Page 63 of The Villain

Jace grinned and immediately launched into a story about the latest woman he’d hooked up with—some PR major from Brighton. He had heart eyes of course, because Jace always found a new woman to obsess over. I knew how this would go. He’d spend almost the entire week acting like she shot rainbows from her ass until he eventually lost interest. We were at day four, so the clock was ticking.

Once, a woman had lasted eight and a half whole days, but only because Jace had spent three of them sick with the flu.

He went through women like some people went through candy. If I could have puthimon birth control, I absolutely would have. Life would be a lot easier if these women didn’t love Jace back, but as soon as he smiled, they were fawning all over him. He assured me he always wore protection and got tested regularly at the local clinic, which is all I could ask for.

The newest woman’s name was Livvie. She wore a lot of purple, loved some jewelry brand called Kendra Scott, and I gave them two more days before their inevitable breakup.

That was how Rhys found us half an hour later. He strode into the gym, all tense and glaring, but softened a little when he saw Jace and me laughing.

I looked up at him, raising my eyebrows.See? I did what you asked.

He narrowed his eyes in return.I’m still pissed at you.

Rhys would come around. Eventually.

“You two talked?” he confirmed.

“Yeah,” I responded.

“We’re cool,” Jace echoed.

He searched my brother’s face, then nodded, satisfied with whatever he saw. Even though he absolutely wanted to punch me in the face, Rhys was still my best friend. He turned to me before jerking his chin toward my shoulder. “You need to get some food and rest. Randy made a whole spread.” And now that he mentioned it, I caught the scent of something delicious. “What did he make?”

“Sandwich bar. Make your own. Macaroni and cheese. Cookies.”

Devlin needed food, but first… “I need to talk to Hack about what happened at the warehouse.”

Rhys nodded. “He’s been waiting for you. He’s got information.”

I stood, wincing as the muscles in my chest pulled at my shoulder. Rhys held out a hand to steady me, but I waved him away. “My legs work fine. I’m just sore.”

Leaving Jace to finish his workout, Rhys and I found Hack in his room. Monitors displayed security camera footage that I recognized instantly as the streets around the warehouse. Hack turned in his chair, and I half-expected the same look of censure I’d gotten from Rhys. But Hack was all business.

“I checked the security footage right after we found you. All the cameras were covered.” There were a dozen camera feeds on his screen, and he pointed to three in particular. “Watch.”

I checked the timestamp on the security footage. What had to be minutes before I was shot, something dark dropped over the camera lenses. “They had to know the angles to avoid being recorded while they covered the cameras. Maybe from the roof or a window. That would take advanced knowledge of the camera locations.” He glanced up at me, and his face looked pale in the eerie light of the screen. He didn’t have to say anything else.

This was an inside job. Or at least, someone inside ratted me out.

I ground my molars together. “Anything else?”

“We have audio.” Hack responded.

“Play it.”

He pressed a few buttons before a static-y sound filled the room. I heard the familiar click of the warehouse front door latch—followed by a single gunshot. Then came the slam of the door, and the very distinct sound of Devlin screaming in anguish. “Cian!”

I curled my fingers into fists. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Rhys shift.

Hack let the audio play, and we could hear the moment the attackers broke the windows and breached the warehouse. We didn’t have cameras inside the building, and we couldn’t hear much else until half an hour later, when rapid footsteps signaled their escape. Then the screech of a car speeding away. Hack fast-forwarded until he reached the sound of a different car pulling up. Rhys’s voice was loud and clear as he began directing the crew before entering the building.

I motioned for Hack to turn off the recording.

“I’m checking nearby CCTV footage as well,” he said. “It’s taking some time, but I’ll have a report for you soon. We’ll find out who did this, Cian. I’m sure of it.”

Hack stretched his fingers, then immediately began clicking his mouse as different windows flashed across his screen faster than my eyes could track.

I placed a hand on his shoulder. “Hack.”