Declan runs his hands through his blond hair, cursing as he pulls at the strands. When his eyes meet mine, I see thatindecision is warring hard with distrust. To him, I’m still the enemy, even though the St. Clairs and Whitlocks are one and the same.
I’m not here to get Declan to trust me; I could give a fuck if he does or doesn’t. But someone blackmailing him could lead to him getting killed for not paying up, which will lead to Carter wanting to fucking scorch the city to find his killer or killers, which will put us in another war, one that we might not survive. We’re slowly rebuilding our ranks, but shit is fragile as fuck right now. We can’t afford for his bad decisions to wipe us off the map, not after all we did those many months ago.
If I have to find who is behind the bullshit threats so we don’t head down that fucking road again, I’m willing to work with Declan to do it.
He crosses his arms over his chest and says, “I have eggs, turkey sausage, and pancake mix.”
I grin and head to the kitchen, Declan’s heavy steps following behind me. While I’m grabbing the items from the fridge and pantry, Declan gets me enough pans and utensils to cook.
He sits on a stool at the bar and watches as I move around his kitchen.
Most of the food is cooked before he asks, “How did you find out?”
“Letter fell out of your pocket last night,” I say, not turning from the stove to look at him. “Wanna tell me why you haven’t told your brother?”
“You know why,” he practically seethes. I do. Carter is…cool, I guess, but he gives Declan so much shit, it’s hard to believe he cares about him. “What do you think he’d say?”
I shrug. “Probably that you fucked up because you were being careless.”
“Exactly. So, I’m going to figure it out myself, then I’ll tellhim, andthenhe can see that I didn’t try to solve all my problems with my gun.”
I grunt. “What do you have so far?”
“Fuck all.”
I grab one of the plates he left out for me and add food to it. When I slide it in front of him, he digs in as if he hasn’t eaten in years. “Slow down before you choke.”
“Fuck you, Nico.”
After I make my own plate, I sit beside him and eat. “You have any ideas?”
He shakes his head. “Nope. Like Carter says, I use my gun more often than not, so who knows? There are still people out there missing limbs because of me. That letter was sent via courier. I visited the location, but their cameras were bogus and someone that registered his name as Jon Doe sent the letter.”
I push my food around my plate, thinking. While Declan may just like to kill people instead of talking shit out, he doesn’t just shoot them without reason. It may seem that way, but that’s because Declan works shit out in his head before telling the rest of the class how he got to that conclusion.
Whoever is behind the letters has to have a strong reason to come after him, even with knowing that the St. Clairs and Whitlocks are now a combined might. They are either sure that he’ll pay them, or they have a strong team behind them to go up against our families.
“What are you gonna do?” I ask.
Declan shrugs, looking unsure. “WhatcanI do?”
“You can pay them?”
He gives me a look that asksAre you dumb?“And where does it end? Today it’s five mil, tomorrow it’s ten, until it’s more than I can afford. I may be rich, but I don’t have unlimitedfunds. I can afford to send the moneynowbut how long will that last?”
He’s right. My first thought would have been to pay the money so whoever it is can leave me the fuck alone, but Declan is right.
“You don’t get enough credit for that big brain,” I say.
He snorts. “Fuck off, Nico. Christ, you’re annoying in the morning.”
“As opposed to any other time of day?”
Declan sighs, but there’s a small smile playing on his lips. It drops when he looks up at me. “Don’t tell Kai about this. I don’t…” He blows out a long breath and shoves a hand through his hair. “He’ll tell Carter and I don’t want him to take over and smother me more than he already is. I’m so fucking tired of his lectures. Like he’s never done anything wrong.”
I feel for Declan, I really do. It’s not the best idea for him to work alone when someone is blackmailing him, but I see why he won’t tell Carter.
“Told you last night, I’ll keep your secrets,” I say as I stuff some pancakes in my mouth. “What’s the plan?”
