I didn’t think this was the time to start yelling, but I wanted to. Every cell in my body screamed for me to run, try to fight, try to leave. It was useless. There were so many men between the door and me. And if there were cameras in the front of the house, there’d be more behind it.

I was a prisoner, whether I wanted to accept it or not.

Please, Cole. I prayed to myself. All those training sessions with Carter need to pay off. Surely he was preparing now, and when he fought back—that’s who Carter would’ve considered a brother, someone who fought back, someone who would try to save me, too—I would do anything and everything to help him.

A weapon. I would need a weapon.

“What is this, Gene?” Cole asked in a low voice.

I scanned the room for a weapon, but paused and looked at Cole for a moment. He was so stiff in that chair. His hands were flat on his legs, and he stared right at Gene. His jaw clenched, and then his eyes narrowed.

Weapon. Weapon. I needed something.

Gene laughed. It came out as a smooth baritone, but I couldn’t hear any amusement in the chuckle. “You, Cole. You’re what ‘this’ is all about. None of this was supposed to happen.” He shook his head as another bitter laugh trickled from him. “The goddamn bloodline prince. That’s what you are. Your family was supposed to be wiped out, but nope. Carter saved you, and then he hid you from everyone. The fucking weapon I helped build did his job too well.”

“Weapon I helped build.” I held my breath as those words registered. Gene helped create Carter. “Did his job too well.” I glanced at Cole, who still showed no reaction. My god. Gene wanted Cole dead.

“You sent the Bartels to me,” Cole said.

“Yes.” Gene straightened from the desk and stood tall.

Neither man looked away. If Cole hadn’t been so still, he would’ve seemed calm. He wasn’t, though. I knew he was far from it.

“You were supposed to die, but you never did,” Gene continued. “I’m not saying I organized the attacks on your family back then. I didn’t. I wasn’t even on the periphery of it. But yes, you were supposed to die along with your family. The elders were going to form a democracy. After a few years, I was brought in. I was educated, and yes, they blamed me for you still being alive.”

His steel eyes flickered to me, then settled on Cole again. I felt singed from even that short contact.

His jaw hardened. “Carter was my assignment. They had me scout him. No, sweetie.” He looked back at me and the corner of his mouth lifted, but it didn’t form a smile. It sent fear through me instead. “He didn’t just happen to come to us. We knew his old man. We’d been scouting him for a long time. Your brother getting killed was our lottery win. It was the right move, the right time to push Carter over the edge. Oh, yeah. Who do you think gave him those guns to clean house? I’d been talking to him long before that.”

“You knew what Carter would do?” Cole asked.

As Gene swung his attention back to him, I felt like I could breathe. He’d been pinning me down, crawling inside me and poisoning me. This man—he was why all of this had happened. He was to blame. I felt another surge of fear, but I squashed it.

Fuck the fear. I was going to kill this man.

Gene let out another soft sigh. “We had no idea what he’d do. His old man was an asshole. We thought Carter would be, too, and then his best friend was killed and the kid turned into a nuclear bomb. When we saw what he was capable of, we scooped him up right away. He came to us, but we led him with crumbs. And yes, since then he has surpassed everything we thought he might achieve.” He grinned and a genuine chuckle came from him. “We just wanted another street soldier, to be honest. Never could’ve predicted it, not what he’s become.” The amusement slid away, his eyes went flat, and his head lowered, like he was going to charge us. “And since then, he’s become what we need for the family.”

“What are you talking about?” Cole asked.

“You.”

“Explain.” Cole’s tone was soft, but it was a command.

Gene laughed again, shaking his head. “Figure it out. You were supposed to be dead. I told them where you were. It took me three years to find you, but I did. You weren’t supposed to live.”

“They killed my friends.” Cole’s mouth flattened. “You killed my friends.”

“Yeah. And I’m going to kill you, too.”

“You set everything up. Finding me. Why?”

“I just told you!” Gene flung his hands in the air. “My god, are you that dumb? You were supposed to die, but you didn’t. And after dealing with Franco Dunvan, the elders realized we needed to follow one man again. Democracy doesn’t work for us.” He stared at me. “Take a guess who was chosen.”

“Carter.” Cole cursed under his breath. “This was all about him. He’s been out because of her—”

“—and she’ll be the reason he’ll come back in,” Gene finished.

“You wanted him to be the leader, your man in charge, but you told him to stay out at first.” Cole shook his head. “Carter told me you urged him to stay out.”

“Why do you think? You had come back. You weren’t supposed to. You were supposed to be dead. I needed time to clean up my mess, but then I realized Carter was like a dog after a bone. He wouldn’t rest until you were voted back into leadership. I hated that. You have no idea. We were being force-fed your bloodline again after we’d done so much to get rid of your family.”