Page 51 of Bitter Lies

Chapter 19

Aiden

I should heed my own advice and walk away.

On my way out of A&E to make a call, I pass her guard Ryan. I’m tempted to drag that shithead into the back alley and give him a piece of my mind using my fist.

How the hell did this happen when she has assigned security to keep her safe? No one—and I mean no one—should get past them.

Especially me.

Yet someone has gotten past them—more than once. I can’t pin the fire on them. Not yet. But Rico Lopez is dead because of them. If they’d done their jobs, this wouldn’t have happened.

Their irresponsibility is exactly why I’m not walking away. I know this is a shitty idea, but I’m doing it anyway, even with that voice in my head yelling at me to stop.

Her safety is now my responsibility. I don’t trust anyone else, not after I’ve slipped past them three times.

As I fish my phone out of my pocket, my frustration mounts. There is only one person capable of fixing this mess. He won’t be happy about it. Won’t like that it’s come to this. But they should thank their lucky stars I’m here now, before someone with ill intentions figures out how easy it is to get to her.

When I took this assignment, I never imagined it’d lead me to this. I had one job. Dismantle the Doyle family and wipe out the corrupt organization they’ve built.

The only way to get it done was to become one of them. It wasn’t hard. I already had an in—my father. Even locked up, he’s still a member. A button man. A low-level soldier who obeys orders without question.

It’s the reason he’s serving life.

My grandparents kicked me out because I was heading down the same road as my father. They’d already survived that life once and weren’t interested in doing it again. Can’t blame them.

Todd Bishop, my father, took me in. I was on track for full membership, which is why he brought me along on a job, said it was time I learned what that life really meant.

I was seventeen. Watched him beat a man to death. At first, I joined in, thinking we’d let him live if he gave us what we wanted. We didn’t. My father crushed the man’s skull with his boot, while I threw up in the corner. He called me a pussy and dragged me out of there while threatening to kick my arse.

The police picked us up days later. I flipped. Took a deal and got out. Military. Clean slate.

My father pled guilty and kept my name out of it. It was the first time he ever protected me. Why? To this day, I’m still not really sure.

Then, a bullet fucked up my career in the SBS, and everything went cock up.

That’s when a man walked into my hospital room, tossed a file in my lap, and offered me a new mission. Go back in. Earn their trust. Destroy the Doyle family from the inside.

It wasn’t easy. To get in, I had to prove my loyalty. My backstory portrayed me as a rogue SBS sailor returning home. It took almost two years and a series of calculated plays before Trent Doyle saw my worth. I did things I’m not proud of. Witnessed several murders. Some of them may not have deserved to die, but they weren’t innocent—I would never let an innocent die. Never will.

I’ll never forget the day I stood in front of Trent and his former head of security, exposing the man’s betrayal. My heart pounded, knowing it could end with me dead. But the evidence was hard to deny. Something I’d uncovered myself, allowing us to scrap the original plan to set him up.

Now I’m the one in charge. Perfect position. Perfect access. Every day gets me closer to tearing it all down.

It won’t be tomorrow, or next year. When I agreed to do this, I knew it would take years. Lots of blood, sweat, and tears. I had nothing better to do, might as well make myself useful.

Up until this very moment, I’d been prepared to do whatever was necessary—staying focused and ignoring every distraction. But that was before a smart-mouthed, fiery princess dropped into my world.

Now I’m fucked.

And if I don’t get ahead of this, she will be too.

I hit the green button and put the phone to my ear.

It rings twice before Darius Falcon answers, and I unleash my anger. “You need to sack her guards. The wankers are useless.”

“That’s not my call.” Darius sounds as upset as me, telling me he’s aware of the shitshow I’ve walked into. “What happened to walking away being no problem?”