Marc let out a deep sigh, and Ryan rubbed a hand over his face as he processed that particular truth.
“Shit.”
Ryan nodded at Marc’s succinct retort.“How the fuck does this even work, guys?”
“I don’t know.I’ve never heard of anything like it before.”
“Her circumstances are unusual, brothers,” Trip said softly.“She’s… Her life seems to have been in danger for a very long time.That kind of situation was bound to have repercussions.Especially when it boils down to her relying on the one man she’s known who’ll protect her.”
“Proximity and danger…” Marc confirmed roughly.“I think you should do the test, Ryan.”
“I didn’t see a connection yesterday when you did it, Ryan,” Trip argued.“Surely, you’d have been linked to him from the get go.”
“No.Don’t forget, I’m linked to her.He’s linked to her.She’s the connection.We weren’t looking for anything like that.Plus, you didn’t know she had security in the restaurant.Why would you have thought to look at them when I was doing the test?I know for a fact I was totally focused on her and no one else but her.”
Trip conceded that with a rueful grimace.“I guess you’re right.”
“So, what do we do?”
Ryan frowned.“I’m not sure.”
“If she really cares for him, loves him even, we don’t want to let this situation go unresolved for too long,” Marc pointed out carefully.“It will just cause her unnecessary pain.Her links to us will strengthen, but her loyalty to Shawn won’t go anywhere, especially if our suspicions are correct.She’ll feel guilty and undoubtedly, knowing humans, feel like a whore for wanting Shawn too when she has three of us already.If he isn’t anything other than a friend, well, there’s no harm done for testing the waters, is there?”
Ryan nodded.“I guess not.”
“You don’t look convinced.”
“I’m not, Marc.I don’t know what the fuck is going on.My mate’s used to the notion of being kidnapped.We might have to share her with an outsider.Her family isn’t just wealthy, it’s a pivotal founding father of the damn industrial revolution.I have to share all this with the Pride.That doesn’t take into account what we’ll have to endure with a police investigation nosing their way into everything… and, I didn’t tell you.But the guard I killed?His surname was Pantera.”
Marc swore under his breath.
Trip hissed.
“What?Why the fuck are they involved, and why are we just hearing this now?”
“I don’t know.But that’s just another dose of shit to top off the situation.”He blew out a breath.“I’m more grateful than I know to have her in our lives, but I wish things were simpler so we could just focus on her and getting our union right.”
Trip sighed.“I know, but that’s never how things work for us.Not since…”
“Not since I became leader, I know,” Ryan gritted out, trying not to feel guilty for something that was, essentially, out of his hands.
“There’s no blame to cast here, guys,” Marc interrupted.“No reason for you to feel badly at all, Ryan.It is how it is, and we have to roll with the punches, like we always do.”
Ryan ducked his head, kept his gaze trained on the desk.“I’m going to be delegating a lot over the next few days.Adam will pick up the slack, and so will his admin team.I’d imagine you want to spend a lot of time with her too, so I’ll make them available to you as well.Just let Adam know what you need, when and where, okay?”
Marc nodded.“I think I have everything to hand.The restaurant’s practically running itself now.The Ventura one’s shut down, and the other two… well, they’re fully functioning without us.I’m only on hand now to trouble shoot.”
“That’s good.She’ll do well with you around, Marc.You’re a calming influence.”
His brother’s grin was rueful.“I don’t feel all that calm around her.”
“None of us do,” Trip retorted with a smirk.“That’s how we know she’s so precious to us.”
Ryan sighed.“She is that.”To Trip, he asked, “What about you?I know you’re always overworked.”
He shrugged.“I’ll delegate a few of the accounts to my team.I shouldn’t have need of yours though.Thanks for offering.”
“No worries.I’ll be speaking to Adam within the hour, then I’ll have Santiago and Erickson around before lunch.I think you should be there for the debriefing.”
