“Shut up,” I tell him teasingly. Gage is always saying stuff like that, trying to get a reaction out of me. We’ve known each othersince his dad came to work for my dad when Gage was ten. He became instant friends with Ryder and me, and we’ve been inseparable ever since.
He sobers. “I get it, but what if we can make peace with the Perez’s? Can you do that?”
Gage knows what I went through with them. “No one from that time is alive anymore,” I muse. “It’s what needs to be done, and ending a feud like that will shake the foundation of the families.”
Gage nods. “In a good way,” he points out. “Your office dweller is working through everything now. We’ll have answers by morning.”
My ‘office dweller’ means Holden, my hacker.
“Stop calling him that,” I tell Gage.
“Why? He never comes out unless it’s to eat or work out with one of us. Then he drags his ass back in there like a zombie.”
“That’s where he’s comfortable.”
Gage leaps up from the bed and starts shuffling around like a zombie, arms stretched in front of him. “Must have food. Must hack shit. Must please Master.”
I throw a pillow at him. “Stop,” I say, starting to laugh.
Gage turns his grin on me, dimples on full display, leaping on the bed on his knees, making me bounce. “So, what are we doing with your prisoner downstairs?” he leans in. “Maybe we can play with him. Did you see his abs? Damn.
Yes, I saw them. Up close. Also, everything else about him.
“There will be no playing with the prisoner,” Ryder announces, entering my room. Gage and I both turn to him with a pout, causing us to crack up.
“But why?” I whine. “He’s fun to play with,” I say, waggling my eyebrows, knowing it will get a rise out of Ryder.
He points at me. “No, Queen Stabby. But I want to know the answer to your equally psychotic sidekick’s first question. What are we doing with him?”
Ryder lays down on my other side, propping his head on his hand.“I told him to tell his brothers that he’s staying with me for a few days. By that time, Holden should have some information on this situation.”
“They bought it?” he asks with a little frown line between his eyebrows.
I reach up and smooth it out. “They sounded like they did. He called Evander.”
“You know what it means if he’s lying, right?” Ryder asks.
I sigh. “Yep. All out fucking war between the Poletti’s and Perez’s. Fucking wonderful. I need to call Micah.”
Gage pops back onto his knees. “Look at it this way. His story could be completely true. Micah isn’t your real uncle; he’s your half-uncle,” he points out.
He is. Granddad Poletti stepped out on my grandma late in life, which is how Micah came to be, and only seven years older than me. But unlike Leo’s dad, if his story is true, my granddad owned up to his mistake and raised Micah as his own. My grandma was a freaking saint to deal with that.
“Even if this never happened,” I start and stare back at the ceiling. “It would have been over the minute he found out what I do.”
Ryder shrugs. “You take out the bad fuckers that the courts can’t. If he can’t stomach that, he doesn’t deserve you anyway.” He reaches over a gently nudges my chin to look at him. “Let’s find out what the hell is going on and go from there.” He kisses my forehead before standing up. “My vote is still to kill him, though.” He gives me that grin that is all Ryder and strolls out of the room.
“I just want to touch his ass once,” Gage declares, watching Ryder walk out of the room, making us both laugh.
Gage is good at breaking the tension in a room, so I ensure he’s by my side. I knew who I wanted there from the very beginning, and we just worked together too well not to.
I reach over for my phone to look at the time, and then dial Micah’s number. It’s after midnight, but I know that he’s still awake.
“What’s wrong?” he says when he picks up.
“What makes you think something is wrong?”
“Because it’s after midnight,” he replies, and I hear a female voice murmur something in the background and the sheets rustling as Micah gets up.
