Page 20

twenty

The meeting was already in full swing when they walked in.

Sabin, arms crossed, was glaring at Liam. “I never should’ve brought her into this.”

His sister. Vivianna.

Sabin wasn’t prone to guilt, but Davey knew he worried about those he cared about. And right now, he was spiraling.

“She’s not a kid, Sabin,” Rowan pointed out, dropping onto the couch.

“She’s not a soldier, either,” he shot back.

“Sabin.” Davey waited until the man’s angry blue eyes met his. “Look, I know you’re pissed off and worried. We all are. But Vivi’s okay. She was never at the safe house, and Frost has no reason to go after her.”

“You don’t know that for sure. Frost is unpredictable, and he’s already proven he’ll go after anyone associated with us.”

Rowan let out a sharp breath. “You mean like Rue?”

Silence.

Sabin shifted uncomfortably, but Brody was the one who finally said it. “You have to face the facts, Bristow. She’s working with Frost, which makes her an enemy.”

Rowan’s jaw clenched, her hands curling into fists against her thighs. “No. He’s using her. He’s funding her upcoming expedition to Antarctica. Why, I don’t know, but it has nothing to do with the contract on Davey’s head.”

Davey exhaled. “Ro?—”

“No,” she repeated, cutting him off. She leaned forward and rested her elbows on her knees as she met his gaze. “Rue’s not in this, Davey. She’s a pawn in some other game he’s playing, and I’ll figure out what that is, but I guarantee it has nothing to do with what’s happening here now.”

He studied her face, searching for any sign of doubt. But all he saw was fierce determination. He knew that look well—it was the same one she’d worn every time she’d slipped away from him these last few weeks. If he didn’t tread carefully here, she was going to run again.

“All right,” he said, holding up his hands in a placating gesture. “We’ll operate under that assumption for now. But we need to be prepared for any possibility. If she’s involved?—”

Rowan’s eyes flashed with anger. “She’s not.”

Sabin cleared his throat. “We were talking about my sister. How do you plan to protect her ?”

Davey rubbed at the tension in his temples. “I’ll assign her protection until this is over. Or,” he added when Sabin just scowled at the suggestion, “have her visit your parents. Frost isn’t going all the way to Louisiana for someone who knows nothing about our operations. Plus, your dad is one of the deadliest guys I’ve ever met.”

“He’s retired.”

“What, so he won’t keep his daughter safe?”

Sabin’s scowl deepened, but after a stubborn moment, he nodded. “ Mais , yeah. I’ll talk to her about going to New Orleans for a few days.”

“Good,” Davey said, turning his attention to the rest of the team. “Now, we need to focus on our next move. Without Elliot?—”

“How is Elliot?”

The question landed like a punch and rocked him back on his heels. He glanced around, taking in the tight expressions, the worry etched into every face. But it was Brody’s that he settled on since he asked the question.

“He’s okay. He’s awake and breathing on his own.”

“And surly as hell,” Dom added.

“If anyone has a right to be grumpy tonight, it’s him,” Sullivan muttered.

Brody exhaled a shaky breath and dropped his head into his hands. His shoulders curled inward, hands clasped together like he was bracing for impact. “I’m just so fucking glad he’s alive. I don’t know what I would’ve done—” His voice cracked.

Sullivan, ever the steady one, put a comforting hand on his twin’s shoulder. “We tried to get in to see him, but the hospital wouldn’t let us.”

Brody and Elliot had been through the shit together in the military. They’d always had each other’s six, no matter how bad things got. And judging by the slump of Brody’s shoulders, he was drowning in the same guilt Davey felt.

Davey rubbed a hand over his jaw, suddenly exhausted. “Shit, man, I’m sorry about that. I told the hospital nobody but family until we can figure out where the threat’s coming from.”

Brody’s head snapped up, and just like that, the raw grief was gone. In its place was cold fury. “And what if the threat’s coming from the family?”

Davey’s denial was instant. “No.”

But even as it left his tongue, he knew it might not be true. He shot a look at Liam. His cousin stared back, his stern face even more grim than usual. Of Uncle Greer’s two sons, Liam looked the most like his father, and the similarities had a knot of dread tightening in Davey’s gut. He respected Greer more than any other man alive, and Greer had trusted him with this company, this family. They all had—his uncles, his dad. They believed in him.

“Something’s happened to our family over the last few years. We’re splintering, and that’s a problem because we Wildes work better as a team.”

That was what Dad had said to him after they signed the company over at Christmas.

“Greer has faith in you, but I know you. You’re worried you’re not good enough and will let everyone down. You’re terrified of failing, which is how I know you won’t fail. I know you’re the only man for this job, and you will not rest until you’ve solved all of the family’s problems.”

But he’d only been in charge for a little over a week, and look what happened. Maybe their belief in him had been misplaced.

“No,” he finally said with more certainty. “It’s not someone in the family.”

“We have to consider all possibilities,” Liam said quietly. “We know Cade wanted the company, and he was pissed when they gave it to you.”

But, still, it didn’t fit the Cade he used to know, the one he’d once seen as not only a cousin but his best friend. Was Cade really so different now? And would he risk going to prison, leaving his baby daughter an orphan, just to get his hands on the company?

Davey shook his head. “Cade’s ambitions don’t make him a murderer. We’ve had our differences, sure, but killing for power? And with poison? That’s not his style.”

Dom winced. “Normally, I’d agree, but I keep thinking about what Elliot said at Christmas. Cade doesn’t get over things. He gets revenge.”

“But he’s family. You really think he’d poison a family member?”

Dom lifted a shoulder. “We all know Elliot never eats when he’s on an op. It was a fluke he did this time. Maybe Cade thought he’d be safe.”

“If he hurt Elliot, I don’t give a fuck what his last name is,” Brody said softly. The cold had thawed, and his anger now boiled like magma preparing for an eruption.

Davey held up his hands. “Okay, okay. Let me talk to him. If we all go in guns blazing, we’ll only escalate things. I’ll bring Cade in for a conversation, try to get a feel for where his head’s at.”

“You know exactly where his head’s at,” Brody muttered.

“Maybe, but I’m not throwing a grenade into my family on a hunch.”

“Davey,” Rowan said softly, voice laced with concern as she stood and crossed to him. She laid a hand on his chest, over his heart, and lifted her gaze to his. “You can’t face him alone. I know you don’t want to think it, but if Cade is involved in all this?—”

“I know.” He sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. “But if I appear weak or panicked, it’ll only give him more power over me. I don’t want to be at war with him, and finding out we have a common enemy, attacking the company he wants, might be the catalyst we need for a truce.”

“Assuming he’s even willing to cooperate,” Sabin added, his skepticism evident.

“That’s my problem to figure out.” He met each of their gazes in turn, willing them to see his perspective. Cade had made himself an adversary, yes, but the last thing any of them wanted was him as an enemy.

Brody’s anger still simmered, but he finally nodded in agreement, as did Sullivan.

Sabin threw up his arms. “If you think you can talk Cade Wilde down, be my guest, mon ami . But it’ll be a first.”

“You know I’m always with you, brother,” Dom said after a beat of silence.

Liam exhaled hard, but he also nodded. “Dad chose you over the rest of us for a reason, so I’m with you. I’ll back your play no matter what.”

Davey met Liam’s gaze, and, for the first time, he wondered what all of his other cousins thought about him getting the company. He knew his brothers hadn’t wanted it, and Cade had made his feelings about it damn clear at the family Christmas party. But what about Liam or Bridger? They were Greer’s sons, and although all five of the original Wilde brothers had an equal share in the company, everyone knew it was really Greer’s baby. He’d created Wilde Security thirty-five years ago, setting up an office in a rundown strip mall in D.C. to protect his younger brothers and make sure they all had a safe place to land when they left the military.

Davey faced his cousin and switched to sign language: “Did you ever want it?”

Liam’s eyes widened in surprise, then the first genuine smile Davey had seen from him in a long time spread across his face. He signed back, “Hell no. I love this company, but running it? That’s all you, cuz. Dad made the right call, giving it to you.”

“What about your brother?”

“Same deal. Bridger is happy working undercover.” He dropped his hands and said out loud, “We have your back.”

Some of the tension eased out of Davey’s shoulders. “All right, so we’re agreed,” he said out loud and turned his attention back to the group. “I’ll reach out to Cade, see if I can get him to come in tomorrow for a talk. In the meantime, we need to keep digging into Frost.”

“Speaking of which,” Sullivan cut in, ever pragmatic. “Without Benji and with Elliot out of commission, we need someone to handle the tech side of things.”

“We’ll figure it out.”

Liam arched a brow. “We have someone. Daphne.”

“No. After what happened to Elliot, I don’t want to bring any more cousins into this. Especially ones without combat training.”

“You think she’s not already in this? I bet my next paycheck she’s already poking around, probably hacking into things as we speak. If we don’t bring her in, she’ll just insert herself —and we both know she’s capable.”

Davey glanced at Rowan to get her take, and she shrugged. “Gotta admit, Daphne is scary good. We could use her help.”

Fuck, they were right. Daphne would’ve taken the attack personally, and she’d fight back the best way she knew how—with her computers. Knowing her, she probably already had information for them. “All right, yeah. Liam, Sabin, go talk to Daphne. Tomorrow,” he added after a glance at the clock on the wall. It was late, and they were all exhausted. “Take the rest of tonight to recharge. Brody and Sullivan, I want you to dig around in the mud and see if anything pops on Frost or the contract on me.”

Sullivan gave a smile that was more than a little mean. “I do love getting dirty.”

“Which is why I’m sending you. Check all the usual haunts, see if anyone’s talking.”

“On it, boss,” Sullivan replied, already heading for the door with Brody close behind.

“Tomorrow,” he called after them. “Catch a few hours of sleep first.” Sullivan waved a hand over his head in acknowledgment without looking back, but Brody didn’t reply. He doubted they’d listen. Brody was too angry to take the night off.

Sabin and Liam followed them out.

“We’ll wait until morning to talk to Daphne,” Liam confirmed from the door.

“She’s probably awake,” Sabin protested. “Hell, I’m betting she’s still holed up in that computer lab, tapping away like she got the devil at her heels. Ain’t no such thing as quittin’ time for that one.”

Yeah, he was most likely right. Daphne was a workaholic like that. But as much as Davey wanted answers now , he shook his head.

“I want you both to get some rest. If shit hits the fan like I think it’s going to, it might be the last quiet night we have for a while.” When the door closed behind them, he turned to Dom. “I don’t want you going home. The brownstone might not be secure. Go sit with Elliot at the hospital. Keep him safe and keep him from doing anything stupid.”

Dom grinned. “So, basically, be his babysitter? He’ll love that.”

“Tough shit. He’ll get over it. Just keep an eye on him and keep me updated on his condition.”

“Will do.” Dom headed toward the door but paused beside Davey, resting a hand on his shoulder. “Take your own advice tonight. Get some rest, brother. You look like hell.”

Davey nodded, but the weariness in his bones told him sleep wouldn’t come easy. As the door closed behind Dom, he turned to find Rowan had returned to the couch, her hazel eyes fixed on him with an intensity that made his skin prickle.

“What?” he asked, suddenly self-conscious.

“You’re not planning on getting any rest tonight, are you?”

He scrubbed both hands over his face and sighed. “There’s too much to do. I need to?—”

“What you need,” she said, cutting him off and rising from the couch, stepping closer, “is to take care of yourself.”

Her proximity was intoxicating, stirring up memories of heated nights and whispered promises. “I appreciate the concern, but I’m fine.”

Her eyes narrowed. “You’re exhausted, stressed, and carrying the weight of the world on your shoulders. Let me help.”

“How?” The word came out harsher than he intended, laced with frustration and fatigue.

She didn’t flinch. Instead, she reached out, her fingers ghosting along his jaw. “Let’s go to bed.”

Jesus, he wanted to. Wanted to lose himself in her warmth, her scent, the silky slide of her skin against his. For a moment, he let himself imagine it— tangling his fingers in her dark hair, tasting the salt on her neck, hearing those little gasps she made when he hit just the right spot.

“Ro, I can’t. I need to?—”

She pressed a finger to his lips, silencing him. “Shut up, Davey. You need to rest. Your mind needs a break. You won’t be any good to anyone if you’re running on empty.”

He caught her wrist, gently pulling her hand away from his face. “And how exactly is sex going to help me rest?”

A wicked smile curved her lips. “Who said anything about sex? I’m talking about actual sleep.”

He blinked, taken aback. “Oh.”

Rowan laughed, a rich, throaty sound that sent a shiver down his spine. “You look so disappointed.” She cupped his face in her hands and rose onto her toes to press a surprisingly chaste kiss on his lips.

Physical contact between them had always been electric— a sizzle that burned fast and hot and always left them both a little singed. But this kiss was different. Soft. Tender. It made his chest ache in a way he wasn’t prepared for.

When she pulled back, her eyes were serious. “Sex isn’t off the table, but it’s 5 a.m., and you’ve been going non-stop for over twenty-four hours. Longer, really, because the night before, as amazing as it was, we didn’t do much sleeping. You’re not a robot. You need sleep, Wilde. Real, restful sleep. And I’m going to make sure you get it.”

Davey hesitated, torn between the mountain of work waiting for him and the allure of rest—and Rowan. Her hands were still on his face, warm and grounding. He leaned into her touch, letting out a shaky breath.

“Come on,” she said softly and trailed a hand down his arm to entwine their fingers. “You know I’m right.”