Warmth spread in Bryson’s chest. He loved that Seth enjoyed his marks.
Kaydon’s hand came over and brushed Bryson’s neck. “You’re the only one that hasn’t gotten any bite marks.”
Adria adjusted, and when Bryson turned to look at her, her big eyes held him in place.
“Maybe Bryson doesn’t want to be marked,” she said.
Bryson looked at the ceiling.
Watching the fan blades spin above them.
Feeling Seth breathing on his chest.
Acutely aware of Adria and Kaydon’s attention next to him.
“Maybe I want something more permanent than bite marks,” he said.
It was late, and the moon was high in the sky when Bryson woke up. Adria was with them. The four of them had fallen asleep watching TV. For one small delicate moment it was just them. No outside forces. No traumas, and no death threats.
Just them.
A family.
Feeling restless, Bryson took a walk around the grounds.
Tomorrow, Cole would be there, and they would set their plan in motion to get his father out of the Nine. And, hopefully, take Alessandro down in the process.
If they could do that, Adria would be able to prove her innocence. She would move into the Triune and he…
Truthfully, Bryson wasn’t sure what would happen to the Winters line. All he knew was that he didn’t want it anymore.
He wanted to be with Adria, Kaydon, and Seth. That was all. If his entire life led him to these moments, he would be damned if a seat at the Nine was going to come between them now.
“Can’t sleep?”
Bryson froze as Sophia’s voice cut through the night air.
She sat on a white rocking chair on a side porch, looking out onto the town below.
“Guess not,” Bryson said, trying to move on.
“You are playing this whole thing wrong, you know.”
Bryson stopped. “Excuse me?”
“Adria…you three are going to get her killed.”
Bryson shook his head; he hated that he was taking this bait.
“Adria can take care of herself,” he said.
Sophia looked at him under the moonlight. “Is that what she deserves? To have to take care of herself. Her whole life has been taking care of herself.”
Bryson ran his hand along the archway and leaned into the frame. “And whose fault is that?”
Sophia took a long drag of her cigarette before speaking. “You think my failures give you a free pass?”
Bryson just stared at her. People like his father always had an angle. It was time he stopped looking at Sophia as Adria’s mother and started looking at her as a serious player in the game.
