Page 51 of Climbing Everest

Yeah, she has every right to beat the shit out of all three of us. But unless she learned to fight recently, she might end up breaking a finger or spraining her wrist.

“What were you thinking?” she says. This time, her voice is low and full of heartache. Betrayal.

“I told you. Had we known the truth…I’m sorry,” Kato says.

And he actually does sound sorry, even if he continuously shoots daggers at me from his eyes.

Whatever. We needed to tell her eventually. I doubt her reaction would have been any different regardless of how we broke the news to her.

“I should also let you know we had a tracker implanted under your skin,” Kato says.

“Of course, you did.” Shit. She seriously sounds as though her heart has been smashed to bits by this news.

“Everest, it was before we knew the truth. Although, I want to leave the tracker in. For your safety. If something ever happens, if any motherfucker ever thinks to take you away, we’ll be able to find you,” Kato says, ever the diplomat.

“You’ll always be able to control my every move.

See my every move.” Her head is shaking side to side slowly.

“I could be pregnant. With everything we have planned, I could be carrying a child right now. There is literally no guarantee the Pakhan will side with us, regardless of what my father did. Which means I’m just as much the enemy to the Bratva as you are.

So now there will be two of us at risk.”

“Flora would never let her father do shit to you,” Brix says. “And we’ll never let anyone hurt you again.”

She fully turns to face him, craning her neck to look into his face.

“I’ve been in this life as long as you have.

Actually longer, since I was born into it, and we both know there is literally no way for you to guarantee my safety any more than you can guarantee one of you won’t be gunned down during one of your trips doing whatever the hell it is you do when you come home covered in blood. ”

We’ve seen enough people fall during my time with the Antonious. I’m sure Everest has seen people disappear, as well. Though I highly doubt she’s had as many front row seats to the deaths as we have. Nor has she been the one behind the trigger.

“You know, I can almost understand why you did it. What I don’t understand is why it’s taken so long for any of you to tell me.” She looks at each of us and my heart clenches at the tears in her eyes. “You betrayed me. All three of you.”

She turns on her heel to walk away, but Brix grabs her bicep and tries to stop her.

Except he apparently forgot our Everest isn’t that sweet, innocent girl we fell in love with. Just like she’d done to Kato when he refused to let her speak, she raises her knee to bury it in Brixton’s balls.

Luckily, the dude moves fast enough that she barely gets his thigh, though by the tightness around his eyes and the furrowed brows, I wonder if she didn’t manage to graze at least one of his nuts.

She storms from the room, and Brix and Kato turn to glare at me.

“What? She needed to know,” I say.

“We should have done it together. Laid it out…more gently. Whatever you did…” But Kato trails off.

Because the reality is that, yeah, I might have blurted it out with zero tact, but I still told her the truth. I don’t think feeding her or giving her flowers, wine, or jewelry would have lessened the blow at all.

I think she might have understood the reasonings if we’d come clean sooner. I truly believe the reason she looked so dejected, the reason she feels so betrayed is because we waited so long.

We waited until we knew – or hoped – she could forgive us and continue building a life with us.

Her steps are heavy as she moves around the house. Minutes later, the door to the attached garage opens and closes.

We all share a look until the soft rumbling of the garage door raising sounds throughout the house a split second before the motion sensors alert us to movement.

“Shit,” Brix grits out, turning and sprinting through the house.

“The guards will stop her,” Kato says as he runs after Brix with me right on his heels.

We all pile into the garage and stand in the driveway and watch in complete and total awe as Everest guns the engine of Kato’s McLaren toward the guards and the closed gate.

“Fuck!” Kato roars, running in that direction.

If she doesn’t stop, she’ll slam into the gate. And no, it won’t be one of those cool scenes like in the movies. The gate is fortified, and she’ll end up hurt.

“She’s not stopping!” Brix yells as the two of us try to catch up to Kato.

“Open the fucking gate!” Kato yells when she’s mere yards from slamming into it.

At his announcement, I slow and turn back toward the house, racing toward my Hayabusa.

She has a tracker. We’ll always be able to find her. Doesn’t mean I want her out of the house unguarded.

I’m still barefoot, but at least I pulled on a shirt. Shit. Boxers and a t-shirt aren’t exactly great for riding this time of year, but I’ll catch up with her much faster on my bike than the SUV or one of the other vehicles.

While Kato and Brix do whatever the fuck they’re doing outside, I sprint through the house, grabbing the walls as I turn the corners to keep from sliding on the hardwood floors.

I drag on a pair of sweats, shove my feet into the first sneakers I find, then, as I’m running through the house again, tug a hoodie over my t-shirt. It’ll still be cold, but it’s better.

Besides, my comfort means fuck all if something happens to my wife simply because I was more concerned with the cold than her safety.