“Very well, I’ll wait for you to come get me. I’m going to walk Fury outside for a bit. I hear there are goats?”
“Yep, you’ll meet Monroe later. He’s the owner of Lizzie and Billy.”
“Wait!” Carter calls when Atticus stands up. “Shouldn’t we discuss pay? And how you know Javi and Doc?”
Atticus just laughs as he shakes his head, as if Carter isn’t serious. “Nah, we’re all good. I’ll let you know if I have any questions. For now, Fury and I are going to do some investigating.”
With that, he strolls out, with his…bunny by his side. The three of us stare hard at Javi, but he merely smiles. Carter drops his head into his hands, groaning.
Javi magically takes that as a sign that the meeting is done, and when he stands, so does Jude. From the guilty look Javigives him, he was absolutely thinking of absconding without facing the consequences… Good luck with that. Hopefully, Jude can find out more information regarding Atticus.
For now, I merely open my arm and let Carter lean against me. No words need to be spoken, just the constant support of knowing he has us. I’ll definitely be watching Atticus closely though.
“Ireally don’t have time for this,” Javi says as we leave the conference room together.
“Too fucking bad. Both you and Doc owe us some answers. Or do you want me to pull rank and interview you two in front of the full Council?”
Javi has the decency to wince. “Fine…just…don’t get mad if you don't like the answers.”
Grabbing his arm, I spin us and shove him against the wall—hard. Looking down into his mismatched eyes, I ignore the way his breathing picks up at how I manhandle him. I even ignore the knife that's pressed to my side in warning.
“I’d be very careful if I were you, Javi. You might be good at your job, and we may give you many allowances, but I will not let you put those I care about in danger. Understand?”
He mutters something I can’t catch under his breath, while he glares up at me. “Be careful with your threats, Jude… I might think you’ll actually like me.”
Gritting my teeth, I back away from him. I'm not in the mood to entertain him, even though I itch to put him over my knee and spank the shit out of him.
We find Doc in the medical suite’s break room, face down on the table, and if it weren’t for his rhythmic breathing, I’d be concerned someone either killed or drugged him.
Javi laughs beside me. I’m assuming Doc said something when we walked in, based on Javi's response, but as Doc’s speaking into the table, I missed it. “Thankfully, no one is hurt, so don’t worry…” He looks at me. “Well, I’ll take that back a bit, as we might be the two next in a hospital bed. I hope Dr. Ranlen is on shift.”
Doc lifts his head, looking between Javi and me. “What’s going on if no one is hurt?”
I close and lock the break room door, gesturing for Javi to take a seat next to Doc—who sits up with a groan loud enough even I can hear—so I can watch the two of them. “Tell me about Atticus,” I say. “And why the fuck someone who can single-handedly hurt or kill multiple guards should be allowed near our family.”
The two troublemakers exchange looks, having a silent conversation that doesn’t sit right with me. Clicking my fingers, I get their attention. “Look at me, not each other. It’s a straightforward question to answer.”
Doc grimaces. “No, it’s not. I can assure you, Atticus is perfectly safe. He is…peculiar, but who around here isn’t? He wasn’t wrong in saying that the guards should have asked for more details before attacking, but in a high-stakes situation, like we are currently in, I know why they didn’t. Still, don’t blame him for reacting when someone threatens him.”
Javi nods. “I can’t tell you how I know him. I mean, I could, he wouldn’t care, but it’s his business to share, not mine. Just know that I’ve worked closely with him for a long time, and I truly believe he is the person, not just for Cristian, but for all of us. Isn’t it better knowing we have someone on our side who can kick ass should shit hit the fan?”
I take careful steps forward, ignoring the twinge in my leg from twisting too quickly when I shoved Javi into the wall. Doc narrows his eyes, seeing the hitch in my step, but I don’t pay him any attention.
“When he’s a potential threat? No, it’s not.”
“I would never put anyone in my care in danger,” Javi says carefully, a coldness seeping into his gaze.
I glance at Doc. “You already have.” I hate bringing it up, but the fact is, Doc used our trust in him for his own agenda, and he is lucky his Daddy has already punished him for it, otherwise, it’d be a different situation entirely.
Doc winces. “That… Yes, that was my fault. I didn’t know Stanley was a traitor. I knew he would push buttons, and would eventually get himself killed, but…not all of it is on me. I asked Leandro to run a background check on him for a reason.”
“Doc’s already been punished,” Javi defends his friend. “That means it’s over and done with. You know better than that.”
Closing my eyes briefly, I rein myself in, nodding slowly before opening them again. “I’m sorry,” I sign and voice. “That was out of line.”
“No, you’re right,” Doc tells me. He looks up at me with shiny amber eyes, all traces of his usual arrogance gone. “I fucked up, and I own that. But, I promise you, Jude.” His signs are sure and steady, matching the intensity in his voice. “I promise, I will never put anyone in danger again. I truly regret what I did to Roman.”
Javi reaches out for Doc, sliding his arm around his friend. “It’s okay, Doc. You couldn’t have known. Hell, even I didn’t see the whole traitor thing coming, though I knew you hadn’t realized how far Stanley had fallen.”
