“Anyway, let’s start to the left.” I flicked my hand in Rick’s direction. “This is the living room, all the gaming setups are on here as well as streaming services.” Rick waved his hand like he was on TV or something, and I kicked his leg.
“Hey!”
I ignored his plea as I continued a few steps forward. “Here is the full kitchen. I keep it stocked full of drinks, but I don’t bring food unless it can keep for a couple weeks since I’m not here all the time.” I moved past Cosmo, who held out a beer with furrowed brows. I think he knew that he put me in an awkward spot, hopefully now he was regretting it.
I took his offering, nodded my thanks and continued. I pointed down a hallway next to the kitchen. “Here are a couple of bedrooms with their own full baths attached.” I moved around the corner and looked at Falcon, wanting to see his expression when he got a good look at the mini lab I had put down here. It was small, only having the essentials, and I wondered if he would find it subpar.
His eyes roamed over everything as he walked forward and touched the hazmat containers, the chemicals cabinet, the temperature-controlled fridge. An island in the middle with enough counter space for a computer, microscope, and space to spread out. I even had a small glass half wall made so you could write on it like a white board. “I call it my mini lab.”
He turned around again, lightly touching things as he walked past them. Then he paused and turned his head in my direction. “But you aren’t a scientist.” I shrugged, lifting both hands as embarrassment crept up my face.
“Yeah, but if there’s an emergency, and you can’t get to our labs, what would you do?” His head tilted in thought, and I doubled down. “At worst, it can help us make weapons, so I felt it was valuable.” I let out a nervous chuckle. “Or I could just be a slave driver and shove you in here to make my exclusive stuff.” When his baby blues just stared at me, I turned away from the mini lab and quickly made my way through a set of aluminum double doors that lead to a huge gym with one of everything you could need and sparring space. “This, I think, is self-explanatory.”
Ax stepped forward, eyes wide as he pointed out all the machines that were top-grade, bent down, and felt the mats before inspecting the weights. Everything was to his liking and approval, and that made my heart swell.
I didn’t want another staring match so I continued to the right, motioning for them to follow, as there was another hallway that had a few more rooms. Then I went to my favorite place in all this underground glory.
We stopped in front of a door that had not only a pin and a fingerprint code but was also voice and DNA activated. “Name, please,” the comm from the computer said.
“Rayla Desmond,” I called out as I punched a few numbers on the pinpad.
“Voice and pin approved,” the speaker blasted in a robotic voice. “Please put your finger on the screen for your sample. You will feel a slight prick.” I did as it asked and then turned to the boys as it did its thing.
“If you want to be able to have access to this stuff, then the machine will need to—” I paused as it pricked me. “Take a sample.”
“Fingerprint and bio activated,” the robotic voice confirmed before big, loud thuds came from behind the door as the massive steel locks came undone. A loud whoosh sounded as they filed into the dark room, their presence triggering the motion detectors, and the light system turned on.
This was a large, long room with weapons, tactical gear, and guns of various sizes and makes lining the walls. A long rectangular island in the center held rows and rows of bullets of every kind, smoke grenades and sticky grenades. I’d always wanted to be prepared for anything. “I was thinking that this was a good stash room, and if you lift the counters up, there are totes to carry whatever you need out.”
They filed in, walking down either side as they inspected all the goodies I had here. I clapped to get their attention. “Now, boys, this will conclude our tour. If you continue the hallway to the right, you will end up right where we started. I had it constructed in a large circle so you could always find your way around.”
I leaned against the counter, needing something to balance myself on as I waited for them to say something. Are they going to think that this was too much? A waste of money? Do they think the layout is too simple?
Avery was the first one to turn toward me, and gone was his usual smiling face, light aura, and joking attitude. Before me was a man who wanted answers, and I was curious to see what had him acting so seriously. “Why did you think that we were going to be here before now?”
This was his serious question?!I tried to dismiss it, laughing it off as I looked to the side. “Oh, that’s not something to dwell on. It’s silly, anyway.” A clink sounded on the glass counter and the beer Cosmo gave me grabbed my attention. Taking that as a sign, I lifted it and gulped down a quarter of its contents, needing an excuse to not face them.
That only made Avery and the others even more interested as they all took steps to converge on me. As unease filled me, I pointed at one of the larger weapons on the wall, hoping to turn the attention away from me with cool toys. “That’s a military grade rocket launcher that can switch out to be a flame thrower. I thought that might be cool to trick out.” I eyed Falcon, hoping his mind would take over with the possibilities, but he didn’t even look at it.
He folded his arms and leaned against the island. “This is all quite impressive, especially since I learned that you had thought of this as young as thirteen, but I also agree with Avery in wanting to know why you built this in this spot specifically. Partnered with Cosmo’s jealousy, it piqued my interest, taking over my mind instead of admiring the weapons and thinking of ways to upgrade them.”
Ax chimed in as he placed his palms on the counter, leaning forward as he said, “Ditto.”
I growled out, cursing at Cosmo as I whispered to myself, “I think I would’ve preferred you all to be dumb idiot boys.”
“Lies,” Avery cooed, not believing a word I said as he leaned onto the island with his elbow, chin in hand as he blinked like he was waiting for a story.
I drank more of my beer, giving myself a little more liquid courage to get through these past emotions before I spoke. “Look, it’s not that big of a deal. Yes, I built this place specifically here because we found it as kids, but it was also a good place to hide something like this. It’s inconspicuous and... and close to my mom.”
Avery’s and Ax’s gazes softened, almost like they would drop the whole thing, and I almost rejoiced until I saw Falcon. His eyes narrowed on me as he said, “And?”
Damn that overanalyzing mage! I flicked my eyes at the other two, their eyes wide at Falcon’s curt response. If I play this right, I could have them make him back down, and we could—
Falcon called out, “Now, Rayla, you don’t want to start this partnership between heirs under the guise of lies and deceit, right?” My whole face scrunched at him, but he wasn’t done putting the nail in the coffin. “That doesn’t bode well for the future of the Syndicate if we have to constantly ask ourselves if you are telling the truth.”
My hands balled into fists, and my jaw clenched and unclenched, as I hated how he knew how to work me. He knew how dedicated I was to the Syndicate, even over my own pride, I would do what was right for them, and now he knew it. Anger at my own code, at him for knowing my weakness and exploiting it, filled me as I finished my beer, crossing my arms, and baring my teeth before I answered.
“Fine, you want to know what prompted this? Why Cosmo said I built it for you guys?” I didn’t wait for their answer before I barreled through. “I was about to turn thirteen when I had a dream about you guys. I don’t remember much of it now, but at the time, it meant something to me. I had this feeling we all needed to be together. So, I begged my dad to invite you and your fathers here for my birthday party, telling him we could keep it to just us to keep it safer.”
