Pix comes over to me and touches my shoulder. “You okay?”
“I’m fine.”
She shakes her head. “Leeva’s back in town; I know you’re not fine.”
Bane regards me, crossing his arms. “You’ve been oddly absent, Army.”
I feel Digits’ stare burn into the side of my face, but for some reason, I keep my secrets to myself.
“Leave him alone,” Ash orders, then motions to the door. “I need the room for Army and me to chat.”
My heart rate spikes, but I rely on my training from the Marines to remain calm and collected, even under threat of an attack.
Digits follows Bane and Pix out, muttering as he walks by me, “Tell him.”
Once we’re alone and the door is shut, Ash sits back in his chair and motions for me to sit.
“What did you want to talk about?”
He drums his fingers on his desk, eyeing me. “You want me to believe that you haven’t been searching the city for Leeva?”
“She’s here but hasn’t sought me out. It’s pretty clear she doesn’t want to see me.”
Those words are the truth and make me feel sick.
He regards me for a moment. “Digits has little capacity for anything else right now—not with the regular security work he handles and the request I’ve made for him to help Massimo assess potential threats, both to him and to the Chamber as a whole.”
The Chamber is a collective alliance of the city’s top five criminal organizations—us, the Santoro mafia, the Saints, the Triads, and the Fire Clan. Due to recent events, the need to expand membership was being explored.
It doesn’t take a genius to know what Ash thinks, or maybe even knows: that Digits has been helping me.
Again, I keep my secrets to myself, regardless of Digits’ warning, because I first need to know how there’s no evidence of Guerilla’s tattoo on Leeva’s neck. And when I confess all my sins to Ash, I want to have a game plan of how I’ll not only survive this but also keep Leeva in the end.
That’s assuming she wants me when she discovers it’s been her best friend hiding behind the wolf mask, fucking her.
“I don’t need Digits’ help,” I say without admitting he has been helping me.
And I'm not lying. Because I don’t need his help anymore. Once I follow Leeva tomorrow morning to wherever she’s going, I’m making my move to claim her officially.
He sighs, leaning forward to rest his forearms on his desk. “We’re family, Army. You don’t need to go at this alone.”
“You just told me Digits’ help is off-limits.”
He scowls at my taunt. “This is really how you want to play it, brother?” When I keep quiet, his expression turns pensive. “I’m worried about you.”
“I’m fine, Ash.” And I am…for the most part.
He relaxes back in his chair with a shake of his head. “You know we have your back and where to find us when you decide not to face this alone.”
He thinks that I’m struggling mentally because Leeva has returned, and I can’t have her.
But he doesn’t realize how wrong he is.
Chapter 26
Leeva
Istoptherentalcar outside the wrought-iron gates and enter the code Luthor left in the instructions of his will. He was as organized and thoughtful in death as he was in life, and my eyes mist with tears.
