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“I figured he had to have some skeletons in his closet. Truthfully, I had only known he was bilking those charities and the tax system for a few days when our Kitten came back. And then I lost track until that day in the Peds ward. My call to DIFS was anonymous, and I sent them what my guy had. Easy. ”

Easy? Hardly.

“And the money-laundering? Did you know about that?”

Gideon shakes his head. “No, although I have a standing order with Adam. I haven’t checked the dropbox for a while. I can check it now?”

He holds his hand out for the tablet that Finn guards with his life.

“Are you sure it’s safe?” Luca asks.

“I’d say so. If Carnell had access to the files on there, I’d know about it already,” Gideon scoffs and starts accessing his covert files.

“Holy shit. There are several here…going back to before Christmas. Hmmm…”

Finn looks over his shoulder, and his eyes pop wide.

“Your real estate agent made the list. For the new facilities? Her license has expired. And…Ro? Looks like one of the gaffers has a crush on you. The dude has a secondary Instagram where he posts thirst edits of you.”

Nix growls at that. “Really? What’s their name? Maybe I should show them you’re taken.” He points to his belly and lets his fangs drop.

Rowan puffs up with pride. “Yeah? Let’s do that. Who is it?”

Jay resists the urge to smack him on the back of his head for encouraging Nix to go hunting when they get home. Nix has a very long memory. “No, don’t tell us. Please.”

Gideon laughs, and Jay recognizes his love of chaos in the chuckle.

“Okay, here it is. Rhodes…blah blah blah… criminal charges…”

Abruptly, Gideon’s face falls, and he jerks his gaze to Jay’s.

“I’m not going to like this, am I?”

“Un-fucking-likely. We already knew Carnell owns their house and the gyms, but your parents’ net worth is in the shitter, and all of their liquid assets have been seized.”

“That’s par for the course, but…shit,” Finn adds. “Do you think they turned to laundering money for cash flow to maintain their lifestyle? The club, the luxury goods, and their cars. It’s all money they’re getting from—”

“Carnell,” Jay whispers.

“Yes. Carnell saw an opportunity, maybe? Adam says the paper trail is weak and started up late last fall after he bought up the mortgages on your parents’ places. They’ve called in the FBI’s Organized Crime unit and fucking Interpol. Holy fucking shit. ”

His parents are on the radar of the Feds and Interpol? They’re no fucking joke. He wishes he could have seen his father’s face when they charged them.

“Are you alright, Jamie?” Nix asks and stands so he can turn and sit again, this time in a straddle over Jay’s lap in the kitchen chair.

“Yeah. I’m good. Don’t fucking care.”

With a skeptical expression marring his face, Nix shakes his head. “The bond says that’s a lie.”

He hadn’t thought what he’d said was a lie. Not at first. And maybe it’s not entirely. So he sighs.

“Alright. So I’m upset. It’s a shitshow. Fuck. The company…we’ll need a plan for if this goes live. We might need to make a statement, anyway.”

“Jay, stop for a second,” Luca says. “What do you want to do?”

What does he want to do? Jay thought he was done with his parents. This should make him even happier to be done. And yet, he’s back here on his old home turf, and the desire to look them in the eye and get some answers is strong .

“No. No. Jay. I know that look. You told me you were done.” Gideon hands the tablet back to Finn as if he’s preparing to catch Jay when he makes a break for the door.

“Gideon, I need to ask them why. Even if it’s only my mother—she’s ignorant and vain, but I think maybe she’d talk to me. I could get some truth from her. Maybe see if she knows anything about Carnell. Surely you can see why?”

“Un-fucking-believable. If I’d known you were going to be so fucking stupid about this, I would have left them alone.”

“Don’t be mean. Jamie has unfinished business. I know what that’s like, and I know you do, too,” Nix chastises, and when he looks at Jay, he sees only understanding—something he hadn’t known he craved.

“Jamie, if you want to talk to them, then let’s do it.”

Take Nix along?

“Hell, no. I don’t think that’s a good idea at all.” Leo shakes his head. “I’ll go with you.”

“Grayson needs that MRI tomorrow, and then I’ve got to do five minutes of research at the library. That means Nix is with us,” Finn offers.

Lauren had come through and got them into the small Were hospital attached to the university.

“Okay, I’ll stay here,” Luca says when no one asks, and he slips from Finn’s lap under the table until he pops up in Jay’s lap as well.

“Ro and I have unfinished business.”

“What? I have to go with…”

“No, Rowan. Unless you’re coming with me and Leo to the country club and are on your best behavior, you can stay and protect the den.”

“Fine,” he says, and Jay isn’t sure which part was a deterrent or an incentive.

That just leaves Gideon undecided. With Jay and the chance to see the Rhodes suffer, go with Nix to protect their omega, or stay at home with his soulmate and miss the action for some action .

“Well, love?”

Grayson chuckles and begins to clear the table while Gideon mulls it over. “ Decisions, decisions.”

“I’m with Nix. I can’t take the chance that Carnell has eyes everywhere.”

It’s the first anyone has said about Nix being Carnell’s target—both at the house before the fight with Hayes, and when they’d arrived in Clearwater.

“Really? That’s not what I thought you were going to choose.” Leo loads the dishwasher and starts washing the bacon pans.

“Me either,” Rowan smirks. “Thought he’d have chosen to torment Rhodes.”

Nix sighs. “If you’re going to try to talk to them at the club, Jamie, you’re going to have to find a way in. It’s pretty exclusive, no?”

“Shit, yeah. Leo, do you think Margot could get us passes? Visiting rock band wants to play a round?”

“That’s a great idea.” Leo dries his hands on a towel and rubs them together in anticipation, making no secret that he enjoys a round of golf.

“You are not actually playing golf.” Finn chuckles when Leo’s face falls. He’s such a little shit sometimes.

“Why are you so mean to me?” Leo moans, but still picks up the burner phone to make the call. “What’s the name of the club, and what am I telling her?”

Leo wanders off to make the call, and Nix grinds down on Jay’s lap to get his attention again.

“Are you sure you want to do this in a public place?”

Jay had considered that, too. “At least they won’t make a scene.” He shrugs.

Why Nix looks skeptical, Jay can only guess. “If you say so. But the members might make a big deal about you and Leo being guests. What if Carnell hears?”

“At the very least, your parents might tell him themselves. What will you do then?” Finn asks.

“Carnell isn’t interested in me or Leo. It’s Nix, for whatever reason. Look at Hayes. Look at his attempts to abduct him when we got here. Dill Pickle said it was Nix he was after.”

Nix jerks in his arms at the mention of the intruder he’d met outside the gates .

“Sorry, Baby.”

“It’s fine. I forgot for a minute. What does Carnell want with me, though? I’m nothing special,” Nix murmurs, and rubs his nose up and down Jay’s mating bite before licking it and digging his human teeth in, to soothe himself.

“Don’t say shit like that, Nix. Makes my wolf really mad,” Rowan whines.

“Sorry, Ro. I mean, I’m not special enough to commit federal crimes over.”

Grayson snorts from the kitchen. “Try again.”

Finn laughs. “I can name at least…” He counts on his long fingers. “Seventeen Gideon has committed this month.”

“Ha ha, you guys. You know what I mean.”

“We do, and the thought still stands. Kitten, you will go with me to the hospital so they can check Gray over, and then we will go to the library. Yay, books.”

“Your sacrifice will not go unappreciated. Will you try to keep the mayhem to a minimum?” Nix giggles.

“I promise no crimes will be committed…”

“Good.”

“…without forethought or necessity,” Gideon finishes, pecking the top of Jay’s head and pinching Nix’s cheek before he heads into the laundry room. The washing machine starts up shortly afterward.

Leo arrives back from his phone call.

“Margot says no problem about getting the guest passes for tomorrow. She’s so nice…good at her job, too.”

Nix starts a low grumble, and before Jay anticipates it, he has Leo on the floor, flat on his back. “My Leo.”

“Holy shit, Nix,” Leo grunts.

Nix pulls his T-shirt off and puts the waistband of his shorts under his baby belly, pulling Leo’s hands up and onto the growing swell of their pack babies. “My Leo.”

Nix hadn’t taken well to the newest employee of Phoenix Rising, but he tolerated her because she was very nice, mated, and pregnant with her own pack baby. Even so, he was territorial when presented with the woman who’d had a schoolgirl crush on his Leo. Especially when his Leo complimented her.

Jay might have believed Leo didn’t do it on purpose—if he didn’t do it every damn time.

“Yeah, yeah, I’m yours. I won’t forget it.”

“Good. Now, I want to fuck. Who’s in?”

Leo jackknifes up, hoists Nix over his shoulder, and runs into the temporary nest room while Nix giggles maniacally.

There is the sound of broken glass as Grayson drops a dish into the sink and scoops up the laughing Luca.

Rowan follows by vaulting the counter, where he’d been putting the dishes away.

He and Grayson get wedged in the door to the nest room until Luca pinches Rowan, and Grayson gains the upper hand.

There’s laughter as his pack scrambles and maneuvers for optimal satisfaction, but it’s Nix’s happy giggles and moans that soothe some of Jay’s worry about his parents tomorrow.

There’s the scent of sweet black currants, and then he’s got a lapful of Finn.

“You okay, Big Daddy?”

“Not you, too,” Jay sighs, and he can feel his cheeks go pink. He wants to say he hates it, but they’d only be able to tell it’s a lie. He consoles himself with a lingering kiss on his mate’s lips.