Okay, that was fuckingit.
I threw the glass onto the expensive rug covering King’s wooden floors, then stalked forward until I was toe to toe with East.
“You’re gonna to wanna get out of my face, little prince,” I growled, and the fact he had to angle his head up to meet my stare made a punch of adrenaline rush through me.
“Little, huh? Apparently I’m big enough foryourKing.”
I could hear the blood rushing around my ears as it boiled to an all-time fury, the red haze clouding my vision so close to exploding I could feel the heat flushing my face.
Thenhe smirked.
I reached out, grabbed hold of East’s silk shirt, twisted it in my fist, and hauled him forward until our noses all but touched.
“What are you gonna do next, Mr. Winchester? Punch me?”
I wanted to. Christ, I wanted to. But as my name echoed around the vast room I’d once shared with King, I realized what I was doing. What I wascloseto doing. I was giving East exactly what he wanted. He’d riled me up, and I’d be damned if I let this little shit get to me. Not when there was something and someonefar more important than him counting on me in the other room.
With Theo’s face in mind, I let go of East’s shirt and shoved him away from me.
“This isn’t about you or me or even King. It’s about Theo and what he went through.”
East shook his head, disbelief entering his eyes. “Are you really that stupid? Has your dick made you blind?—”
“Watch it, kid.”
“—to how torn up King is over this?” East’s brow furrowed, his own concern now slipping past the pompous bravado he’d been exuding from the moment we arrived. “He’s not sleeping, barely eating, and instead of being his second-in-command, you’ve fucked off and decided to pickmeoverwe.”
It was no secret that I didn’t put much stock in anything East had to say, but this time his words drew me up short, and so did his tone.
Libertine was like an extended family of sorts. That was why it worked. We had the utmost faith in one another, trusted each other implicitly. But there was no denying the fractures that had formed over the last month, making it feel as though I’d needed to pick sides—to pick my man over my leader.
East was right, though it pained me to admit it. I’d been so caught up in my new role as lover, boyfriend, and protector that I hadn’t stopped to think about how what had happened was affecting everyone else.
Theo might’ve beenmyeverything, but he was also their brother and King’s responsibility. He was an integral part of Libertine, losing him would’ve gutted our organization, and the weight ofthatrealization would be weighing most heavily on the one who had, for one second, let his feelings cloud his usually impeccable judgment.
Maybe if I’d taken the time to call King, to talk to him about my changing relationship with Theo, he wouldn’t have made such an impulsive move. One I knew he was still beating himself up over.
Then add to that the discovery at the warehouse and…
Yeah, East was right, goddamn it.
I’d been so caught up in myownworld, myownanger, worry, and frustration, that for the first time since joining Libertine, since becoming second-in-command, Ihadpickedmeoverwe,and that wasn’t how a leader acted.
“Just because you aren’t together anymore”—East’s voice floated through the air and brought me back to the present—“doesn’t mean he doesn’t care about you or…miss you, I guess.”
I glanced at where East was doing his best to appear unaffected as he straightened his silk shirt.
“He tell you that?”
East’s eyes met mine and narrowed slightly. “He doesn’t have to. I could feel it. So could Zac. Just because you have someone new in your life, doesn’t mean you have to pull away from the old. He’s your brother, your King, is he not?”
Jesus Christ, it was a sad day when I was getting handed my ass by James fucking Easton.
Seemed that todayIwas Twiddledum.
“He is. And it’s about time I go find and remind him.”
I started forward, about to go and look for Theo and King, when East stepped into my path.
