“You know I think we’ve made the wrong choices, I’ve already said my piece on that, so why argue about it now?”
“I underestimated him. Again,” Nero sighs and shakes his head.
“That shit stops now, right? We get ahead of this and stop hiding behind this bullshit idea we’re protecting our people. What he did proved we’re not protecting anyone.”
“Watch what you’re saying, Rebel.”
“Not with this,” I fire back. “Fuck, Nero, I know better than anyone what Oscar means to you. And Jesse and Taylor. You care about Ellie too. The rage in you that night when we took that prick to the farm, that is the Nero I want to see. But you pulled back when we should have kept going.”
“Don’t fucking say it.”
I stare him down, but I’m the first to look away.
“Just because I have a family doesn’t make me weak.”
“I never said that.”
“You fucking implied it,” he snarls.
I heave out a sigh, drawing the anger back inside. Nero isn’t who I want to take my frustration out on.
“The only way to protect them, and anyone else we give a shit about, is to strike back, hard and fast. Storm can’t keep us on the back foot.”
Nero is a good man, he cares about people and he can be easy-going, to a point. When he turns, it’s written all over his face.
Nero and I have disagreements, but I never outright disrespect him. Even when I don’t like his decisions, I follow them because he is my president.
Instead of fighting it, he’s seeing sense.
“We’ll discuss it when everyone else gets here,” he says. “I respect your argument, it’s coming from a place of wanting to keep us safe. I know what I’m doing, Rebel.”
There is no point in arguing. I walk to my designated seat and slump into it. Nero remains standing, waiting for me to argue, but I bite my tongue for now.
“How is Ellie?” I ask to diffuse the situation.
“Made it through surgery,” he rubs his chin. “She woke up, cussed a lot of people out, then they sedated her because she was getting agitated.”
“That sounds like her.”
He smirks. “She’s pissed he got the drop on her. Ellie has spent her life expecting people to hurt her and devising ways to protect herself. She didn’t see this coming, and instead of scaring her like most normal people, she wants to fight back.”
Nero knows her better than I do.
“She’ll be fine. The problem will be holding her back once she is well enough.” He pulls out his chair and takes a seat.
“I’m sure Beast can manage it. Are we closing any of the businesses?”
“I’m not letting him fuck about with our income. Elegance will be open tomorrow as normal. I want him to see he failed. Our priority is finding the prick who attacked her.”
“Good.”
His body language changes setting off alarm bells. “What?”
“You might not like what I’m thinking.”
“Meaning?” I lean back in the chair.
“Surveillance.”
