by Emily Rose
CONRAD
A Twisted Series Novel
EMILY ROSE
Conrad: A Twisted Series Novel
Copyright©2020 Emily Rose
All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system without the written permission of the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
This book is a work of fiction.
Names, characters, places, and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
Published by Emily Rose
Cover designer: Emily Rose
Editors: Sara Miller, Pretty Little Book Promotion and PA Service
Interior Designer: Julie Anne Addicott
Other books by Emily Rose
The Twisted Series
Twisted, Book One
Torment, Book Two
Toxic, Book Three
Tainted, Book Four
Spin-Off Novels
Conrad, A Twisted Series Novel
PROLOGUE
CHAPTER ONE
CHAPTER TWO
CHAPTER THREE
CHAPTER FOUR
CHAPTER FIVE
CHAPTER SIX
CHAPTER SEVEN
CHAPTER EIGHT
CHAPTER NINE
CHAPTER TEN
CHAPTER ELEVEN
CHAPTER TWELVE
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
CHAPTER NINETEEN
CHAPTER TWENTY
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
EPILOGUE
EPILOGUE
PROLOGUE
Past
Miles
I stood next to my car and watched Ray as she begged Jax to stay.
After everything that had gone down, I had pretty much accepted the fact that she loved him, but that didn’t mean that I had stopped loving that damn girl. As I watched the tears form in her eyes at the thought of Jax leaving with me, I made a promise to myself to get his ass back to her.
One way or another.
It was what she wanted.
He was who she wanted.
Jax pulled away from her and headed in my direction, but my eyes caught Ray’s for a split second, and I saw a flicker of guilt as she stared back at me. Looking away, I got in my car and shifted into gear as Jax sat next to me in the passenger seat. Neither one of us said anything as I pressed the pedal to the floor, trying to catch up to Kevin.
Once we got back onto the main road, I shifted higher and listened to my car’s engine roar as we sped down the road. It wasn’t long before I spotted a set of red brake lights up ahead and I knew it was him.
Shifting higher, I took the curve quicker than I should have and my car’s rear end swung out. I twisted the steering wheel quickly and shifted down, forcing the car back into the right lane before I took off again.
Kevin drove Owen’s Cadillac and I kept my gaze on it as he turned down another road quickly. Shifting down, I slammed on the brakes, but with the wet roads, we ended up sliding past the road.
Throwing my car in reverse, the tires squalled against the wet pavement as I turned around to look behind us until we reached the road Kevin had turned down.
“He turned again,” Jaxson said.
Once I was on the right road, I spotted Kevin again. It felt like we had already driven countless miles and I had no idea where he was going, but I couldn’t think about that as I concentrated on not killing us before we got there. In the dark night, I could barely make out the old abandoned looking warehouse that Kevin headed toward.
It looked more like an old factory of some sort and as we got closer, I slowed my speed until we came to a complete stop in the middle of the road.
“What is this place?” Jax asked as he leaned forward, gazing at the warehouse.
I didn’t answer him and watched Kevin park the Cadillac before he stepped out, walking into the building without a single glance in our direction.
Something about this told me to back off. It was too easy, and he didn’t seem worried about the fact that we might’ve followed him, but I forced it aside. This wasn’t about my safety or even Jax’s safety. This was about finding my son and bringing him home. That was all that mattered at this point and it didn’t matter how we did it or who lost, because it would happen. Despite the fact that I had never met Jayson or even got to hold him in my arms, I loved him. I would do anything for him, and he was the only thing I could picture as I shifted and eased my car forward.
Instead of driving right up on the place, I parked several feet back, cut the engine and the lights, concealing us in the pitch black.
Reaching behind me, I grabbed the gun I had shoved into my jeans and pulled it free. Dropping the mag, I made sure it was full and then shoved it back into the gun. I pulled back on the slide and the gun clicked as a bullet loaded into the chamber. When my gaze met Jax’s, I saw that he had the same gun he had when we were in the basement at Owen’s in his hand.
“You ready for this?” I asked.
He reached up, pulled back on the barrel, and loaded the gun as he responded, “Nope.”
“Me neither,” I said, but opened the car door anyway and stepped out into the unwelcoming chilly night air.
My breath drifted in front of me as Jax came up to stand next to me. Looking around the area, I searched for a way inside that didn’t involve walking through the same door Kevin had and I spotted the large windows on the side of the warehouse. I took off in that direction and Jax followed close behind.
When we reached the side of the warehouse, I spotted an old ladder that led up to the roof. Coming to a stop beside it, I reached up and wrapped my hand around the cold metal, pulling on the ladder, but it wouldn’t come down. I released it, stepped back and shoved my gun back into my jeans before I jumped, catching the bottom rung with both hands. Using my upper body strength, I pulled myself up.
Breathing heavier, I climbed up a few feet and then looked over my shoulder to see Jax do the same movement I did. Glancing away, I continued climbing with him close behind me until I reached the roof. When I stepped onto it, I pulled my gun back out and crouched low, stepping quietly toward the large window I had seen from down below.
A few minutes later, Jax met me and I glanced through the glass only to see that there was a second story inside the building that we could easily step into from here.
“Look,” Jax spoke quietly and nodded.
I looked in the direction he was indicating and that was when I saw him. Kevin stood on the far side of the warehouse, it appeared like he was talking to someone I couldn’t see from this angle.
“Let’s go,” I said and then grabbed the edge of the window, gently pulling it up until it was wide enough for me to get through, silently praying to whatever God still had my back that it didn’t make any noise as I did so.
Jax followed and then closed the window behind him. The upstairs was packed with boxes stacked on pallets, so I quickly hid behind one, placing my back to the boxes with Jax next to me.
“How do you want to do this?” He asked in a near whisper.
I eased around the edge of the pallet and spotted Kevin once more. It would be easy to take him out from this angle. I had a clear shot, but we needed him alive. He was the only one who knew where Jayson was. Turn
ing away, I thought about how to go about this as my breath drifted in front of me like smoke. But I didn’t have time to come up with an idea before I heard his voice.
“I know you’re in here! Come on out and play, Miles!” Kevin yelled, his voice echoing through the nearly empty warehouse.
I took a deep breath and glanced at Jax, who watched me evenly, but neither one of us said anything.
“This isn’t hide and seek, Miles!” Kevin called.
“What do you want to do?” Jax asked, holding his gun ready at a moment’s notice in case shit went sideways.
With my own gun in my hand, I looked away from him and then decided that I was done playing games with this asshole.
Tonight, it was all or nothing.
Tonight, either we walked out of here or Kevin did.
So I moved, coming out from behind the pallet and aiming my gun directly at Kevin who stood on the ground below us.
Jax followed and came out from the other side, also aiming directly at Kevin.
“Ah… look at us. We’re all back together again,” Kevin said with a smile.
“Where’s Jayson?” I asked.
Kevin laughed. “Do you really think I’m going to tell you that?”
Anger ignited in my veins as I stared at him. “This is over, Kevin. Tell me where the fuck my son is,” I said with a steely voice that held a violent warning.
He shook his head. “Nah, I think I’ll hold off on that for a bit.”
Before I could respond, I felt something press firmly into the middle of my back before I heard a voice.
“Put the gun down. Slowly,” she said.
Confusion flashed through me like a lightning bolt, and I spoke without turning around or dropping my gun. “Rachel?”
“Put the gun down Miles. I really don’t want to hurt you,” she said and pressed her gun into my back again.
Betrayal burned through me as I realized that the woman who had been watching Jayson for Kevin had been Rachel. This whole time, she had been with him and not at her brother’s house like we all thought. Anger warred with betrayal at that thought, because I should have known. I should have seen it.
Only I hadn’t.
My gaze met Jaxson’s and I saw that a guy held him at gunpoint as well. Jax held his gun out and the guy snatched it from his hand before he unloaded it, letting the chambered bullet and mag hit the ground, clinking throughout the warehouse.
Then he spoke. “Move,” he said, shoving his gun into Jaxson’s back again and forcing him to walk toward the staircase on the other end of the room.
“Give me your gun, Miles,” Rachel said, bringing me back to my own problem.
The urge to spin around and choke the life out of Rachel hit me hard, but I wasn’t an idiot. I knew the second I moved, she would either shoot me or the guy holding Jax at gunpoint would shoot him.
And Jax had to make it out of this.
That was just the way it had to be. As these thoughts ran through my head, I slowly lowered my gun back to my side where Rachel yanked it out of my hand. Without turning around to face her, I heard her unload it and then she pushed into my back again with her own. I didn’t argue.
Instead, I started walking in the same direction Jaxson had and went down the stairs, coming to a stop beside him and only a few feet from Kevin.
Kevin grinned. “Welcome to my hideout. Nice choice, right?”
My eyes met Rachel’s as she walked around me without ever taking the gun off me and stopped next to Kevin.
“You’re going to regret the choice you made,” I said firmly as my eyes burned into hers.
For a second, just a second, I saw fear ignite in her gaze and then she responded, “This isn’t about me,” she said.
Kevin spoke then, “She’s right. This isn’t about her, so how about we play a game?”
I switched my gaze from Rachel to him, but I didn’t respond and watched Kevin walk over to Jaxson, who still had the man behind him pointing a gun at his back.
“Let me ask you something, Jaxson…” Kevin said and then laughed at his own thought before he continued, “How much do you love that pretty little Ray?”
Jax didn’t respond for a long moment and then he spoke. “Maybe you should ask Owen that question when you are laying in the ground next to him,” he said.
Kevin’s grin was wide, and he brought his hand up to place it on Jaxson’s shoulder roughly. “And that, my friend, is why you were always my favorite,” he said.
I didn’t have to see Jaxson’s gaze to know the confusion was there as he stared at Kevin silently. I had no idea what game Kevin was trying to play, but there was no doubt that it would be in his favor, no matter what choice me or Jaxson made.
“What the fuck do you want, Kevin?” Jax asked with frustration.
He stepped back, releasing him before he spoke. “You want Ray and Jayson to be safe. You would do anything to make that happen and I’m willing to do it. I’m willing to give you Jayson and leave Ray alone. I’m willing to let you live your life happily. All you have to do is one simple thing for me,” he said.
Jax stared blankly at him, waiting for him to continue.
“Give him the gun,” Kevin ordered the man behind Jaxson, who listened without arguing and held the gun out to Jaxson.
Jax didn’t take it right away and spoke. “What are you getting at Kevin?”
“Take the fucking gun, Jax or I’ll just kill you and Miles. Which I guess wouldn’t be too bad, because then Rachel and I could just take Jayson to raise without either of you in the picture, probably do the poor kid a favor.” Kevin said as if he were growing impatient.
He listened and snatched the gun from the man who held it, holding it to his side. “What makes you think I won’t kill you with it first?” His voice told me that he wouldn’t hesitate to kill Kevin, but his gaze said he wouldn’t risk Jayson’s life and I wasn’t the only one who took notice of that fact either.
Kevin laughed as if he had picked up on it too. “Because I still haven’t told you where Jayson is and aren’t you at all curious how I’m standing here, or what Miles hid from you?”
Jax took a deep breath before he responded. “I don’t give a fuck how you are standing here or what he hid from me. All I care about is getting Jayson away from your psychotic ass.”
Kevin grinned and then crossed his arms over his chest, leaning back against the wall as if he were enjoying all of this. “Let me ask you something, Jax. Do you even know who the hell you’re standing beside?” He asked with an arched eyebrow.
I knew where he was going with that statement. I was surprised he hadn’t said it back in the basement at Owen’s, but I couldn’t stop it from coming out now. Things were already so far beyond what I had planned originally and there was no point in lying anymore.
Jax held his gaze firmly, but remained silent.
Kevin chuckled in a way that told me that his mind was far more gone than any of us could have imagined before he went on, “This man,” he pointed at me, “is not who everyone thinks he is. He watched me walk out of the building when Twisted went up in flames. He knew the whole fucking time that I was alive, but he kept that to himself. I could see it written clear as day on all of your faces when you saw me in that basement. Aren’t you at all curious about what happened after you were knocked out at Twisted that fateful night?”
I felt Jaxson’s gaze on me, but I refused to look at him. “What the fuck is he talking about, Miles?” Jax asked.
I took a deep breath and glanced at him. Anger was burning in his eyes, but I couldn’t bring myself to explain it to him.
Kevin laughed. “He’s not going to explain it to you, but I’ll fill you in. After you were knocked out, Owen and I just waltzed out. We left one of Owen’s guys behind, so that it looked like I was there. Owen later paid off the medical examiner to switch out the DNA for mine. You see, Miles never told you any of that. I’m sure he made up some bullshit lie to tell everyone, but he knew I was alive,”
he grinned before he went on, “But, and here’s the best part, Miles is blood. We have the same mother, but different fathers.”
Jax held my gaze firmly as the lie I had tried so hard to keep buried came to the surface.
Kevin laughed humorlessly before he went on, “I’ve known since the moment Miles walked into Twisted that he was the long-lost brother my father kept talking about. He taught me everything about Miles, so of course, Miles has been my target for a very long time. My father wanted him dead and I wanted to make that dream come true for him, but I thought I’d play with you all for a bit, so everything that has been done was leading up to this moment right now. This is the big event!” he said with a mentally unstable grin pulling at his lips.
And there it was.
Years, I had hid my true parentage from everyone, including Ray. Years, I had worked to keep my identity from them. Years, I had refused to accept who I really was.
Jax shook his head and then spoke, “Why wouldn’t you tell me?” He asked as he stared at me with anger igniting in his gaze.
I didn’t respond, because I didn’t have an answer. Jax had been my brother, my best friend, but telling him the truth wasn’t something I could do. When the woman who raised me, Jennifer, told me, it had taken me years to come to terms with it and I wasn’t even sure I truly had yet, so there was no way I could tell Jaxson if I didn’t even want to believe it myself.
Kevin pushed off the wall before he walked over, slinging his arm around my shoulders roughly, “Say hi to the new and improved Miles Jayson Cross. My little half-brother.”
Jax’s eyes ignited with anger as he watched me. “How?”
Kevin laughed and then released me. “Well, that’s an interesting story really. You see, my father was married to our mother. They had three kids. Me, Dare, and Lila. But, and this is where things get really fucked up,” he said and then smirked, “Our mother slept with my father’s brother and she got pregnant with Miles. She tried hiding him from my father, but he eventually found out about Miles anyway and that’s when he gave me the job to take him out, only I thought it would be much better if I did things my way. He would have killed our mother for acting like the slut she is, but they made a deal or whatever. He did get revenge on Miles’ father though,” Kevin said with a laugh as if the thought of my father being killed for simply being my father amused him.
