“And we back more.”
“Bane’s not going to like it. Dimitri and Olive have a kidnow. So, you know they want to keep their hands clean with the HEAT empire too.”
“Everyone gets dirty sometimes.” I slammed my hand down on the desk.
“You’ve lashed out for Franny. And now again for a woman?”
“My daughter needs—”
“Don’t start with the teacher bullshit.” My brother gave me a look. Then he combed a hand through his hair and grumbled, “I need a damn drink.”
“Me too.”
“Dad would have—”
“Dad’s not here. And you know why? Because his ass wasn’t loyal to the family, to the syndicate, or to even you.”
Pacing the room, Cal stopped to turn and look at me. “You think I don’t know that, brother? You think I don’t know what he did in the dark of the fucking night?”
His question held secrets, dancing in the shadows and mocking me because I couldn’t uncover them all. “He won’t ever do any of it again,” I ground out, frustrated that somehow my father had tainted not only my life but my brother’s too.
“Adamantem infractum manet,” he grumbled almost like it was a curse rather than a show of power. “We need the syndicate to understand what you’re doing, Jameson. Give them that so they don’t question your leadership.”
“They question my leadership, they shouldn’t be a part of—”
“I know,” he cut me off. “But lead with respect and transparency rather than fear, Jameson. You’ll get further than our old man ever did.”
I wanted to shout “no.” I wanted to lash out and lean into the rage. But my brother was standing there asking me, and he was family. The syndicate was family too. “Call a night under Seymour Hall, then. But let me be clear: I’m lashing out for all of us. No one better mistake my leadership for emotion, Cal. They’ll regret it.”
He didn’t say much else to me but raised his eyebrows. He knew there were lines even he shouldn’t cross. Questioning me again and again was one of them.
I knew what I was doing.
I had everything under control. I made calls for a syndicate night before deciding that I needed a hearty breakfast. One I would make and carry up to Mia so we could eat together. I wasn’t acting out of emotion. It was just a nice fucking gesture.
The screams I heard from her room when I was just down the hallway were bloodcurdling. I felt them in my soul, bone chilling and full of fear. Mia hadn’t shared much with me, but I wasn’t about to ignore this and afford her the privacy she probably deserved.
Archer ran down the hall from the opposite end to meet me as we both got to her door.
“What the hell is happening?” I asked him.
He pinched the bridge of his nose and winced because it was bruised from the punches I’d inflicted last night. Fucker. He should be happy he still had a job.
“She’s having nightmares again.” He had the damn audacity to step between me and her door.
“Again?” I knew my eyes held murder, but her screams had died down like the nightmare had passed. “Move, Archer.”
“Wait a second, Jameson.Fuck. She didn’t even want you knowing about them, and I realize you don’t want me in the way, man, but you’ve got to see I’m there for her like you asked me to be. She’s a friend.”
“I slept in her goddamn bed last night. So, I think knowing about them is warranted.”
He sighed. “I’m respecting her wishes.”
“Over your boss’s?”
“Yeah.” One second passed, and then another. He held his damn place, knowing what it meant for our relationship. He waschoosing her over me, and a part of me respected him for it. The other part I tried my best to suppress. “I just want her comfortable here. Usually, she has a nightmare, I knock, she stumbles to the door like a groggy mess, apologizes for her appearance, and then we eat.”
“You eat breakfast with her?” I wanted to punch him again, but I knew Mia would be irate.
