Deep (Chicago Underground #8)(48)

I suspected that had more to do with his current mental state than any permissiveness on his part. “I’m not sure. Maybe his study. The one behind the—”

Colin was already heading in that direction, clearly familiar with the layout of this safe house.

“Right,” I said. “I’ll just let you talk.”

He paused and turned back. “You should come with me when I leave.”

My chest felt tight. “Oh?”

“You’re in danger. I can take you to the shelter. No one will find you there. And Luke can get the cops involved with getting your brother back.”

I felt confused, adrift. I wasn’t even sure anymore. I had thought Philip had more power, more connections in the underworld than anyone. And then in the pawn shop, it had seemed as if the kidnapping was connected to him somehow—which made it more imperative that I stay close to him, that I use his methods.

But maybe I was just fooling myself. Maybe I was just hoping for some kind of dark fairy-tale ending where Tyler would be fine. Maybe the cops could resolve this.

“What would you do?” I meant the question honestly, almost desperately. “If it was Allie’s brother or—”

I couldn’t bring myself to even suggest Allie’s young daughter, even as a hypothetical situation.

“I would blast them into the ground,” he said without pause. “And if I didn’t have enough firepower myself, I’d use Philip to do it.”

His eyes held mine in a shared moment of understanding—that the world had taught us one way to deal with problems. The cops, the authorities. Trust the system. But our experiences went outside that. They showed us that we couldn’t trust the system. We could only trust power.

I didn’t hear anything coming from inside the room for the hour that passed, and I considered that a good sign. I knew there was discord between them, but if they didn’t come to blows and didn’t shout at each other, things couldn’t be that bad.

Then I wondered if the room had extreme soundproofing—and started to worry again.

When Colin came out, he seemed tense but all in one piece.

“You should come with me,” he said softly, with something like sympathy in his voice.

“But you said—”

“That’s what I would do, but that doesn’t mean it’s the safest choice. And if I used Philip to get at my enemies, I would expect to pay a price.”

Under his regard I flushed hotly. I already had paid a price, with my body. Judging by the even look Colin gave me, he’d guessed as much. Or maybe Philip had told him. Had they discussed me? Had they discussed that? I lowered my gaze.

He sighed, resigned. “I didn’t think you would come, but I had to offer.”

After locking the door behind him, I was drawn like a magnet to the workout room. The hidden door to the office had been left partially open. I hoped that Philip would be in a calmer state.

He was sitting in the same place he had been during the small hours of the morning, when I’d left him. No shirt, his broad chest and tattoo striking. The tight muscles of his abs bunched as they led to his slacks. In his hand an empty glass dangled. His expression was hidden in the shadows of the room.

These rocks were jagged and sharp—the kind that jutted up from the ground in asymmetrical triangles, treacherous to climb. This was where an explorer might choose to turn back. This was where a person might fall, bleeding and broken between the rocks, never to be seen again.

Colin had thought I should turn back. He’d thought I would fall.

I sat on the leather ottoman opposite him, clutching the butter-soft leather in my hands. “Back when Adrian was describing the man he was with, the one he told about me…he said he looked like you. And it seemed like, like maybe you knew who he was talking about.”

“Always curious,” he said darkly, and unlike when he called me kitten, it didn’t sound like a compliment.

But regardless of whether it was a compliment, it was definitely the truth. I was curious—always pushing, always digging. And this was important enough that I wouldn’t give up. “Do you know who he is?”

“I might.”

“Who?”

“He told you, didn’t he?” A humorless laugh. “‘He could have been your brother.’”

My eyes widened. “Colin? No.”

Colin didn’t even look like Philip—not exactly. They both had a large build, big hands, and deep scowls. But that was where the similarities ended. Philip’s hair was dark, almost black—and Colin’s was a pale brown, at least what I could see of it in the short crop. And while both of their eyes could be cold and cruel, Philip’s eyes were so much darker and expressive than Colin’s, who kept everything well contained behind thick walls.

It didn’t make sense that Adrian would have been with someone like Colin just to simulate being with Philip. It also didn’t make sense that Colin would ever do that, considering he was happily married to Allie.

“Not Colin. Someone else.”

I blinked. But Colin was his only brother. There were three Murphy siblings: Philip, Rose, and Colin. “I don’t understand.”

Philip’s gaze studied me, almost challenging. “I know you liked that I was so loyal to my family. That I took care of them. It reminds you of what you never had.”