"Smart." I grinned. "And what does that sparring morph into?"
Maddie smacked my knee. "Brat."
Laughing, I was about to reply when Burke walked into the room. Quickly sobering, I inhaled a careful breath at his countenance.
"They blew up the church. We lost a man, but the rest made it out safely."
My heart was in my throat as I stood. "They hoped to get to us before we left."
"Yes."
"That was part of the crack about how we like to use bombs."
"I believe so." He glanced at Maddie and then back at me.
"At least it was a crappy, rundown church no one will miss."
Burke studied my face, and I wondered what he was trying to find. "Right."
"You seem more upset about an abandoned building than I expect you to be."
"We're fucking weak."
I huffed out a breath. "Excuse me?"
Maddie left the room, and Burke took up his pacing once more. "We've weakened ourselves to the point where the other Families laugh at us."
"Burke, that's preposterous."
"Is it?" He spun, staring me down. "The Whites, Casper Molina, the Navarros. They all think we're a fucking joke."
"What are you talking about? There's no indication that's true. They tried to take advantage of us after the Peralta bombing, but that's it. Clearly, the Navarros have never wanted peace since they haven't allied with anyone."
"I was too damn distracted when Lucian attempted to take me out, and I almost lost my life because of it. Carlos was angry because I married you, and Casper said the same. The Navarros fucking laughed in our faces today by bugging you and sending you back to me and then hoping to blow us to kingdom come."
Eyes narrowed, I did my best to figure him out. "Are you picking a fight with me on purpose? If you feel the need to hash this out, we should all be in your office. I'm not letting you attack me personally for events outside my control. We vote and agree on every move we make before we take the first step."
"Kinsley—"
"And you have final say. What's truly going on here?"
"I don't know!" he shouted, spinning to face me. "I don't enjoy being a step behind our enemies all the time!"
"Clearly, none of us do, but that doesn't make us weak. Our plan for the meeting was solid, hence the two of us standing here and not splattered all over the church walls! If they didn't feel threatened by us, they wouldn't have bothered to bug me, hoping to learn intel on the chance the bomb didn't get to us first."
His chest heaving, Burke left the room without another word. Astounded, I hurried after him before he got too far out of my sight, entering his office seconds after him and catching the door he tried to slam. "Burke!"
"Let it go, Kinsley," he snapped.
"I will not. What the hell was that?"
"What's going on?" Caden asked, stepping up behind me.
"Leave, Caden."
Caden took one look at Burke before crossing his arms over his chest. "Not gonna happen."
"You wanna ride my ass too? We fucked up today."
