“The claim on me?” I ask for clarification, but my mind is swimming with so many questions. I can’t seem to stop there. “How do you know? Why would they do that?”
“It’s the first act of war,” Maddox explains. “If they make a case that Niko was killed two and a half years ago, that far precedes my claim on you. And because Niko was an untouchable, as Dimitri’s son, it means that whoever took his life gave up the right to be protected by our code.”
My nausea intensifies, along with a throbbing pulse behind my left eye. “Why did the reporters say, ‘an unlikely killer, far removed from the crime world’?”
Axel takes that one. “They’ve likely deduced some degree of your involvement, one way or another. Or they simply know that you are Maddox’s Achilles’ heel. This allows them to paint you as guilty, nullify the claim, and retaliate against either of you.”
“Using the news is a backdoor way of getting the word out while also extending a warning,” Maddox summarizes. “They’re telling us that no one is safe.”
“And that they will ensure everyone we trust turns on us because we killed against the code,” Cash tacks on.
I don’t miss the casualwehe threw in beforekilled. All of them are so willing to carry each other’s sins.
“Time to fucking fumigate,” Gage gruffs, to which Maddox, Cash, and Liam all point to him in agreement.
“No,” Wells and Axel assert in unison.
“They’re taking their time to build a case for war,” Maddox argues, “and they aren’t even certain we know they’re gunning for us. If we strike first, we have the advantage of surprise.”
“I’m in,” Jax shouts from Rena’s bed. “Blitz the motherfuckers.”
It would appear the whole room is listening.
“It will be a bloodbath, Mad.” Ryker palms his dice in a neurotic frenzy. “We need the backing of members.”
Axel puts his glasses on, scrolling on his phone. “I’ll call an emergency meeting with KORT this morning. You two get the fuck back to the resort, and don’t leave again until this is over.”
Maddox is fuming. “I’ll get Tessa safely back to La Lune Noire, but—”
“Good,” Axel barks, cutting him off with a leer. “That is your only priority. Because these assholes will take going against the code to a whole new level. They will send the kind of message that never stops haunting any of us.”
A chill scampers through me, impaling my marrow. I can only imagine what that message would entail. I’ve heard enough horror stories to have an idea. Torture. Rape. Mutilation.
“She is my only priority,” Maddox snaps back, “which is why, after I get her to safety, I’m not fucking cowering from this shit, Axe. Or running or waiting to see what they fucking do. She’ll never be safe.”
“You’ll have the votes with KORT,” Ivy chimes in, revealing that she isn’t merely an involved wife; she has some sort of role in that secret society. “A threat against the Noires is a threat against the entire organization. We need as much information on what happened that night as possible. Get your affairs in order and plan to hit them”—she glances at her watch, noting it’s four in the morning—“in seventeen hours.”
“We’ll be ready,” Wells confirms.
“Liam and I can work through the details of that night,” Axel says.
Some organizations have codes about the treatment of women. I know the Noires do, so the ones they are most closely aligned with probably hold similar values. I’m not sure if Maddox explained what the catalyst for that night was because he had promised Violet he wouldn’t, but I’m guessing he alluded to it. I think if her identity won’t be revealed, it makes sense to divulge why Niko died.
“If you need to tell them everything that led to it in order to gain the support”—I flit my focus between Maddox and Axel, hoping they are reading between my words about the rape—“you can.”
Axel bobs his head, tugging me against him with pride coloring his assurance. “Good, Tess. No personal details though. You’ve both been up for almost twenty-four hours. Go home.”
Thirty minutes later, we’re zipping back to the resort, with security detail in the truck behind us. Bernard stayed at the hospital, so it’s just the two of us in Maddox’s SUV. The ride has been quiet so far. It’s nearly dawn, and we’re lost in music, so we don’t succumb to the mounting stress and trepidation.
I’m rarely the one to break the silence, but I’m guessing Maddox’s head is busy, so I provide a distraction. “At least we’ll make it back to see the grits rolling competition.”
“Yeah,” he sighs. “Let’s gets some sleep and do that.” As I hoped, he breaks into his boisterous laugh. “Last year, Brasi came in strong with fifty-eight pounds. I don’t even know how the fucker climbed out of the tub.”
It’s the dumbest competition. Well, truthfully, most of them are dumb. But grits rolling is hilarious and much anticipated by all. Participants jump into a pool of grits, flail around, and see how much they can collect within their clothing. They are weighed before and after, and there are various tricks to hold more.
“I remember.” I smile, thinking about how Brasi idolizes Maddox.
He was in a really bad place when Maddox gave him the promotion. His mom had died a few months earlier. Then hisgirlfriend broke up with him. All the employees were concerned. He was drinking to a state of blacking out all the time. Until Maddox made him run until he puked and told him he was his new assistant. It was a few months before I terminated my employment and a little over a year before I killed Niko Makarov. That was only one of the acts that made Maddox stand out to me, but the change in Brasi was enough for me to know he was more than he presented himself to be.
