“Because King is already pissed at Theo, at everyone, really. Wouldn’t want to give him another reason to be.”
“Then shut up and mind your own business,” I snapped, and Alessio’s eyes flared. It seemed my surliness had come back full force.
“No problem,” he said, and turned to walk away from me. “But don’t say I didn’t warn you.”
Yeah,I thought as I headed toward the stairs that would take me up to the main floor of Libertine,doesn’t really matter.
I’d been warning myself from the moment I touched Theo in the church that it was a bad idea. Pity I hadn’t fucking listened.
17
THEO
I’D MADE MY way to Libertine…eventually. Shep may have been in a rush to see King, but I wasn’t.
I also wasn’t acknowledging howthatannoyed the shit out of me. King was a badass, of course he was, or none of us would’ve been keen to join him in the first place. But outside of business? Shep could do better.
Maybe I just never understood the appeal there, because they were both too serious for their own good. Shep needed someone who could relieve all that tension in his tight body with a night of never-ending orgasms. Or make him crack a smile every now and then.
Something the man across from me had never managed to make Shep do, of that I was positive.
King stared at me silently where he sat at the carved-from-boulder round table in our underground throne room. He didn’t move. Didn’t speak. Just continued to absorb everything I told him with a stillness that was unnerving.
I was used to it and didn’t so much as fidget under that look anymore.
I did, however, allow myself the lit kretek between my fingers, and I brought it to my mouth, taking a deep inhale. Thesoft crackling it made was the only sound in the room, and I waited for the reprimand that was coming.
As I blew the smoke out to the side, King gestured for the cigarette, or so I thought, because when I went to hand it to him, he took hold of my wrist instead. His grip was unyielding, his large fingers wrapping completely around me, and though my first instinct was to pull away, I didn’t fight it.
With his thumb, he pushed my watch up and then rubbed over the small scar that taking the tracker out—and then putting it back in—had caused. Eventually it would probably fade to nothing, but it was still too new not to notice. Hence the cuff I wore.
“The bones of our organization, of our brotherhood, have been built on trust. I chose you, each of you, because I believe in you. I know what you have to offer; I know where your loyalty lies. We’ve made promises to each other that go deeper than any blood tie.” King continued to stare at the scar and brush his finger over it, uncaring of the ashes falling from my kretek to the table. “With that loyalty comes protection, not just for you and your position in the world, but for everyone.”
Abruptly, he let go of my arm and sat back, bringing his dark gaze to mine.
“I understand your choice to help someone and even the score. I can’t fault you for wanting to do something you felt was right. That’s who you are and why’re you’re an integral, irreplaceable part of us.”
There was a “but” coming soon, I could feel it, and I steeled myself by nodding in agreement as I took a drag of my kretek.
“But—”
There it was.
“—we all took an oath to each other, and your decision to go on a covert op on your own, deliberately removing your tracker and putting yourself in harm’s way, was really fuckingirresponsible, Theo. Not to mention dangerous and incredibly selfish. You gave no thought to possible repercussions, to how the rest of us would feel?—”
“In my defense, I wasn’t planning on ever telling you.”
“And that’s a problem,” he said, leaning forward, his eyes narrowing to slits. “Have you done this before? Will you do it again? How do we trust you are where you say you are?”
“I haven’t. I won’t. I just couldn’t take the chance you’d interfere, and it was best not to involve you.”
“Because you knew we wouldn’t approve. What else are you doing that I wouldn’t approve of?”
Your ex...
Thank fuck for my poker face, because it was best not to give himthosedetails. Did I have it in my pocket for whenever I needed it? Sure. But I wasn’t messing around with Shep to have ammo.
No, he was purely a fun pursuit, just not one King needed to know about, though I could just picture the look on his face if he found out his ex enjoyed putting his cock in my ass.
