London stirs. “I wanted to come sooner.”
I cup her face in my hands and blow out a breath. “I know.”
London shudders and leans into my touch. “You’re not allowed to die on me.”
“Likewise.”
Slowly, London inches back to look at me, and her eyes move steadily over me. “I mean it, Mason. We’ve been through too much for you to be taking risks like that.”
I give her a quick, rough kiss and pull away before she can deepen it. “I’m a survivor, and I’ll always find a way to come back to you.”
London reaches for my hand. “Katia would only give me highlights about what happened, and that was after I wouldn’t stop nagging her.”
I huff a laugh. “She didn’t tell you because you nagged. I think she likes you.”
London makes a face. “I think what you meant to say is she’d like to kill me.”
I tuck London into my side and drape an arm over her shoulders. “Katia doesn’t want to kill you, but there’s no shortage of people who do.”
I have to add one more name to the list.
“Our alliance with the Thayers is no longer at play,” I add, in a low voice. “Thatcher will be staying with us for a while.”
London sits up. “You’re keeping him as prisoner? Is that a smart thing to do?”
“It’s the only thing I can do to make sure the Thayers don’t turn on us.”
If they haven’t heard already.
London blows out a breath. “I’m sure Elise is pissed.”
I wave her comment away. “She’ll get over it. There’s something else.”
“What is it?”
“Those men who ambushed me were hired by someone on the inside, and one of them told me it was a Payne.”
London goes still and swallows. “You believe them?”
“How else do you explain the attack? And how they’ve managed to stay one step ahead this whole time?”
I don’t want to believe it, but there are too many coincidences to brush off.
Too many close calls not to look into it.
London takes my hands in hers. “There’s got to be another explanation. Something that makes sense.”
“He was seen meeting with several associates of the Fitzpatricks and the Everetts,” I reply in a gentler voice. “I know this is a hard pill for you to swallow.”
“Me?” London squeezes my hands. “How are you so calm after… everything?”
I shrug. “I don’t have a choice.”
Dwelling on what it means isn’t going to do me any good.
There will be plenty of time for me to feel the bitter sting of betrayal later.
Now, I need to focus on getting rooting out a name, even if it means having to take them on directly.
