Information that will keep us safe. The Firm. The Buckinghams.
But most importantly, Neo.
24
WYLDER
My temper rises as I open the door to the Hospitality Suite to be greeted by three dead bodies. “Seriously?”
“Don’t worry,” Samson says, wiping his liberally blood-covered face with a rag. Cade is in a similar state but isn’t bothering to wipe it off. “Mark here spilled all the beans.”
I draw up next to tiny-eyed guy. At least, I assume it’s him. Hard to tell with no face, but this is the table he was strapped to. “Are you sure?”
“Yes,” Matthias answers. There’s not a drop of blood on him, but I don’t like the shade of pale he’s turned. Good thing Wyatt is just upstairs. Nothing brings my brother back to life like Wyatt Malone. Well, Wyatt Buckingham now. “We have the name and location of the boss, plus information about his security detail. They fucked up when they sent these three here.”
“See? We can handle it,” Dalton says pointedly. Like Samson and Cade, he too is covered in blood. Probably caused a lot of it, if I’m being honest. “We don’t need you babysitting.”
I stiffen. “No one said you did.”
“Come on.” Cade slaps a hand on my shoulder. “We all know youthink we’d fall apart without you, and okay, we would, but you don’t have to shoulder so much of the responsibility. It’s not all on you. We have told you this before. We meant it then, and we mean it now.”
My eyes narrow. “Wait, has Neo said something?”
The awkward silence that follows tells me that Neo has, indeed, been interfering.
I can’t decide whether I want to throttle or kiss him for it.
Who am I kidding? It’s the latter. Even if my feelings toward Neo hadn’t changed, I’d still feel…touched. How could I not?
It’s been a long time since I’ve had someone try to look after me. Someone who goes out of their way to do so.
Suddenly, I need to be back with him, to take him away from this mess and hold him for a little while. “Can I leave you to finish up here?”
I struggle to get every word past my lips, my father’s voice ringing in my ears, berating me for even daring tothinkof leaving them to it.
But there’s another voice that’s louder, encouraging me to put myself first, to be a little selfish.
A voice that sounds an awful lot like a certain blue-haired brat.
There’s a beat of stunned silence before Samson nods. “Yeah. We’ve got this. Go see your man. We can meet after breakfast.”
“A late breakfast,” Cade adds. “There are still a few hours until dawn, and I need to shower and fuck Ansel before I can get more sleep.”
Samson smirks. “You know, you only need to do one of those things.”
“You’d think that, but Ansel complains if I get into bed covered in blood.” He winks before nodding his head at the door. “Go, Brother. We’ve got this.”
Neo is sitting at the kitchen table with Harley, Ansel, Wyatt, and Jackson. Despite the darkness outside, Jules is at the stove, scrambling eggs.
I consider telling him Cade is planning a late breakfast, but decide against it. No food will go to waste, not in this house.
And definitely not if it’s been cooked by Jules. Even if his meals weren’t heaven-sent, Harley would break out some torture of his own if we left it uneaten.
It’s funny; Harley isn’t really one for torture generally. Don’t get me wrong, he sometimes joins in, and with enthusiasm, but more often than not, he’s happy to let the rest of us take the lead. In fact, he’s the most laid-back of all of us.
Except where Jules is concerned.
God forbid anything ever happens to that man. I’m not sure what I’d have to do to keep Harley under control.
