Hedy pats his hand. “Silas has been observing him for a while now, and while this new aspect is a surprise, he seems to think it won’t harm Rami to explore.” She lifts a shoulder. “He is a young man, though, and is going to change, regardless.”
Omar snarls but seems to allow it.
She smiles and knocks his shoulder with the side of her hand. “I’ll give him a few days to settle, then I’ll reach out and invite him to lunch. See where he’s at.” She grimaces. “Maverick, though, is gonna be a problem. Oakley understood I could only give them limited intel, but Mav… He’s gonna keep pushing.”
Several members of the team discuss their options. Mav’s interest in what they’re doing would be a massive departure from his playboy lifestyle, but there might be something there.
Thane and Ronan, Oakley’s dads, came in at Hedy’s request but have been quiet this whole time. Ronan has been shifting uncomfortably for several minutes.
“If you’ve got something to say, say it,” Rafi says, gently elbowing his longtime friend.
Ronan, a kind and happy man, bites his upper lip, clearly unhappy. Finally, he speaks, “Anders talked about the shit we overlook with Preston, and frankly, our boss, but I think we all have some shit we overlook for the greater good of the team.”
“Do you feel we’ve been overlooking something?” Omar asks, softening his voice where others may have been harsh.
“I don’t think I’m allowed to say what I feel,” Ronan says, scratching at an imaginary speck on the table.
Ronan joined their team over twenty years ago, and while he was an excellent operator, it’s been a while since he and Thane have been to one of these meetings. For Ro to have something to add at all is, on its own, notable.
“That’s not true, darling,” Thane says, breaking his silence. “This is the one place where you can say anything you need to.”
Glancing at Hedy and Edison, Ronan shakes his head.
Understanding filters through Hedy’s expression. “It’s true, Ro. You can say whatever you need to say. It won’t offend us.”
The chorus of head nods around the table seems to finally loosen Ronan’s tongue.
“Are we never going to talk about the fact thatSilasis now friends with our kids? Joining them on impromptu missions? Observing them?” Ronan asks, his mouth turned down. He rests his gaze on Edison. “You know exactly who he is. Exactlywhathe is. What he’s capable of.”
Edison dips his chin in agreement. “He is exactly capable of all the things I am capable of, Ro. Including control.”
Measured words, considering how tense things got between him and Silas on the side of the road.
“How can you talk about control when he nearly killed you?” Ronan asks, throwing his hands in the air.
“He was a child, Ro,” Edison answers, the picture of calm. “A child. He’s grown out of that phase and has accepted the responsibility and requirement of constant vigilance. He would never—and I mean never—allow harm to come to our children.”
Edison and Hedy never had children of their own, but everyone knows they view the Wildlings as their kids all the same.
“What if we’re wrong?” Ronan asks, his voice rough. “What ifyou’rewrong?”
“Then we’ll put him down,” Hedy says, her voice steady.
Some of the tension drains from Ronan’s shoulders, and he sits back. “I’m not being unreasonable.”
Edison gets up and sits next to Ronan, taking his friend’s hand. “Nobody here thinks you’re being unreasonable. We’ve all seen what Sy is capable of, and it is terrifying. But the thing he is most capable of is love. He loves our Wildlings, and he will do anything to protect them and their loved ones.Anything. I’m more afraid of what he would do to one of us than what he would ever do to one of our kids.”
Omar shifts uncomfortably in his seat and Hedy raises her chin. “You got ants in your pants?”
He sends her a friendly bird, then broaches a familiar subject. “You all know I took some liberties with the surveillance equipment, right?”
Careful nods go around the room. They’ve discussed it and agreed that surveilling their adult children was wrong, but in this day and age…ugh. It’s hard not to give in to the urge to protect them at all costs.
“Despite my own very serious misgivings about Silas, everything I’ve seen tells me Edison is right. Sy is aware of the ways in which he is different, painfully so sometimes. But he would die before letting anyone harm our children.”
“If that’s true, why isn’t Preston Whitaker already dead?” Ronan asks, and it’s a fair question. “Because I doubt Silas gives a shit about Wakefield’s delicate sensibilities.”
Anders raises his hand. “I’ve got eyes on him. If he makes a play for Preston, I’ll cut him off at the pass.”
