“That should be fine. But I’m gonna warn you ahead of time, don’t be surprised if there’s a few stragglers hanging around the kitchen area when you start cooking because my men think with their bellies and not their brains,” Riptide laughs.
“It’s fine if they do,” Freyja shyly responds. “They’re Nova’s brothers so we trust them. Don’t we, Chaney?” my sister asks but it’s more of a warning to me than an actual question.
“Of course we do,” I harrumph. “They’re more than welcome.”
My sister seems to be enamored by his charming demeanor, me, not so much. I’m leery and cautious with those we don’t know. It’s ingrained in me to keep us safe. But my sister did make a good point because we’ve come to trust Nova and I know for a fact he’d never let anyone around us who poses a danger to either of us. Nova is an honorable man and I can’t see him associating with anyone who doesn’t have the same standards as he does.
“Alright, I’ll let y’all do what you need to do and I’ll shut the door behind me. Merry Christmas, ladies.”
“Merry Christmas,” we say back as he closes the door.
Freyja releases herself from her blanket burrito and turns her body to where it’s facing me. “Now tell me everything, Chaney.”
And I do as she requests, telling her everything that I know—not sugarcoating any of it.
CHAPTER
NINETEEN
NOVA
After sending Riptide and a few of my less menacing brothers inside to finish what I started, I head toward Marsten. Every forward step I take Marsten’s way is done with a temperamental vexation and he notices that in my stride the closer I get to him if the twitch of his eyes is any indication. He hangs his head in exasperation and audibly sighs.
“How did that motherfucker make it on my land without tripping my system, Marsten? What do you know about him that I don’t?”
“We already knew he was smart, Nova,” Marsten exclaims. “But what we didn’t know, what I needed to stay under wraps until I knew who I could trust and who I couldn’t, is that he’s an MIT dropout.”
The way he worded that compounded by the look on his face says there’s more to that story than what he’s telling me. It’s suspect, if nothing else and I don’t like it. Not one bit. “Dropped out or kicked out? Don’t lie to me, Marsten, it’s in your best interest not to if you want me to continue cooperating with you on this. Thisshit just became personal for me on a whole new level, so now, I’m more invested than ever before.”
“This stays between you and me, Nova. Agree to that, or I’m not going to tell you what I found and buried,” Marsten declares.
“I won’t lie to my brothers, Marsten. If you’re against them finding out what you’re about to say, then keep your trap shut. But know this, if you do, our working relationship ends here,” I stipulate, not beating around the bush. It’s a pledge I’d make with my hand placed upon a Bible. I’m not fucking around with this—not anymore. I’ve given him as much leeway as I’m willing to give.
“Dammit, Nova. You’ve put me in a sticky position here,” he states through gritted teeth.
Crossing my arms over my chest in a power move, I peer down at him through slitted lids and say, “I play with mousetraps in my spare time. In this case, Jennings is the rodent, and I’m the snare, but in order to catch the vermin before it scuttles away with the cheese, I need to be made aware of all the evidence.”
“Nice metaphor,” he huffs out.
“I deal with uneducated men on the streets on a daily basis who don’t necessarily understand the big words, they confuse them so I break shit down into teeny, tiny pieces and phrases so they get what I’m saying. And since it seems you weren’t comprehending the words that were coming out of my mouth, I extended the same courtesy to you.”
“You’re in a mood,” he harrumphs.
“Iamin a mood,” I clarify, repeating his words back to him, keeping my arms crossed but this time, my face is thunderous. “And if you were wearing my shoes, you would be as well.”
He and I usually have a tit for tat working relationship, but seeing as he’s keeping shit from me, I don’t feel like patting his back, nor do I feel the need to tell him about the little note I received from Jennings that’s tucked into my front jeans pocket where I know it’s safe, and won’t be found or tampered with by his men unless I’m patted down—I dare a motherfucker to try.
Today is not the day for anybody to test my patience.
Marsten hangs his head and I watch his cheeks puff before he releases the pent up breath he was holding. “He had accusations against him that led to his expulsion,” he discloses. “Rape was the primary accusation against him. They couldn’t get any evidence against him, it was a he said she said situation.”
“That changes his profile entirely, Marsten,” I say through grinded teeth, my hands balled up into fists at my sides so I don’t reach out and break his motherfucking neck. “That’s crucial information, asshole. Youshould’veshared that with me, dammit.”
“I couldn’t, Nova. I know it changes things as far as his profile goes, but I couldn’t parcel out that information until I had clearance to do so,” Marsten explains. “You know how it is, we have to keep some things guarded.”
My jaw aches from how hard I’m clenching it. It’s taking everything within me to keep myself in check. “Since when do we lie to each other, Marsten? Has it always been that way and I was foolish to believe we were working on the same team?”
“Weareon the same team, Nova. But you know how it is when an edict comes from someone higher up on the food chain than where you are. In order to not piss them off and be taken off this case, I did as ordered. I didn’t have a choice, they could’ve put someone on it that would’ve hindered the entire investigation.”
