I won’t let either of them in the line of fire, not with the chance of them being locked up behind bars — or worse. I run a hand down my face. Do Kinsley and Tanner expect me to take that risk, all because we didn’t think this through properly? I don’t think so. Right now, all I know is that I’m not going in there to kill him. My end goal is to get him back behind bars; death would be too kind.

Chapter Thirty-Six

Tanner

If only Jesse would let me take this guy out.

When I told him I could have Lance taken care of, he shut me down instantly. I wish I had a recording of his face, it was honestly priceless. His pupils nearly tripled in size and he went white as a ghost. The poor guy freaked. He has no idea the life I lived prior to becoming Tanner Hayes, so we can do all of this his way — for now.

I’ve been trying to stay distracted by burying myself into studying the daily runnings of Lance’s operations. Speaking with both my own connections, as well as Jesse and Kinsley’s PI Stanley. The word from the underground is that he is running a sex trafficking operation, however Stanley assures us that the evidence only tells him Lance trades in drugs, not people. Which is the problem with Private Investigators, they don’t have access to the inside.

What neither Jesse or Stanley know is I have eyes and ears in all places. It took some effort, on my part, to convince a few people that I hadn’t skipped out and abandoned my brothers. Especially when no one had seen me in over six months. Luckily for me, Harley had maintained all our connections and he was still trusted in the inner circle.

I rub the back of my neck, releasing a long breath of air. This is all such unknown territory for me, normally I take what I want without any care for who gets in my way. These circumstances are different though with Kinsley in the middle of it all. Leaning back in my chair and closing my eyes, I remind myself that walking away was the right thing to do. Even if she hates me for it, I will find my way back to her once all this is over.

An email pops up on the computer screen in front of me, opening it up I see that it’s forwarded from Harley, the original sender blanked out. Not that long ago, the emails would have been sent directly to me. However, I’m aware of why people are still uncertain about my motives. Josh and his damn feelings, that’s why. If Josh would just get his act together, and leave his bitterness towards me out of this, everyone would move the fuck on.