Page 211 of Heresy

“Possible,” I emphasize the word. “But not certain.”

“We can at least talk to her,” Gabe argues.

Seeing nothing wrong with that, I nod my head.

“Fine. We can talk to her. But if I don’t like whatever idea we come up with, it’s not happening. You all would feel the same if it were Luca, Ivy or Emily taking that risk.”

Unable to argue that, they nod their heads.

“Then we wait to decide what to do about the servers until we talk to Brinley.” Gabe turns to Tanner. “What else needs to be addressed?”

“Nothing I can think of that we can decide without Mason here. Until he gets back, fuck off out of my office. I have work to do.”

As instructed, we all move to leave the office, but Tanner calls out my name before I make it through the door.

“Shane, get your ass back here.”

Fuck.

I was hoping to avoid being alone with him.

Damon passes by me on his way out and pats me on the shoulder, “Good luck, asshole. If this is the last time I see you, just remember I loved you like a brother.”

I side-eye him, which only makes him chuckle.

Crossing the room, I drop my weight in a chair facing Tanner, not quite ready and waiting to hear what bullshit he has to bitch about this time.

Once everybody is out, his attention is directed solely on me.

“Luca forgave you for that bullshit with her father. But I haven’t.”

Surprised at that, I stretch my legs out in front of me then cross one ankle over another. “I didn’t kill him. What is there to forgive?”

He clicks his pen, and I swear, one of these days I’m going to hunt down every pen he has in this house and get rid of them.

“The fact that you didn’t tell me you were being sent to Georgia. And that you didn’t say shit about it when you were brought back. None of us are supposed to be enduring this shit alone. We can’t operate if we’re lying to each other.”

Crossing my arms over my chest, I smirk at him. “And I’m the only one?”

He slams the pen down on the desk and sits up straight in his chair. “No, you’re not the only one, but you’re the one who worries me the most.”

Brinley’s words come back to me. What she said at the lake about Tanner and my relationship. Rather than losing my shit and yelling back, I attempt to approach this with a little understanding.

Maybe even some appreciation.

My blood family never gave a shit about me. It only seems intelligent that I should care about a group of friends who have always had my back.

Still…

“Why me specifically?”

Tanner laughs. It’s just one bark of sound that carries with it the message that he can’t believe I’m blind to what he’s thinking.

“Because you stand in the middle of all of us. Not that you hold the group together, but that you are the channel between those of us who are more cautious about everything and those of us who couldn’t give two fucks.”

My brows tug together. “What does that mean?”

Obviously frustrated, he grabs the pen to click it again, and I decide to do myself a favor.

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