Page 129 of Corrupt Me

“Calm down. Cassandra knows what she’s doing, and I trust her judgment. Bailey will come back, and she’ll tell us everything,” Kaden says. It’s like he and Cassandra have an ongoing plan to support each other. I guess with their roles, they must.

A slight consolation is that we vowed never to keep life-changing secrets from one another. Transparency is how we’ll lead the legacy of the Family. We can only do that when there are no secrets.

Celine pats the spot next to her, and I drop on the couch, anguish weighing me down. She places a hand on my thigh in silent support. Her touch has never bothered me because ever since she appeared in my life, I have seen her as just another member of my family.

“If she’s with Mom, nothing will happen to her.”

That doesn’t help me calm down, either. If I am not there to see that Bailey’s fine, nothing will help. Torn between just driving there and assuring myself she’s okay, and waiting for her return, I remain seated.

The first thing Cassandra did when she took the reins was ask the group if they wanted the chips implanted during their initiations removed. Kaden, Abi, and Blake hopped on the opportunity. I think it was a stupid decision. If something happens to one of us, it would be the easiest way to find each other. Apparently, they felt too violated.

There’s not even a sliver of guilt at keeping that one secret. It involves my woman, and I will not lose her. But this is the perfect moment to knock some sense into them.

“About the chips.”

“What about them?” Kaden asks, pinning me with a hard stare as if we had this talk, and once was enough. I can’t let it rest, though.

“If we were all chipped, we would know where Bailey is right now. Instead of sitting around like a bunch of incompetent assholes, worrying our asses off.”

The silence that falls over the group encourages me to continue. “We should all get chipped.”

Blake’s brows almost shoot to his hairline. “What the fuck, man?”

“Our asses are a hot commodity. Those two bastards made sure of that. We’re not safe in the shadows anymore like we used to be. We’ll be in the public eye, leading the companies of the Family.”

“Hunter’s not wrong,” Celine says, and I’ve never appreciated her siding with me more than I do right now.

Blake crosses his arms over his chest, his features stoic. “It’s a power tool potential enemies could use against us.”

“By fucking who, if we’re the only ones who know? It would give us some peace of mind. We went through too much shit already to let the past define us. We’re changing the rules, aren’t we?” I insist, knowing deep in my bones that this is the right thing to do to ensure our continued safety.

Abi shares a look with Dane. “If I think about it, I wouldn’t mind that extra security measure.”

I watch my sister and Blake, waiting for their input.

“I’d rather avoid a repeat of what happened to us,” Mia says softly, and Blake pulls her to his side.

Kaden rises to his feet. “Fine.” His gaze sweeps over each of us, lingering on me for a moment longer. “I will agree under one condition. This information will never leave this room. And I want the chips programmed to monitor our vitals—all the damn time.”

He won’t hear me complaining.

“What about Bailey?” I ask.

“Bailey listens to the voice of reason, and she’ll be the one who will program them.”

Feeling a little lighter, I nod as I head to her room. Her scent envelops me, but it does little to help ease me. Love comes with worrying and missing someone, even if it’s only been hours. While I hate feeling so damn crippled, I wouldn’t change a thing.

Time passes in a blur of unease as I pace around, watching the dot on the tracker moving. By the time I drop down in Bailey’s chair, the sun has long since set, my phone clasped in my hand.

Soon, she’ll be here, and everything will be all right once again.

There’s a knock on the door, and when I whip my head in that direction, Kaden steps inside.

He stares at my phone. “Where is she?”

I don’t want to pretend and don’t even care that he knows, but I’m still curious to see what happens next.

“Hunter, I know my team. I was sure you’d put a chip in Bailey the moment we had ours removed. I would cross every damn boundary to keep Celine safe too.”

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