Page 60 of Knot a Tie
“She felt it with Richard, and that is what has caused this. Yes, she knows. She feels it,” I say quietly. I know she does. She is our mate through and through and we all know it. Richard set us on this course. He is integral to this pack and to her. We have to get him back now for all of us. There really is no other option.
“We have to make this work,” Cameron says quietly. “I don’t want to lose her after knowing her.”
“We won’t,” I say adamantly. “Her dad might kick our arses and threaten to take away our seats in Parliament, but we will fight for her. She needs us to. She needs to see we are as loyal as she is, and wow, does she have a loyalty that runs deep. It’s a massive turn on. Whatever she demands, we will give her.”
“I’m down with that. Will, if she wants you to recite Shakespearean prose over breakfast, you can’t refuse.”
Everyone in the car, except for Will, snickers at that. He gets his own back, though when he says, “And if she asksyou, Spencer, to sing nursery rhymes at bedtime, you can’t refuse her either.”
“Dammit,” I growl. “Cam, you tattletale.”
With the mood lightened, James takes no notice of us as he guides us towards our destination in the heavy afternoon traffic.
We quieten down as the Parliament building swims into view.
“What exactly isourgame plan here?” I ask tentatively. “I mean, I know we go in and protect Rayne at all costs, but how? Barge in?”
“If that’s what it takes,” James replies. “Rich and I had words earlier. I get where he’s coming from now. He wants to come home, Spence, but Jeremy has him over a barrel. We won’t let him down again.”
“Again?” That has me curious. As far as every day has gone since Richard left, it has beenhimletting us down. Now, it’s the other way around? “What did he say?”
“That’s for him to tell you if he wants to. But he belongs with us. Will, I know you have concerns, and we will find a place for him, all of us as a pack, once we get him back. I just need you to trust me. Can you do that?”
“Of course,” he says gruffly. “I don’t want to lose Rayne either. If Richard is part of the deal, then we stand together with him. It has to be said, he’s a bit of dick, though.”
I snort with amusement. “Turned on his charms, did he?”
“He needs a serious attitude adjustment.”
“He will once he’s back home. He’s been living with a lot on his mind,” James says quietly.
The car goes silent again when we pull into the underground car park of the IPP building.
Many minutes later, when our identification has been verified a thousand times, we pull up into James’s parking space and clamber out, heading straight for the lift to take us to the first floor, before we head up again to the fourth. It’s been a long time since I’ve set foot in the admin part of the building. Longer still since we heard the Chief Justice was in situ. Something tells me that the stringent checks at the gate are only just the beginning.
I’m not wrong.
As we are basically strip-searched before being allowed past the security team to the internal lifts, I contemplate what it will mean having Richard home again. I remember living in his shadow. His and James’s. They were inseparable when we were young kids. I was always trying to tag along, and they’d find a way to ditch me. James looked up to Richard, but there was always a cloud over our older brother. One that I just assumed was because he was trying to be responsible while James led him astray. When Richard left, James turned to me, and we became the inseparable pair. How will Richard coming back affect that? Will I be cast to the side again? The thought of it makes me sad and mad and disappointed in James, even though he hasn’t done anything. I hope that James will stick up for me and that Richard will have to find his place again, not just be handed it on a silver platter.
Ifhe comes back.
This situation sounds dodgy as fuck, and dangerous to boot. If Richard is supposed to get back in with Mick and the Jets after he betrayed them over Rayne, I don’t like his chances. Somehow, we are going to have to fix this mess before that happens. But if I remember Richard, he doesn’t sit around waiting for shit to happen. He is a doer, and if he thinks this is his only way out, he will take it and deal with the consequences later. He has already been beaten up and shot by these thugs. What will they do to him when he goes back to them?
It is something we have to prevent, while also still securing our place with Rayne as her mates.
This is going to be a fun afternoon.
Fun, fun, fun.
ChapterThirty-Three
Rayne
Fortunately, even though I basically shouted to my dad that I was stopping by, he called it down and I’m let through without too much hassle.
As I reach the fourth floor and the lift dings open, I’m greeted by a friendly face I haven’t seen in years.
“Hi!” Willow says, waving at me.
