“Or work and play at the same time…”
“Don’t make me banish you from the living room.”
“I’d love to see you try.”
“A rope and some duct tape and we’re in business.”
“Or maybe just some handcuffs?”
“You can get out of those.”
Theo smiled playfully and then leaned in to press a kiss to the side of my neck. “Fine, have it your way. Let’s get this call over with so we can get this party started.”
I groaned. “I’m going to pretend you didn’t just quote a P!nk song.” As I went back to securing a line, Theo hummed the song under his breath and threw his feet up on the coffee table.
It was a good thing this meeting wouldn’t be a video call. I had a feeling he wasn’t in the mood to behave—something Iended up being dead right about when the call connected to King a few minutes later.
“I’ve got Lachlan, Benoit, and Lucien here,” King said when he answered. “How’s it going with you two? Is Theo there?”
“No, I left him to the psychotic monkeys. Hope you don’t mind.”
Theo shot me a look that said I’d pay for that comment, and in the naughtiest of ways.
Worth it.
“Theo, your parents stepped in for any engagements that couldn’t be canceled, and we’ve kept them informed of the gist of what’s going on without giving details,” King said. “They didn’t feel it was necessary to call Jean back from his honeymoon, and I agree. Any questions from the press about your whereabouts have been circumvented by letting them know your parents’ appearances were always on the agenda after you took the first half.”
“I’m sure they’relovingthat.” Theo swirled his wine. “Having to take time off from their busy schedules on the golf course to smile and wave.”
“I’m sure they’re more concerned that you’re all right,mon ami,” Benoit said.
Theo shrugged and took another drink as I asked the burning question we both wanted to know: “Have there been any more incidents?”
Lachlan spoke up. “We’ve all received several threatening messages regarding having ties to Theo. Why he’s been singled out, we don’t know.”
“But we haven’t been physically targeted,” Lucien added. “Lachlan’s security company has us all covered, so don’t worry about that.”
“So they know who we are?” I glanced at Theo, who arched a brow in question. “Whoever’s doing this knows who the seven of us are, that we’re tied together.”
“We’re still concerned this is an inside job,” King said. “A Libertine member with a grudge and access to tech that’s beyond anything we’ve seen.”
Translation: beyond anything Alessio had ever seen. And speaking of…
“Where is Alessio? He’s not there with you?”
A long silence stretched, and for a moment I worried something had happened to him. But then Lachlan said, “He’s struggling.”
“Lachlan,” King said sharply.
“What? It’s the truth. He’s been beating down every door to find answers, and the fact that he hasn’t cracked it yet has fucked him up.”
“He’s working on it,” King said.
“He hasn’tstoppedworking on it.” There was an edge of annoyance to Lachlan’s tone that made me wonder if they were all close to snapping. “He hasn’t gone home in days. Wouldn’t even stop to get on this call.”
“Didn’t even make the monthly trip to see Father Vitale,” Benoit added.
Theo and I shot each other a look. The one non-negotiable from Alessio was that we all attended midnight confession once a month, and though he himself didn’t partake because of past complicated feelings with the priest, he always made it a point to be there.
