Page 45 of Through Any Fire (Any x #1)

W e don’t leave the bed for two days. Time seems to slip away as we lie together, relearning each other’s bodies and sharing the highlights of our time apart.

The first morning after, Tinley shrieked when she entered the room, thinking we’d already left for breakfast. The poor girl is probably scarred for life after seeing Cal drive into me.

He didn’t even stop, just turned back to me and covered my body with his.

From then on, food was delivered to his desk, and we shut out the rest of the world.

Alice was released from the hospital yesterday, but she won’t answer any of my calls.

I know she needs to heal, but I can’t help but feel sick with guilt.

I want to show up at her apartment, but Cal has talked me out of it.

Instead, he sent Cohen to check on her. It eases some of the crushing guilt, and when Callahan trails his fingers down my spine, I forget everything besides his touch.

But eventually, all good things end, and we had to return to reality.

Hot air blows on my face as I dry my hair into waves, while Cal shaves the three-day scruff off his jaw.

Our eyes keep catching on each other’s in the mirror, a knowing curl to my lips matching his.

By the time we make it downstairs, we’ve already discovered just how selfish we can be with making others wait. Twice.

Cal’s lips are tender but chaste when he pulls out my chair at the breakfast table in the dining room.

Fresh roasted coffee wafts in the air, and I doctor the mug to my liking, the creamy blend warming my bones and filling my stores.

Or that may be the way Cal keeps staring at me from above his newspaper.

“Earth to lover boy,” Lucas teases with a wave of his tattooed hand in front of Cal’s face. “You in there still?”

Cal rolls his eyes, shaking out his paper and ignoring Luc flat out.

It brings a smile to my face, which Matthias catches immediately.

He’s still sour toward me, but less so than when I first moved in.

I often wonder if we’ll ever be friendly like we were as teens, but part of me knows not to get my hopes up.

Well, if I have to prove to him I’m all in, so be it.

“Any word on Peter?”

A fork clatters onto Luc’s porcelain plate, the clang ringing out in the newly tense silence. I shift uncomfortably in my seat as I wait for an answer, but no one seems to want to say anything.

Cal clears his throat, swallows a bite of food, and takes a sip of water. “Everyone is searching for him.”

The table seems empty, but I’d just thought we were late to the meal. My brows furrow. “Have you reached out to Rose?”

Matthias and Lucas look nervously between each other. “We have, but she’s unlikely to tell us she’s captured him if he’s still alive.”

Cal’s fingers curl into fists on top of the table. My blood runs cold, and I shove my hands under the table, the warmth of my thighs defrosting them. My bottom lip makes for a decent distraction as I gnaw on it, but I can’t avoid the question for long. “Any updates on Mason?”

The air turns tense, silent as my question hangs. Cal’s throat bobs, and he doesn’t answer. Matthias and Lucas are also noticeably quiet.

“Listen, Ren,” Cal starts, his tone oddly placating. “No news is good news at this point. If our tech contact can’t find him, that’s not the worst thing in the world. It means he hasn’t found him dead”—Cal winces but continues—“or alive. We’re still looking for him. Okay?”

The information isn’t surprising, but it doesn’t stop the blanket of guilt wrapping around my shoulders.

I knew when Mason shared he wanted to follow in our father’s footsteps that he was risking his life every day.

With each day that passes, I’m finding that glow of hope dimming.

There’s still one year and eleven months left on our marriage contact—though I think it’s probably void by now.

I need to prove that I’m in this. For good.

“And what about the warehouses?”

Luc smirks, but Matthias’s brows shoot to his hairline. He folds his arms over his chest. “Why are you so suddenly interested in our business, Loren?”

“Isn’t it my business now, too, Mattie?”

He growls, the sound reverberating across the dining room table.

Settling into my chair, I let his obvious annoyance fuel me. “I think it’s about time I did. This is my legacy now, too, Mattie. You guys seem to forget that I grew up in the Bianchi house. Have you even considered what I might know about their operations?”

Lucas and Cal look impressed, but Matthias just rolls his eyes .

“What could you possibly know?”

My smile makes him flinch.

Fifteen minutes later, we’re in Cal’s office downstairs.

I’m sitting in front of Cal’s desk while Lucas sits beside me.

Matthias opts to lean against the bookshelf behind Cal’s desk, while Cal sits on his throne.

The clock on the wall ticks as the silence stretches.

Luc taps his fingers against the desk, and Matthias does his best to look anywhere but at me.

“So, what you’re saying is…” Cal trails off, confusion pressing down on his brows.

“Their systems are archaic, and part of the reason they’ve been so difficult to track is because they only keep written records. There’s nothing to hack.”

Matthias scrubs a hand over his jaw. Dark circles shadow his brown eyes. I wonder how much sleep he’s been getting.

Lucas looks astonished. “That must take…hours—no, days longer than it should. And what are the checks to ensure accurate reporting?”

“It’s a pretty tight-knit circle. Each leader reports their division’s operations to their supervisor, and so on, until only the Bianchi brothers have access to the entire operations. Leon assumes most of the responsibility of balancing it and presents the reports to Elias.”

Matthias whistles, shaking his head in disbelief. “Handing that much unchecked power to someone who’s not the boss is never a good idea.”

My nose scrunches. It’s Leon . All he did as a kid was chase Hudson, Elias, and me around. He’s always looked up to his brother.

“Anyway,” I continue, “obviously they share the same desire to grow, both in power and territory, but from what I can tell, Elias has had a difficult time implementing any change. The last time I visited the Bianchi estate, Elias had the same ledger sitting on his desk that his father did.” Not that I have much room to talk. I still used a planner, too.

Cal frowns. “When was the last time you visited the Bianchis?”

A knot thickens in my throat. “About a week before I went to Abstrakt.”

His nostrils flare, and the heat of his stare pins me to my chair. We sit in tense silence for several moments until Luc clears his throat, releasing us from our trance.

“I had to ask about Mason. But they told me they couldn’t give an outsider any confidential information. That’s when I knew I was on the outs with them. I used the last of my goodwill when I asked Hudson to slip me a wristband for Abstrakt.”

While I speak, Cal is silent, but his outrage seems to dissipate from his features. His shoulders relax, and his signature smirk appears once more. “And thank god he did.”

My eyes roll of their own accord. They sent Mason into Keane territory and told him to scope out their warehouses for god knows what reason—my brows shoot to my hairline. Cal shifts in his seat, leaning forward with his elbows on his desk.

“Take me to a warehouse.”

They all protest at the same time.

“Absolutely not.”

“Fuck no.”

“No chance.”

I try again. “Take me to a warehouse,” I pause, holding up a hand to Matthias when he opens his mouth to argue again.

“Let me see what it looks like. I’ve known Mason his entire life, and until seven weeks ago, we lived together.

I know how he thinks, how he operates. As much as I hate it, I understand why he did what he did.

My brother’s desperate to be accepted. But if you take me to a warehouse, maybe I can put myself in his place and see what he would’ve done.

Maybe I…” I trail off, clearing the desperation from my throat.

Cal’s brown eyes flick over my face, searching for something. Then, he nods curtly.

“You can’t seriously be considering this,” Matthias says. “Agapov is still MIA, and just because he hasn’t gone back to another warehouse doesn’t mean he won’t.”

Cal turns to Lucas, who shrugs. “We haven’t pulled back security yet. If there’s any time to visit, it would be now.”

Then Cal turns back to me, but his words are for the brooding man behind him. “I think you’re underestimating my wife, Mattie.”

A warm flurry erupts in my belly, and blood rushes to my cheeks, but I don’t break eye contact with Callahan. There’s a mischievous curl to his lips, and I stifle the matching curl to mine.

Cal nods once. “Fine. But we wait until nightfall.”