Easton laughs. “I can’t make any promises, but I did hide my gun just in case.”
Just then, Ellington enters the room. “Who was at the door…” She trails off when she sees us. Her large eyes go to her husband. “Sin, what’s going on?”
“Come here.” He reaches out to her, and she sits down beside him on the couch across from us.
She looks terrified, her face now pale and her breathing erratic.
“We want Easton to join the Spade brothers.” I come right out with it. There’s no reason to worry her. We’re not here to threaten or drag anyone from their home. I know there was a time we showed up and made that threat to collect if Easton didn’t deliver, but things have changed.
“What?” She shoots to her feet. “No?—”
“Elli.” Sin stands as well.
“You want this?” she asks with a hand on her chest. “Why?” Her voice rises. “They almost killed you.”
“It wasn’t like that,” Sin argues.
“It was exactly like that,” she shouts. “You were bleeding…your blood was all over their clothes. I watched Bill and Tyson carry your unconscious body out of that…dungeon. Gavin had to intubate you because he said your body deserved the break.”
“It wasn’t personal,” Saint offers.
“It was to me,” she growls at him. “How dare you come into my house? Two of you know what it’s like to lose your wives, so have some Goddamn respect for my marriage.”
“Elli.” Sin grabs her hands. There’s a smile tugging at his lips. He’s proud of his wife for finding her voice, but he’s also trying to convince her this is a good thing. “It won’t be like last time,” he assures her.
“Yeah. We’ll sedate him for the brand,” Haidyn tells her.
She glares at him while Sin snorts. “I can handle it,” he tells Haidyn.
“Easton,” she snaps, “you can’t be serious.”
“Look—”
“He’s doing this for you. Your future,” I interrupt Sin. He’s not going to win with her, so I’ll explain it.
“Our future is fine,” she assures me. “We don’t need any of you.”
“If Sin dies tomorrow, you’re regifted,” I tell her.
She swallows, looking away from me.
“We didn’t come here to frighten you. We’re here to help you,” I go on at her silence. “If Sin becomes a Spade brother, he appoints one of us as your guardian.” I hold up my hand when she opens her mouth. “It’s nothing more than someone who takes care of you and the kids. There are no stringsattached to it. It guarantees your safety and the children’s. The Lords can’t hand you over to another Lord.”
Ellington nibbles on her bottom lip for a second. “What about Carnage?”
“What about it?” Haidyn asks.
“We have to live there?”
“No,” I answer her. “We don’t have to live there. We just choose to.” But that’s changing soon. “You guys can stay here. Hell, you can move across the country if you want. Nothing will change.”
“But…” She falls down onto the couch, and Sin sits next to her. “Tyson told me that the Lords couldn’t find out that he was at Carnage. That’s why they had to replace his Lords crest with the original size that you guys removed when I offered to give him mine.”
“Being a Spade brother and being a prisoner at Carnage are two very different things,” I inform her.
Ellington looks at her husband. “This is what you want?”
He takes her hands in his. “I want you and the kids safe. That’s what matters.”
