CADE
All around me, I can hear my brothers arguing.
Harley and Matthias are on my side. Matthias is trying to reason with Wylder that Ansel betraying us isn’t possible, while Harley is threatening violence if they don’t look at alternative explanations.
Samson is yelling just as loudly, while Wylder is continuing to slander my butterfly.
Only Dalton is silent. He’s dropped to the floor beside me, his shoulder pressed to mine.
It’s too much. My brain doesn’t know what to process first. If my chest would stop hurting for just one fucking second, maybe I could make sense of this.
Then Wylder says something that has me surging to my feet. “It’s obvious that Ansel was leading Cade on. It was a setup. His plan was to get close to him so that he could get information on us.”
I grab Wylder’s shirt, twisting it in my fist, and snarling in his face. “No.”
He blinks in confusion. “No, what?”
“No, he wasn’t leading me on,” I say through gritted teeth. “I don’t know what the fuck is going on, but what we had was real.”
“Cade—”
“No,” I repeat forcefully. “What Ansel and I shared was real. I don’t give a fuck what you think happened, Iknow.”
Wylder sighs. “Cade, I don’t like it either. I know what Ansel means to you. But the fact is that it would take a talented hacker to break into those files. A hacker who lives at Ansel’s address. All the evidence is pointing toward him.”
A vaguely familiar voice, filled with utter disdain, speaks from the doorway. “Or you’re a fucking dickbag who can’t see beyond the end of his own nose.”
We all turn as one, various weapons being drawn. Neo is glaring at us all. We don’t bother asking how he got past our security.
Not when he has the guard, Neil, from the outer gate in front of him. Neo’s holding a long, jagged butcher knife to his throat.
What the fuck?
Before any of us can say anything, Neo releases him. “You can go, boo. Thanks for getting me past the other guards. Sorry for scaring you.”
As soon as he’s free, Neil reaches for his gun.
“No!” I shout. I’m not the only one, Wylder’s yell echoing over mine.
My eldest brother marches over to the door, grabbing Neo’s arm and shoving him behind him. My brows shoot up along with every one of my brothers’. Since when does Wylder ever give a fuck about someone else like this? He wouldn’t do this for Candace, I’m sure.
Wylder gives Neil a death stare. “Leave. We’ve got this from here.”
Neil glances around at us, his cheeks flushed red, his brows meeting, before he retreats silently. Poor guy is probably embarrassed. He’s a full foot taller than Neo. I wonder how Neo was able to incapacitate him.
As soon as the door is closed, Wylder spins to face Neo. “I thought you didn’t like guns.”
Neo waves the blade around sloppily. “Wow, you really are a dickbag. This is a knife, fuckface.”
I step forward, desperate to know what Neo does. “What did you mean by that?”
“About Wylder being a fucking dickbag? Thought he’d know that just by looking in the mirror this morning.”
I can almost see flames flickering in Wylder’s eyes, his cheeks turning pink. “Look here?—”
Neo doesn’t give him a chance to finish speaking, just taps the knife against Wylder’s suit jacket. “Fine, I’ll spell it out for you. God, you’re all pathetic. Ansel isn’t the only hacker talented enough to reach those files, and definitely not the only at that address.”
“See!” I say triumphantly. Neither of them acknowledges me, too busy squaring up to each other to notice I’ve spoken. In any other situation, it’d be funny to see someone as tiny as Neo trying to intimidate my stoic eldest brother.
