Scandal Exposed (The Lust List: Kaidan Stone #4) by Nova Raines, Mira Bailee Page B

me.
    Luis sits at a cheap metal desk, counting stacks of bills. A surge of anger whips through me, suppressing my fear further. This asshole has been stalking me for weeks, ruining my life. I hate him. One of his eyes is half swollen shut, like he recently got in a fist fight, and that image deeply satisfies me.
    But when he grabs his gun off the desk and stands, my anger fades back into fear. He’s trying to intimidate me and throw me off my guard.
    “Where’s my brother?” I ask through gritted teeth.
    “He’s in the other room. Where’s the cash?”
    “In a safe place. I want to see my brother first.”
    He glares at me, his hand sliding along his gun, and I glare back without flinching. He finally nods and shoves past me to get to the door.
    I just stand straighter, never looking away from him.
    Luis opens the door a crack. “Bring him in.”
    It opens all the way, and Carlos shoves my brother through. Rowan has a black eye to match Luis’s. His clothes are dirty, and his hair is messed up, but his green eyes are alert. He’s also extremely pissed off. His eyes widen when he sees me.
    “Hay, no—”
    “Shut up.” Carlos slams the gun against Rowan’s head, making it snap backward, and I gasp.
    Rowan grunts from the pain but doesn’t make another sound as a trickle of blood runs down his cheek.
    I’m horrified and shaken, but I don’t move a muscle and don’t say a word. My heart’s beating faster than a hummingbird’s, but I’m not showing them my fear. That’s what they get off on. That’s how they’ll know I’ll do whatever they ask to free my brother. Nothing has ever had me this scared. But nothing has ever pissed me off this much, either.
    “Uncuff him, now ,” I say, my voice hard.
    “Money first. Then you can both go.”
    I reach my hand into my bag and smoothly pull out the necklace.
    “What the fuck is that?” Luis takes a step toward me, and I force myself to hold my ground.
    “This is your payment.”
    Luis snorts. “I said cash . Carlos, put him back in holding ‘til the bitch gets our money.”
    “This diamond’s worth more than what I was able to access on short notice—more than my father originally owed you.”
    Luis grabs the necklace from my hand and examines it. He whistles. “If this is real…”
    “It’s real. It belonged to my father. Now it’s yours. Let us go.”
    Luis narrows his eyes. “This? I can’t get rid of so easily. Too traceable. You pay cash. That is what we agreed. Carlos, take him away.”
    “No! Wait… Then… consider the diamond collateral. You keep it until I can return with your money.” I force myself not to hold my breath, waiting to see if he’ll take my bluff.
    Luis holds his hands up, the diamond I stole dangling from one of them, his gun in the other. He gives me a smarmy smile. “I don’t even know if this is real.”
    “You know where we live. We’re not going anywhere.”
    Luis considers me then the diamond for a long moment. “Alright. I’ll keep it as collateral.”
    Relief floods me, but I keep it off my face. “So I have more time?”
    Luis doesn’t answer. He returns to his desk and gestures to Carlos. “Get them out of here.”
    Carlos drags Rowan out into the hallway, and I turn to follow.
    “Wait,” Luis says, stopping. “You bought yourself one week. That’s all.”
    Another shot of adrenaline floods me. “One week’s too soon. I need more time.”
    “A week. Now get out.”
    I step back into the hallway, dazed, and follow Carlos as he shoves Rowan toward the door I came in.
    Carlos lets me out first, then uncuffs my brother and pushes him through the door. It slams shut behind us.
    Rowan whirls, his eyes narrowed, fists clenched. “Fuckers.”
    He moves back toward the door, and I quickly step between him and the building. “No! What the hell are you doing?”
    He meets my eyes, and I see the shame there. Shame they got the best of him. He’s about to go start something with these guys when they