Shep shook his head, but before he could say more, Lucien added, “You were both flushed and disheveled after you came back from making sure his ass showed up to the altar. Shep, you were even bleeding?—”
“Whoa, Theo’s a biter? Now why does that surprise me?” Lachlan said.
Shep shrugged. “We were…fighting.”
“Yeah, fighting and fucking.”
I brought Shep’s hand up to my mouth and teased his middle finger between my teeth, giving just enough pressure that he arched a brow.
Unfortunately for us, our brothers weren’t done with us yet.
“Is that why King was extra irritable today?” Benoit waggled his brows at us, doing his best to be an instigator. Apparently dating a dangerous arms dealer meant the few fucks he’d ever given had gone right out the window. “Does he not approve of this new development because it’s Theo or because it’s anyone with Shep?”
Not one of the loudmouths had anything to say then as they all stared at the two of us and waited for the answer.
But the answer was…both. At least from where I was sitting, and King wasn’t here to give us his take on it either.
Shep finally cleared his throat and said, “You’ll have to ask him.”
“No way in hell am I asking him,” Lachlan said, holding his hands up. “It was your question, Benny—you fuckin’ ask.”
“Do I look like I have a death wish?”
“Your boyfriend is a scary motherfucker, so yeah, I think you do.”
Benoit waved him off and turned his attention back to us. “You have to give us all the juicy details. Did this start at the wedding or before? Who initiated it? My guess is Theo, but I’ll be proud if it was Shep.” When he took a sip of his drink, I thought he was done, but he continued to fire off questions. “Are you two just hooking up or is it serious? Is it even allowed, or is that why King is pissed? Did he find out about you two and that’s why he came to the safe house? Are you?—”
“Jesus, Benoit, take a breath,” Alessio said, the first time he’d spoken since King left. The fact that he was so quiet and not giving us hell was rubbing me the wrong way, because he was by far the most sarcastic shit in the group—and that included myself.
“This is important information, so why you aren’t contributing to this conversation, I have no idea.” Benoit looked personally offended, but Alessio wasn’t even looking up from the table.
“I saw their trackers,” was all he said, and Benoit gasped.
“You knew this whole time?Merde, why does no one talk to each other anymore?”
“Poor Benny doesn’t have a reliable gossip partner,” I said. “But I don’t have a tracker anymore anyway, so if you’re going to try to spy?—”
“I’ll replace it for you today,” Alessio said, picking at the leather band around his wrist.
“Alessio.” Shep waited until Alessio finally looked up, and then he leaned forward. “None of this is your fault. You hear me? You’ve done everything you can, and you can’t continue to beat yourself up?—”
“Yes, I fucking can.” Alessio slammed his fist on the table. “This guy should’ve been taken care of already. Theo shouldn’t have been taken. Those videos should’ve been an easy fake to spot. Neither of you should’ve had to hide or go to a fucking safe house in the first place. So yeah, I failed. I’m still failing. Thisassholeis still out there and I’m no closer to finding him than I was a few weeks ago.”
I hated the look of defeat on his face and radiating off him in waves. For so many years he’d been the one we relied on, but no one was all-powerful. “Alessio, you’re not the only one who can fix this,” I said. “We’re all here, together, and we’ll come up with a plan. Wewillfind this guy.”
Alessio only scoffed, not even looking at us as he ran a hand over his face.
“Would it help if I told you I have information?”
All eyes shot to me, and I felt Shep’s hand squeeze my thigh in support. I’d never felt that before, and certainly not sitting here at the Kings table. I’d always felt confident in myself and my place in the world, but having Shep beside me gave me a feeling I’d never expected, like I was anchored somehow—like I could do anything and he’d be right there no matter what.
Maybe that was why I felt so sure that what I’d overheard the night I was taken was the key to uncovering who was behind all the chaos of the last few weeks.
“When I woke up in the cave, I heard him on the phone,” I said as the room went deadly silent. “He was talking about our transport the next morning, and then he disagreed with whoever was on the other end of the line. He said, ‘That’s not where youtold me.’ Then he mentioned ‘Mott,’ like it was the place he’d be taking me.”
“Mott,” Lucien murmured, brows knitted together as he drummed his fingers on the table. “Does that sound familiar to anyone?”
“That could be anywhere,” Lachlan said. Sarcasm dripped off his words as he added, “Did he mention what kind of place he planned to take you to? That could help narrow it down to a few million hits.”
