“Let me guess: nothing new?”
Kaz’s lips twitched before he shook his head. “Whatever is going on, it’s… I fear it’s bigger than we know.”
He felt his jaw pop at how tight he clenched his teeth. Fuck.
“Why Emmett, though? He’s never hurt anyone in his life. He’s not an active part of the club. He’s not a part of the club, period.”
Even if he wanted him to be, which he couldn’t deny anymore that he did. He wanted Emmett to stay. He couldn’t imagine his life without Emmett in it anymore.
Kaz shrugged. “We’ll keep looking for answers. Killian’s working every source he’s got, and Ezra’s doing a deep dive into the companies we know they use as fronts, but he told me not to expect it to lead to much aside from untraceable shell companies. Whoever these fuckers are, they don’t want anyone to know.”
His chest tightened, shortening his breath.
These were the people coming after Emmett. They knew nothing about them. Nothing usable, at least. There wasn’t a clear motive. There wasn’t anything tangible.
“Have Serrano responded to any of your messages?”
Kaz’s lips pressed into a firm line, anger shining from those gray eyes.
“No.”
“And Kian? Has he talked?”
“No, and I’m not asking him to.” Kaz leaned back in his chair, hands running down his face as he sighed. “Something’s fucking bugging me about this whole Serrano and Kian thing.”
When they’d gone to free Kian after the gang kidnapped him, Kaz had overheard part of a conversation between Serrano and one of the gang members right before Serrano executed him. It was barely a snippet of conversation, but from what Kaz had shared with him, it had left him questioning Serrano’s true motives.
“I don’t trust Serrano well enough to trust that he’s not using Kian. It’s clear he wants him safe and out of this whole shitshow, but I can’t help but think he’s bait somehow.”
“For Serrano’s sake, I hope not.”
The mafioso would find himself in a shallow grave if that were the case.
Kaz leveled him with a stern glare. “No starting a war with the mob.”
He shrugged. “That’s up to Serrano.”
He got up, a smile teasing his lips at Kaz’s deep sigh. He patted his brother’s shoulder before walking away.
He made a pit stop in the kitchen, downing a glass of water, before he headed back into the living room. He nearly collided with Ezra in the doorway, sidling sideways to avoid squishing the smaller man.
“You can have him back,” Ezra grumbled.
“What?”
Ezra turned to face him, his usually bright expression dimmed just the slightest. “Emmett. He’s been grumpy all day.”
He’d barely seen Emmett today, Miles letting him know before he left that morning that Emmett would be working in the office above the garage with Ezra, so he could take the day off.
He didn’t get to reply before Ezra was heading for the fridge.
He shook his head. Emmett was grumpy? Well, he knew just the thing to cheer him up.
Stepping into the living room, he caught a glimpse of messy blond hair, and a smile was already blooming on his face as he steered toward Emmett, who was walking toward the stairs. Emmett’s head was down, so he couldn’t see his expression as he followed him up the stairs, but he figured he wouldn’t be grumpy for long.
He caught up with Emmett just past the first bedroom door, smiling as he wrapped his arms around Emmett from behind and pulled him to a stop.
“Are you hiding from me?” he asked, tongue-in-cheek, as he tugged Emmett back against him.
