He stood quickly, his hand knocking some of his books onto the floor. “My guys? Fallon and Rowen. Are they okay? What’s happening? No one is telling me anything.”
I walked around Sloan so Vail could see me. “You know we can’t tell you what’s going on yet. It’s too dangerous.”
Sloan hummed in agreement. “Rowen and Fallon are safe. They weren’t hurt, but you need to stay here until they come to get you. This is the best place you can be right now.”
Vail’s expression dropped and he pressed his lips together, nearly pouting at the lack of answer. He eyed Sloan’s cut bottom lip carefully, a little unsure. “Right, because I tried to call them, and they haven’t answered. I hate not knowing anything.” The words came out in a rush and he still wasn’t done. “It reminds me of this time when?—”
“Dr. Mifflin.” Lor laid his hand on Vail’s shoulder, distracting him. “Just breathe. They’re fine. Sloan says so, and he wouldn’t lie about it.”
“No, I wouldn’t.” Sloan exhaled and pinched the bridge of his nose. “And your boys in Miami are healthy.”
I’d forgotten about the task we’d sent some of our best soldiers to Miami for. Reyes had a cousin there who was causing trouble. Cillian, Aspen, Jamie, and his right-hand man, Corbin were handling it. If you call bombs and escaped tigersdealingwith the situation.
Vail offered him a small smile. “I’ll pack up my stuff and get out of your way. We just wanted to keep Conall company.”
Sloan held up his hand. “Don’t. You can stay here. I need to have a minute with Conall, but I’ll take him somewhere more private.”
Vail smiled sadly, the corners of his eyes crinkling. He wrung his hands and rocked a little on his feet. “Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do.”
“You have four boyfriends, so I guess that gives us a lot of wiggle room,” I teased, and it was enough to have all of us chuckling despite the shitty night and early morning. The sun was up, but it felt like one continuous day, especially as we’d barely slept at all.
“Don’t go anywhere, Vail. Stay here.” Sloan gave him a pointed stare before he turned and slipped his hand into mine, guiding me back out of the office.
We didn’t speak as he led me down the hallway, up the split staircase, and through the maze of halls until we reached our room. I kept my eyes on Sloan’s back the entire way, taking in the anxious tension of his muscles under the blue scrubs. I was tempted to tell him the color brought out his eyes, but I kept my mouth shut. Sloan obviously had something on his mind that he needed to talk to me about.
We finally managed to get into the bedroom, and he shut the door firmly behind us. He stayed there, palm pressed flat against the wood while staring at the door, and I frowned. This was more than stress.
I hesitantly took a step toward him, then another, and he didn’t move. His head bowed forward, and I shot to him, the need to comfort him urging me to press my chest to his back and wrap my arms around him tight. I laid my cheek in the middle of his shoulders as I strengthened my grip on him.
“Sloan?”
He inhaled through his nose but stayed silent. The eeriness of the quiet made my stomach churn. This wasn’t my partner and boss I was holding. He was a shell.
“Talk to me? I can help.”
He laughed grimly and patted my hand against his stomach. “There’s nothing you can do, Pet. This was my fault.”
“Fionn?” I kissed the skin above the collar of the scrubs and squeezed him, even though it wasn’t possible to hold him any tighter. “No.”
“You don’t know what happened,” he growled out, angry. He tensed farther. “Reyes baited me, and I took it like a fucking child being needled by a bully. He wanted anold-schoolfight in the alley, and I accepted his challenge. Look what happened. Fionn was shot. Three times in the chest. Trying to stand up for me. Thiswasmy fault. I let him get the better of me when I should’ve been thinking clearly.”
“Sloan—”
“Pet, I don’t need you to make me feel better.”
I flinched, the cutting tone slicing through me. I shoved aside my feelings, though, because beneath his words lay a shadow of despair that ripped through my soul and tormented my heart. Sloan, my confident partner, was hurting. Bleeding emotionally. And I was the only one who could heal him.
“I lecture Fionn on being a good leader, and I failed. I put my nephew....” He slammed his palm against the wooden door. “Mysonin the hospital. He survived, but it could’ve just as easily gone the other way. I could’ve lost him.”
“But you didn’t.”
I’d had enough of this self-pity. I released my hold on him and spun him around, which took a bit of maneuvering because he was bigger and stronger than me. I poked him in the chest as he frowned down at me.
“You are Sloan Killough, the biggest, baddest mob boss in the United States.In the world. Your enemies tremble when they hear your name. But, you know what you also are? Human.” I slapped my hand over his mouth when he opened it to argue. “Shush. Your pet is speaking. You’re allowed to make mistakes. Yeah sure, you’ve seen a lot in your life. Blah blah blah. Whoop dee doo dah. I don’t care.”
I poked him harder in the chest, and he made a face, half offended and half amused. His mouth curved into a small smile when I finally dropped my hand from it.
“Fionn was shot protecting you. It’s not about a job, Sloan, it’s about family. You said it yourself, he’s yourson. He was prepared to lay his life on the line for you. Most of the men here are, including me.” I stared at him pointedly because I was not backing down over this. Fuck that. Sloan needed someone to talk sense into him. “You areours.We chose you as much as you chose us. So, get over your pity party, which isn’t a good look, bythe way, and man up.” I smacked him on the chest this time and raised my chin, challenging him.
