“Besides having Siderno in the same space as you?” he snarls back.
“I actually trust him,” I reply, just as quickly. “He calls a spade a spade and has never once lied to me. Unlike other people in this conversation. Now, what do I need to be aware of?”
“Heidi,” he hisses frustratedly, “there’s too much going on. The scanners are full of chatter about possible arrests and places to raid him.”
“But that is not my drama, is it?”
He doesn’t answer which is answer enough.
“Ayden, there is no threat. I doubt there has been since the day I got attacked.”
“Not true. We deal with more threats than you know of.”
“If you want people to trust what you say, you need to be honest.” I’m so tired of having the same conversation I’ve been having for years.
“You want honesty?” He scoffs.
“That’s all I have ever wanted. I’m going to go. I appreciate the heads up, but the next few days the number of security around us makes a mockery of you suggesting I’m in danger, which only makes me believe I can’t trust you.”
“And that makes no sense,” he barks.
“For it to make sense you need to drop your crap and look past your ego.”
He doesn’t even stop to ingest what I said. “We are dealing with two main threats at the moment.”
“Send me a report then, and I’ll read it.” I finish off the call and chug back the rest of my champagne.
Sinking into the moment, I laugh where I’m meant to, smile more than I should, and act like I’ve taken a handful of uppers, but the girls go with it.
My phone vibrates with an email alert that I shoot over to Douglas. And as it goes, I get a text from a no caller ID. Darius gives himself away when he calls me little moon, and I block his number.
“All okay, Ho?” Raney rubs my legs again but thankfully I manage to distract her from my BS by pointing out the window at Birdie, the Omega shop she’s always wanted to go to.
While she shops, the girls grill Puck. I trail behind, supervising, adding more candles and blankets than Raney needs and read the emails Ayden sent. And by all accounts, one of the threats does need to be taken more seriously. A grainy police photo accompanies the detail of a man who’s been removed from Verdune premises on more than four occasions. His excuses flip all over the place, but he’s adamant Allan and I asked him to come in for an appointment.
Another call to my phone, but this one has me excusing myself from the girls to meet up with Koz. I don’t ask questions, but I do the test he asks me to do on one of Raney’s ex-packmates, Hayes. I know as much about him as Raney has shared, so I get her anxiety at getting an all clear on the test.
“I spoke with Ayden,” Koz says as we both stare at the ADV test waiting for it to do its thing.
“It’s fine. I’ve got a lot going on that Raney doesn’t need to know about,” I reply.
He shrugs, neither agreeing nor disagreeing, which is Koz to a tee. He looks at me closely. “And the guards I sent you?”
“Are good. Ayden doesn’t like them which is why he’s pissed off.”
“And you’re honestly contemplating Pack Lowly?” His eyes drop to the test again.
“We’re all guilty of doing things that need doing, Koz, irrespective of whether it feels right or not. Let’s leave it at that,” I say, before activating the next part of the test.
And because it is for Raney I did the most recent ADV test, the one not accessible to everyone. This one tests ADV, but it also does a DNA assessment for a handful of ailments because the wider community still doesn’t believe that ADV is not hereditary.
Instead of talking, I sit down and rub my temples as a growing headache pinches annoyingly at the edges of my eyes.
“All okay?” Koz asks, giving me the look Alphas do.
I jump out of my seat, straightening my dress and smiling like I’m not about to drop from exhaustion. I distract him the only way rich people know how to by being a bitch. “It must have been cheap champagne in the limo.”
Before he can defend himself because Koz is not a tight ass or a cheapskate, I further distract him with the test results which are easy to read if you know how. “No signs of ADV, never had any close contact with anyone who has had it. How well do you know Hayes?”
