Page 5

The following morning…

R eal rubbed at his jaw as he walked down the stairs. The house felt empty.

Azrael was nowhere in sight, but neither were Apollo and Cash. He hoped that the three young men had a good visit because it was rare that Azrael got to see his brother.

A picture of Azrael sprinting across the roof last night came to mind. The boy’s hair had flown around him like a dark, silky curtain.

The only way he could have stopped Azrael was to grab him before he sprinted away.

But his gut had told him that Azrael would have fought tooth and nail if he tried to detain him. And the last thing he wanted was to get in a physical fight with Azrael. The teenager was pint-sized compared to him, and it wouldn’t be a fair fight.

Real rubbed at the sudden burn in his chest. He needed to stop drinking so much damned coffee. It was making his heart pound.

Walking into the kitchen, he found a freshly brewed pot and poured a cup. He’d quit another day.

Back out in the hallway, Real headed towards Dave’s study.

“Come in,” Dave called through the wooden door at his knock.

Stepping inside the room that also doubled as a library, Real found Dave and Stone at the small bar.

“Did you talk to Azrael last night?” Stone asked.

“No, he was too…angry to talk,” Real said, walking over to the two men.

“Are we still keeping this from them?” Stone turned to Dave.

“It’s better this way,” Dave said pouring an iced tea into a glass with ice and carrying it over to sit in his favorite chair. Stone followed, carrying his own glass of iced tea.

Real plunked some ice in a glass and then carried that along with his coffee over to where the two men sat in a large alcove. The section was carved out of one side of the room.

It was Dave’s spot.

Two chairs sat with a small table between them. A rust-colored sofa sat on an antique-looking rug. A wall of glass that overlooked a garden provided a spectacular view of the beach on a bright Saturday morning. The sound of waves crashing against the shore filtered into the room.

Stone took the chair closer to Dave and set his glass on the small end table between them.

Real settled onto the sofa that sat off to the right, placed the glass with ice on the low table in front of him, and sipped at his half-full cup of coffee.

“Did they settle into the house near Angeles National Forest?” Real asked Dave.

“They did,” Dave nodded, swirling the ice in his glass.

“And they’re not suspicious?” Real squinted.

“Not that I know of. I own several places in that area under a different name. They don’t know it’s mine,” Dave said with a shrug.

“I don’t think lying to Azrael or any of them is the right thing to do,” Real said, rubbing a hand over his face.

In front of him, several bottles of water sat on a small mirrored tray on the low table. Quickly finishing his coffee, he placed the empty cup aside and cracked open a bottle of water. The table also held snacks, but food was the last thing on Real’s mind.

“Maybe not,” Dave admitted. “But it will give them a chance to relax without pressure.”

“What did Will say when you called him?” Stone asked Dave.

William “Will” Caldwell was the current Secretary of Defense, and since the man was in charge of Genesis, it made sense he would have a say in the loop about the setup of YA.

“Will said that YA is officially part of Genesis and is to be protected under that realm,” Dave said.

“That’s good news,” Stone said.

Real swallowed tightly and poured the water over the ice in his glass.

It was good news. Now there was a whole team of military and former military assassins who could protect YA.

The bad news was that the members of YA had no idea Genesis or Erebus were involved.

And Real knew that secrets had a way of coming out at the worst possible times.

All of the YA members were very young, hence the need for guidance. But what kind of guidance could Genesis give from the shadows?

Real shook off the thought and turned to Dave.

“How did Boston justify being away?” Real asked.

Dave gave a soft snort. “He lied to me and said he was staying with Rip.”

“Where is Rip?” Stone asked.

“I have Rip watching the YA place.”

“They’re good. I bet they catch him,” Real said, but Dave shook his head.

“No, Rip is really good at staying under the radar. Look at how many years he hid from Justice and Wrath.”

“Yeah, that didn’t go over too well,” Real said.

Rip was Justice and Wrath’s little brother who had gone missing years ago. Little did they know that Rip had been right under their noses—not the whole time, but long enough to create hurt feelings when it all came out.

When he thought about all the entanglements family could bring, Real was glad he had none. If he were asked about family, he considered the men of Dave’s as close as he’d ever come. They were all his brothers.

“The only problem is…how do we get YA funding?” Dave murmured and sipped his tea.

“If you’re trying to keep this on the down-low, we can’t cut them a check,” Real said with a frown.

“We could double pay them for Erebus jobs and have Genesis pick up the overcharge,” Stone suggested, taking a sip of his tea.

“I was thinking more of a shell corporation to cover the costs. We just need to be able to sell it to YA,” Dave said.

It must be nice to have that much money, Real thought.

Dave was the former SecDef and while he hadn’t made bank while in office, Dave was very well off.

Real had heard that Dave came from old money, like a rich grandfather or something like that.

Plus, there were numerous wealthy members of Phoenix, Pegasus, Infinity, and Genesis—all teams who reported to Dave.

Not to mention, there were several wealthy men of Cobalt Security, many of whom they called friends.

Real imagined any one of them would help fund YA once they were informed of what the group wanted to accomplish.

A knock at the study door sounded, and when Dave called to come in, Winter stepped inside.

Winter shut the door and stalked over to Real with a dark frown.

“What did you say to Azrael?” Winter asked.

“And that’s your business because?” Real squinted at the guy and casually sipped his water.

“Because he just sent me a text this morning saying he would be leaving.” Winter sounded put out.

“Watch your tone.” Real slowly placed his glass on the low table that sat in front of the sofa.

Silence rang through the room. Nobody spoke—not Dave nor Stone, and it was just about that instant that Winter realized what he’d done.

Real ran the side of Genesis with the former military personnel.

Winter reported to Real.

“Sorry, boss,” Winter said gruffly. “I’m just worried.”

Real dipped his head. He was worried too.

“Who’s going to make sure Azrael doesn’t leave before getting the information he needs?” Stone asked, breaking into the silence after Winter’s outburst.

“Can’t we have the grounds locked down?” Winter asked.

“Yeah, like that’s going to stop Azrael from jumping over the wall. The kid’s like a rabbit,” Stone said with sarcasm.

Real picked up his water with a silent snort. A rabbit wasn’t really accurate…Azrael was more like a wild cat, a cheetah.

Their conversation brought up the vision of Azrael. The young man moved like a dancer. So, so very fast and so fucking fine.

Real glared at his glass of water and melting ice. There could never be a repeat of what had almost happened on that rooftop.

Damn it. Stone was right though. If Azrael wanted to leave, there wasn’t anything any of them could do about it. He had already leaped over the wall last night.

Real would try his best to keep Azrael at Dave’s until this part was finished.

Yesterday, he had eavesdropped on the small reunion between the twins and knew he could use that to his advantage.

Azrael had to get his hands on the list so that YA could do what they were designed to do.

And that had to happen tonight or at the very latest Sunday night.

“I’ll think of something,” Real said. “Az wants to spend at least a few days with Apollo.”

And if Real had to use Azrael’s brother to keep him there, then he would.