Page 68

Vera glances between us, looking lost. “Who are the Hearts?”
Mathew’s voice is quiet, though tense. “The people I escaped from. They’re part of the Suits Syndicate, a collection of organisations split into four groups based on the four suits in a deck of cards. They’re the Hearts, the Clubs, the Diamonds and the Spades.”
He looks at the papers on our end of the table, disgusted. “They’re all in the same types of work, human trafficking, illegal porn, prostitution, those things. The four groups each have their own regions that they work in. This area is overseen by the Hearts.”
Caleb goes over to Vera, wrapping his arm around her waist, keeping her close. “Three of the guys from Hubert’s pack work for them.”
“Gross.” Vera’s voice is quiet. “I never liked the pack, but that was a personal thing. They were well respected in our community. To think that they would work with people who do things like that…” She shudders.
“Jorge?” Caleb eyes me. “Do you think you can check the finances of the whole pack? Maybe they have more connections to them than just those three.”
“And my parents’ pack too? I can give you names and numbers.” Vera’s eyes are hard and she looks ready to murder people.
Fuck. That girl is angry. Very angry.
“I’ll see what I can do.” I look at Mathew, who’s way too quiet. Then I notice the calculating look in his eyes. Oh, no. “Don’t go rushing in there without us. Promise me.”
He looks away, his jaw set.
“Mathew!” I drop my voice, using my Alpha status to try to make him listen. I’ve marked him now, he no longer has an excuse to wave away my objections.
Before, he would tell me that I had no power over him as long as I hadn’t marked him, but he no longer has that excuse. If I worry about him now, I’m well within my rights to do something about it, no matter how annoying he might find it.
“Fine.I won’t go in alone.” Yeah, I don’t believe that for a moment.
“No.”Vera grabs his arm, her voice alarmed. “Promise me. If we go in, it’ll be the four of us together. The four of us, or nobody. Promise me!” It almost breaks on the last words, her distress over his safety somehow managing to get through to him.
He meets her gaze, his resolve slowly fading as he nods. “I promise. The four of us, or nobody.” He takes her in his arms, holding her close, his body filled with tension.
It’s clear how much he needs her, how much having her with him makes him less reckless, more grounded in the real world. But it also means that he has another person to protect, another person to worry about in this dark world of ours.
Fuck.
And here I was, thinking that things were going so well lately. But the Hearts have been able to get way too close to us for comfort and without Caleb we might not have noticed it until it was too late.
Fucking hell…