Thank God Matt didn’t have that problem—he already had his phone out and was flicking through until he found the number he was looking for and hit the button. Bryce didn’t even have Tom’s number, he realized. He had nothing except the memory of the look on Tom’s face when Bryce’s words had torn him apart.
He was trembling as he watched Matt swear, thumb the button then try again. This wasn’t happening. It couldn’t be—and then he cocked his head, because he could have sworn he heard something.
He glanced back to see Matt was still trying Tom, and he left the kitchen to try and find the source of that sound, out of place in the quiet house. As he moved along the hallway, it grewlouder, and he finally placed it—the irritating default ringtone of someone’s phone.
He followed it all the way to Matt’s den. Everything blurred as silence fell and he saw Tom’s gray jacket, folded neatly over the back of the chair where he’d left it. Because of Bryce, he’d left without it. And then the phone started ringing again, urgent and insistent from the pocket of that damn jacket.
He took in a breath that was more like a sob, and his knees buckled. Tom was in danger. Maybe he was already hurt, or worse, and it was only now Bryce realized howwronghe’d been. He couldn’t lose Tom. Hecouldn’t.
It didn’t matter why Tom loved him. Fate, biology, random cosmic luck—none of it changed the truth that Tom loved him. And Bryce loved him right back. The thought of a world without Tom’s smile in it was unbearable.
He raced back up the hallway to find Matt just putting his phone down. “It’s no good—he left his phone here,” he said, snatching up his keys from the counter with a shaking hand and then checking his pocket for his wallet. “I’m going to Washington.”
“Hold on,” Matt said, utterly unruffled.
Bryce swung around and snarled at his alpha.
“If you’ll let me finish, I was going to say we’re coming too,” Matt said, and Bryce became aware of Jesse melting forward from where he’d been standing by the back door. “Riley, wake Karl and tell him he’s in charge till I’m back. If you can find an alternative numberanywherefor Tom, for God’s sake call him andkeepcalling him till you get an answer. Tell him about Steadman. And good job.”
With the briefest of pauses to pick up ID, they were on the way to Denver and the airport. Every inch of asphalt felt like a hundred miles to Bryce as he snarled quietly beneath his breathat Matt to drive faster, damn it. Because if anything happened to Tom, he didn’t know what he’d do.
Chapter Twenty-five
TOM
“She’s expecting you,” Maria said as soon as Tom entered the office. Which was code for “where the hell have you been?” He glanced at his watch to find it was almost ten minutes before he was due, which meant Councilor Steadman must beveryanxious to get his news.
And she was. His ass had barely touched the seat she’d offered him before she demanded to know just how he’d left things in Elk Ridge.
“Both Urban and Turner agree there’s nothing to be gained and potentially a lot of harm to be done by coming forward at this time with news of Turner’s bloodline,” he said, because that would gain time for him to start the ball rolling on the matter of the murders. And if Bennett really was the guilty party, the last thing they wanted was for him to have Jesse’s support. “They’re open to further discussions before making any moves.”
“Good,” she said. “Good. Nice work, Tom.” Her mouth stretched in a smile that wasn’t reflected in her eyes. “I’m wondering why you wanted to see me, the subject that was so sensitive you couldn’t tell me on the phone?”
“Yeah.” He hesitated. No matter how many times he’d gone over this on the flight, he still hadn’t come up with a good way to tell her that one of her fellow councilors was a criminal and that the security detail they all relied on, the one he’d briefly belonged to, was that person’s private murder squad.
He licked his lips and knew she marked it. She sat back slightly, her hands coming to rest on the arms of her chair, her body language open and encouraging him to continue.
“They told me something else when I was there,” he said. “I didn’t want to believe it, it seems so far-fetched, but the evidence—”
Before he got any further, her fingers spasmed. The fingernails that were painted the same delicate color as her lips dug into the padded leather beneath her hands. It was only for an instant, but it was enough for him to break off and close his mouth with an almost audible click.
“Go on,” she prompted.
He tried not to stare, but something in her eyes made him feel like a rabbit in front of a snake. The hairs on the back of his neck rose, and his wolf snarled, scenting danger.
“I—uh,” he said, his brain spinning like a hamster wheel and getting absolutely nowhere. He ran his hand over the back of his neck, the brief warmth of his fingers replacing the goose bumps that had risen, and his mind started to work again.
The sense of danger in the room was palpable. He didn’t know why. What hedidknow was that he had to get out of here without breathing awordabout what he’d come in here to tell her.
“We’re mates,” he said, with an attempt at a self-conscious smile. “Me and the Elk Ridge pack beta. I thought you should know ASAP, because it’s going to be useful for negotiations.”
Her eyes were sharp and hard on him, and the sense of danger from her didn’t diminish in the least.
“I just wanted to tell you, so we can work it into future negotiations,” he said weakly.
“I don’t know why the hell you thought that was worth rearranging my diary so you could have a private meeting. You just cost the taxpayers several thousand dollars, Barrington, not to mention inconvenienced several high-ranking government officials.”
“Yes, ma’am,” he muttered, rising to his feet.
