“Fucktastrophy,” Gage supplies prior to sinking his teeth into his panini.
“Yeah.” Wells flings a hand toward him in agreement, but it isn’t an accolade. “A goddamn fucktastrophy with Balzano’s men that you so eagerly aided in.”
Hmm. No mention of the Morellis, so the Big Guy divulged all my shit to the Chief but covered his own.
Gage balks and swallows his mouthful. “You and Liam ran the damn background checks. It’s not on me.”
“Hey now, slow your roll with the finger pointing, Big Guy.” Liam swigs his Modelo. “I ran a fan-fucking-tastic background check. But we were verifying that Enzo was just some lowlife gang member, and hewasa lowlife gang member. I didn’t go down all the rabbit holes that led to Balzano because as far as I knew, the threat was neutralized.”
“That’s valid,” I concede. “I made the same error.”
“Yeah,” Wells growls, diving a hand into his raven-black hair. “We all fucked up. And Balzano will eventually figure out that we were the ones who took out his men. You’ve already claimed Rena, so her loyalty test—”
“Let’s delve into that for a second.” My fists clench, and my skin ignites. “As far as her loyalty test, you let them know that she will not be out of my sight for even one goddamn second.”
“Ty,” Wells says with a trace of compassion, “I get where you’re coming from, and we can track her and have a plan to get her out,like we did with Celeste. But making demands like that is not how these things work. And this is a much more turbulent situation.”
“Fuck that,” I snarl. “Be sure to tell them that anyone who suggests I walk away from my wife so she can be tormented will get a bullet lodged in their brain. If they think I’m joking, you can cite the twenty-four foot soldiers I killed who’d tried to fuck with her.”
Gage’s booming laughter filters through the stale air with a resounding clap of his hands. “Look at the big balls on Tytan.”
“Truth.” Liam points the bottleneck of his beer at me with a dip of his chin. “And you aremy wife-ing it like a motherfucking pro, man. Seriously impressive.”
Wells strokes his forehead in exasperation, but Celeste passes him Felicity before she heads to the fridge, which is her way of ensuring his voice remains steady. I wink appreciatively at her, and her brown eyes twinkle in response. Celeste is always levelheaded and strategic.
“Jesus Christ, Ty,” Wells wheezes, petting his daughter’s full head of jet-black hair. “Keeping you alive is a full-time job right now. There are steps that are expected to be followed. So much shit has happened since we found that goddamn book. You don’t even know the half of it. It all plays into how this will be handled.”
“I don’t give one tiny fuck.” Lowering my voice so that Rena doesn’t overhear details she should not discover this way, I go on, “I know who set her house on fire, and I also know who threw another person into it. Not sure what else could matter or how I could be the one fighting for survival. What about the damn KORT chair, who is so fucking high on his power that he disregards the bylaws he helped write? Adultery. Abandonment. Murder of an innocent. Running a prostitution ring. Corruption that puts the whole goddamn organization at risk.”
The room stills again. No one budges. For all the lighthearted jeers thrown by Liam and Gage at my threat, they know the reality of what Wells is dealing with. It’s messy because for all intents and purposes, his other KORT chairs are his equals and reap priority. He’sexpected to protect his family, but never at the expense of KORT. Anything contrary could cost us all our lives. It would appear that we were defecting. Balzano is, of course, guilty on all accounts, but calling another chair out is perilous for a myriad of reasons. Even if it worked, it would sever any trust with the next in line, so in the end, we may have a more tumultuous chair to contend with. And by taking out Balzano’s men, even with the evidence we have on him, it reads like a hostile takeover.
I won’t accept that I have no options here though. I may have signed up to be part of this lifelong society, but Rena didn’t get that choice. I promised I wouldn’t let it rob her of anything, and I won’t.
Wells rises from the table, bouncing a babbling Felicity and clearly deliberating on something. “There’s more to this, but my hands are tied, Ty. I don’t—”
“I have an idea,” Ivy blurts, biting on her lip, her cogs clearly turning. “Give me a couple of days to formulate it with Wells and pitch it to Jared and Payne. You can’t tell Rena anything though.”
Jared Austen and Payne Logan are the other two KORT chairs. Jared is the leader of The Order, and Payne is our financial institution guru. Ivy didn’t mention pitching it to Balzano because she’s probably hoping to bypass him or at least get the other guys on board with whatever her idea is first. He disputes anything she suggests.
“I won’t hide this from her or spring it on her,” I warn.
“Ty,” she huffs. “I’ll fix this. You know I’ll take care of you both. But you need to tread lightly and stop being an alphahole. We do not inform of loyalty tests beforehand, or everyone would pass.”
“And I’m telling you that I will not keep this shit a secret, Freckles. She’ll be terrified. Work with that—her being informed and me staying with her. Do that, and I’ll comply just fine.”
Everyone at the table has expressions that are a mixture of awe, irritation, and concern. I know I’m being unreasonable. Maybe we should be running. But that would be even less in my control with so many people hunting us, all who have endless resources. Plus, our loved ones would pay the price. If we’re doing this though, Iwon’t risk losing her or even traumatizing her. So, it’s vital that they know where I stand.
Ivy shakes her head and reaches for her daughter. “You’re a pain in my ass. You know that? For now, keep your mouth shut. What’s your time frame?”
By time frame, she’s referring to when she can schedule the loyalty test. It has to occur within one month of vows being exchanged. The only exception to that was Ivy’s because Wells wasn’t yet a chair when they married. Celeste was tested about two weeks prior to their wedding, but she and Liam had already had a couple of months together.
“I want the whole month,” I say, even knowing how stressful the anticipation will be. “She’ll do fine, but we need time.”
“That’s wise,” Wells grants, kissing Ivy’s cheek as she snuggles Felicity against her chest. “We also have to deal with her brothers.”
“That won’t be easy.” Rena’s sweet warble trickles in from the threshold so that all heads snap to her. She’s fresh and adorably sexy in an oversize off-the-shoulder sweatshirt, shorts, and bunched-up socks. Her hair is in a messy knot with wisps framing her ethereal beauty. I jump up to greet my girl as she continues, “The Noires are temperamental. Sorry to say, you’re all stuck with one, fam.”
Her words are delivered in jest, like always, but it’s her cover. She’s nervous. It’s been a lot. I can’t fathom all the concerns flitting through her mind, but I can assuage a few with a simple action.
