Page 29 of Graves & Griggs
Zayden nods as he rifles through the room, pocketing Augustus’s phone and wallet. “Yeah! No loose ends, Griggsy. Plus, we can’t let you have all the fun. This isourrevenge,” Zayden says in a teasing way that has me shaking my head.
Griggsy? I swear to God if Liam hears him call me that, it will become his entire personality, and then I’ll have to kill him, and Skyla will be seriously pissed with me.
Shaking my head, I follow after them, and we exit the mansion, heading for the car parked down the road. None of us speak until we’re inside the car. I climb into the driver’s seat and head for the cabin.
“One down, three to go,” Dominic murmurs, more to himself than anyone as his fingers begin flying across his phone screen.
“Who are we going after next, Dom?” Zayden asks as I merge onto the highway.
“You already know Desmond and Dennis will be holed up together until it suits them,” Dominic responds.
“Why is that?” I ask.
“Because Dennis doesn’t have two brain cells to rub together, and Desmond believes in family too much to let him fuck off and die,” Zaydensays.
I nod. “So Andre, then?”
Dominic nods. “Yeah. We need to gather intel on him fast. As soon as the others discover Augustus is dead, they’ll go underground until they can counterattack.”
I frown at that and look at him in the rearview mirror. “Counterattack? I don’t like the sound of that.”
“Neither do we. Why do you think we came knocking on your door?” Zayden asks. “We can handle the Four Horsemen in a one-on-one fight, but their resources… the amount of men they have at their disposal. We wouldn’t live long enough to take them all out.”
Dominic points to his brother in agreement, not taking his eyes off the phone as he continues his work.
I knew allowing them into our home was going to be a dangerous thing, but I don’t think I fully grasped how bad things could get. Suddenly, a million plans and ideas are running through my head. Maybe I need to get Skyla and the kids out of the country for a while. Europe maybe? Australia? Fuck, I don’t know, but the safeguards of our winter cabin suddenly aren’t filling me with much confidence.
“What do you need access to?” I ask.
“Just about anything your brother husbands can get their hands on,” Zayden says as he flicks open his knife, examining the blood that stains the metal like it’s the most fascinating thing in the world.
“Will you stop fucking calling them that?” I grit through clenched teeth.
Zayden’s eyes move to mine, a taunting smirk on his lips as he speaks.
“No.”
Chapter Thirteen
Blake
Skyla already has a decorated Christmas tree with more presents than you would think could possibly fit beneath one, but after an incident with Liam, Wesley and my boys involving a football inside the house… let’s just say there were a few casualties among the glass ornaments. I cringed when I saw the beautiful tree flat on the floor, covering dozens of expensive-looking presents, mentally calculating how much each damaged item would cost. Don’t get me wrong, the boys and I are completely comfortable. We have more than we could ever spend in this life or the next. These people, though… they’re next-level rich, and it shows.
The guys claimed the blame, though I knew my boys were behind the incident based on their guilty faces, and Skyla all but shrugged it off before turning to me.
“I’ve been wanting to get a few last-minute presents anyways, and Vincent finally isn’t around, so it’s the perfect time to get him something. Besides, you guys might be with us through the holiday, and the boys don’t have anything under the tree.”
True. All their presents were left at the safe house in the Caribbean; they just didn’t seem like a priority when we werepacking up. Logically, they still aren’t, but I don’t want Aries or Ryder to wake up on Christmas with nothing for them.
“C’mon—the mall is only a thirty-minute drive, and it’s not too bad for in-store selections,” she says.
I hesitate, looking around as if Dominic and Zayden can hear us. “I don’t know. My husbands were very clear that me and the boys shouldn’t leave the house.”
She laughs lightly. “Blake, we essentially have a private protection detail with my husbands alone. And Asher and Liam can stay at home and manage the kids.”
Uncertainty flickers inside me. I’m not sure how I feel about leaving the boys behind, even if it’s only for a few hours. When I look to Skyla, though, I see no malice in her gaze; I feel no ill intent. It may seem asinine, but I feel I can trust her, and trust her husbands by extension. Again, probably asinine of me.
“We’ll be there and back in no time,” she says.
