Page 37 of Mended Hearts

We’d fought before. But not like this. Not for this long.

“I’ve got plans,” I said. “Get to the point or get out.”

He clasped his hands, elbows onmydesk, and held my gaze. “You know I love you.”

“Thought you did.”

His eyes narrowed. “My love for this family has never been in question.”

“You’ve got a funny way of showing it.”

“I didn’t come here to rehash what we both know needs to be done.”

“What you do after hours is none of my business. But keep it away from my family.”

“I’m working on it.”

“You could walk away. Then there’d be a hell of a lot less to work on.”

“There are bigger things at play, Ollie. What my team is doing goes way beyond us.”

“And what happens if your monsters come after my kids again?”

“They have you. And a small army of security. Me. Alice. Emmaline. Nona. Hell, even Reggie would take a bullet for them.”

“Reggie’s a dick.”

“Yeah. But he still gives a damn. What about the kids with no one? Who protects them? The whole point of the organization is tobe the someonecoming for the ones the world forgot.”

I bristled but kept my mouth shut. Took another sip of coffee, trying to drown the unease. Something like jealousy collided with my irritation. Because while my brother risked his neck to protect strangers, I signed off on marketing plans behind an iron gate. And I had the audacity to be mad at him for it.

“I never meant for this to blow back on you or the kids. Don’t forget, my wife was in that car too.”

“And Leighton,” I snapped. “You owe her an honest fucking explanation.”

“The less she knows, the better.”

Ten points for the default answer. Classic.

“It’s been six weeks. You think Riviera can hold her off forever? She’s a Rhodes. We both saw how fast that house of cards fell under one set of their eyes.”

His mouth twitched before he locked it down again. “Alice says we’re good. Unless you’ve got new intel…”

I shook my head. No, Leighton hadn’t said anything. But I was tired of biting my tongue. And if last night meant half as much to her as it did to me, I wouldn’t be holding back much longer.

“Tell her. Or I will.”

He smirked like the smug bastard he was. “Why’s that?” His eyes narrowed as his grin sharpened. Like a cat scenting blood. “What are you doing, Ollie?”

“Drinking coffee with a jackass.”

He snorted, a smile turning his cheeks up even as he shook his head. “I’ve never given you shit for making the rounds, but Leighton isn’t some random lay. She’s part of the package now. Mywife. Your kids. Our family. You screw this up, and you don’t just lose her. You shake the whole damn tree.”

“What the fuck are you talking about?”

“You went home with her. And the Bentley was still gone when I left for my run.”

I took another drink to buy time. The coffee burned down my throat, but it gave me something to focus on while we held the staring contest of the century.

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