Page 41 of Darling Wildfire
I finally rounded on him, fed up with his interruptions and distractions.
“I have been planning this revenge for over a decade and nothing—” My voice raised as my passion and anger raged. “—nothingwill stop me taking down everything Vetticus has ever touched. He took everything from me—from Nyx and Atlas too—and countless others that are no longer with us. They all deserve vengeance and I will give it to them by any means possible. This is not some quick spur of the moment operation. I have spentyearsplanning and putting pieces into play. Everyone knows the risks. You will follow orders, or you will stay thefuckout of my way.”
Graham’s face was downright murderous, his jaw so tightly clenched I was surprised I couldn't hear his teeth grinding together. He stepped closer to me and shoved a finger at my chest.
“I really hope you know what you’re doing, North, because take a good look around you—” he threw open his arms. “You have a hugely successful global enterprise, loyal men who would follow you literally to the grave, and a woman who loves you,” he turned away as his passion overcame him then turned back. “She fucking loves you, T. And I just really hope all of this isstill here when you finish burning the world down. Is revenge really more important than the people who love you?”
“My revengeisfor the people who love me,” I said quietly.
Graham shook his head, his anger tinged with sadness. “They just want you, Theron. They don’t want you to give them retribution—they just want your heart and that requires you to still be alive to give it.”
“I’m afraid it’s not that simple.”
“It fucking can be,” he said.
I hoped he of all people would understand. But I also knew I was wrong for leaving him in the dark. He’d helped with a few jobs but he didn’t knoweverything. It wasn’t fair. I knew this. And yet I couldn’t bring myself to tell the whole story yet—especially to Kaelin. It was too much…too emotional at a time where I couldn’t afford to focus on that.
I looked down at my phone and dialed Demetrius.
“Atlas is going to activate the sleepers in the supply lines,” I said when he answered.
“I’ll call my contacts,” Demetrius said. “By the end of the day he won’t have any suppliers left.”
I got off the phone with Demetrius and headed towards my Aston. There was nothing I could do about Kaelin and Graham at the moment—but it didn’t stop me from the twisted feeling in my gut and the strong suspicion I was making too many wrong decisions.
17
NYX
As soon as North started arguing with Graham, I went back inside the house.
That was not my business and even though I agreed with Graham, North was not going to listen to anyone in regards to this and I had to respect that. I walked inside and found Kaelin trying to scrub the spray paint off her french doors.
“I have someone coming to do that,” I said.
“I need to do something,” she said, dropping the brush back into the soapy water.
“Understandable,” I said. “Do you have another one of those?”
We scrubbed in silence for a few minutes but from the scrunched up look on her face and the furious strokes of the brush; I knew I was in for a barrage of questions.
“Why is he such an asshole?” She muttered.
I laughed out loud. “He is—but he means well.”
“Why won’t he tell me what’s going on?” She threw down the brush.
“North is a complicated man,” I put my brush down as well and pointed her to a barstool. “I’ll make some coffee—I take it you’re not going to be sleeping anytime soon.”
She gave me a small smile and sat down while I moved around the kitchen.
“How come you know the way around my kitchen so well?” She asked suspiciously.
“Do you really want to know?” I asked, winking at her.
She frowned but didn’t answer. She was quiet the entire time the coffee was brewing and when I put a spoonful of brown sugar into her coffee; she sighed as though she was resigning herself to something. I slid the mug across the counter to her.
“Sometimes I feel like I know you and Atlas better than I know Theron and I’m not even intimate with you guys,” she said.
