Better When He's Brave

“The bastard cut her, almost raped her. It wasn’t worth the risk. She isn’t yours to play with like that.”

“We don’t have a choice. Sacrifices have to be made because so far Roark is winning and we’re all just dangling on the end of his string waiting around like a bunch of dumb shits to see who he goes after next. I believed Reeve could take care of herself and it got us exactly where we needed to be. I followed you when you left the house so I could talk to you, even though I knew you were going to take a crack at me. Roark won’t show himself, but he will let me bring you to him now that I’ve proven myself to him. He’ll think I took you down just like he believed I wanted to let Zero in the building. It’s the only shot we have at getting close, Titus. He’s too smart. He knows the way this shit works from the inside. He’s better at it than we are and more people we care about are going to get hurt. We can stop it if you trust me.”

I crossed my arms over my chest as he let his hands fall. “Why does he want me?”

Booker heaved a deep breath and lifted a finger to wipe at the steady trickle of blood leaking out of his nose. My side was aching and my jaw throbbed. We had done a number on each other. “Because the girl loves you. It’s obvious to anyone that sees the two of you together. He doesn’t want her gone, he wants her to suffer. In his own sick and maniacal way he really did care about her. He thought the two of them were a match made in heaven when she told him about how she asked Novak to take care of the sister’s boyfriend. He thought she was as brutal and as violent as he was. He thought revenge would tie them together forever. I think she let him down by proving she has a heart and actually cares about other people, and he wants to make her pay for it. She disappointed him, so she deserves to feel that same kind of pain.”

“Zero tried to kill her, Booker.”

The scarred man shook his head and I winced as it sent blood flying. “Roark is malicious and devious, Titus. Zero didn’t know she was armed, but Roark did. He sent the guy in after her knowing she was going to fight back. Knowing she would pull the trigger. Why do you think the guy only had a knife? Roark wants her to be like him. He wants her to be a killer. He sent his man in there to die by her hand.”

“The gun was downstairs. Zero could’ve stabbed her the second she got out of the shower. He surprised her and she had to fight. She fought hard to stay alive. There are too many what-ifs in that scenario.”

“It’s win-win for Roark. She kills his guy and he feels like he has proven to himself that she is exactly what he wants her to be, or she ends up dead and she’s out of the way while he continues to torture the rest of us. Like I said, he’s better at this than we are, so the only way to stop him is from the inside. I told him that I could get to you, that I would arrange to have you meet me, and that you would show just to take a chunk out of my hide for betraying the family by letting Zero in. I told him you would do your job and the opportunity to take me in for violating my bond and disappearing couldn’t be passed up. I told him I would take you down and bring you to him. He believed me . . . only after I let Zero in the building.” ”

“How did he contact you in the first place?”

Booker wiped a hand across his face, smearing more blood and glowering at me as he poked his swollen and quickly bruising nose. “Zero was waiting for me when I got out of jail. Literally right outside of the police station. He asked if I needed a ride back to the condo and made it clear the only answer I had better have was yes. He asked me about Karsen. He knew I went into the school after her. She’s just a kid, dammit. She should have no part in anything that goes down in this place. She has a shot at having a normal life. I told him to leave her alone and he mentioned that Roark was always looking for good help. It was very ‘come to the dark side.’ He made it sound like they would leave the kid alone if I did what they wanted, so I told him there was always a right price for things, and that’s when he told me about getting into the building to go after your girl.”

I growled because I couldn’t help in, and my fist flew out of its own accord and smacked into his cheek. His entire head cranked to the side and he took a step toward me vibrating with rage as I shook out my now throbbing knuckles. “What’s the rest?”

He worked his jaw back and forth and lifted his fingers to poke at his now red and swollen cheek.

“As soon as Zero was in the building, I got a call from a blocked number. I knew by the accent it was Roark. He told me he always rewarded a job well done. He offered me three hundred thousand for letting Zero in and another ten thousand if I agreed to lure you to him. I told him it was a deal.”

“Were you supposed to bring me here?” My mind was already spinning. I needed backup. I needed more firepower. I needed to calm down because I had to do my job when all I wanted to do was shoot first. I couldn’t believe Roark was finally close enough to touch, and I really wanted to knock Booker around some more.

“He didn’t say. He gave me a number to call once I had the package secured.” He lifted an eyebrow at me. “You’re the package, cop.”

I snorted. “I figured that. So what? We pound the hell out of one another and then you throw me in the back of the truck and take me to some secret location? What’s to prevent Roark from putting a bullet in both of us the second we arrive? That’s what I would do in his shoes.”

Booker shook his head again. “I’m telling you he has a majorly sick and twisted thing for your girl. He wants you to suffer and he wants her to know you are suffering because of her. As for me . . . that’s just a risk I’m gonna have to take.”