pauses, then looks across the table to Jack. "You and Alexa know your father best. What do you think?"

Jack leans back in his chair. "I know my father and Alexa have had their problems, but my little sister is probably the smartest person I know. Smarter than our father, even. If she says this is what's going on, then I believe her."

"Jack...thank you," I breathe, touched beyond words by his vote of confidence.