“Would this have anything to do with those Homeland files?” I ask.
“I doubt it, but at this point, who the fuck knows.” Diesel rubs the back of his neck. “And we’ve still got that DEA asshole threatening us.”
Out of the corner of my eye, I spy Bry stiffening.
“I thought you were going to fix that?” Saint huffs out, kicking his feet up on the coffee table.
“I met him earlier, and his assholishness hasn’t dialed down. He’s still refusing to play ball, and I’m all out of patience.”
“I say we grab him, force him to tell us, and if he won’t cooperate, we put a bullet in his skull,” Galen suggests.
“He’s a loose end we need to tie up,” Diesel agrees, as Mom and Lincoln return. “I’ll call you later to set that up.”
“Walk me out?” Mom asks, and I trail her outside.
“Are we going to be okay?” she asks as Lincoln climbs into the passenger seat of Diesel’s Land Rover.
“I don’t know, but I hope so. It’s what I want.” Which is a huge step forward for me.
“I never meant for it to happen like this. Please say you believe me.”
“I do. I believe you.”
“I don’t deserve your graciousness, but I’m thankful for it.” She sweeps hair off my face. “Trey would be so proud if he could see you now, Harlow. He loved you so much. I adored the close bond you two shared. Seeing him with you always made me love him even more.” Her lips twitch. “Although, I’m not sure what he’d say about your four new husbands.”
“I’m sure he’d want to kick their asses, but once he saw how good they are to me, he’d be onboard.”
“They are good to you, and I trust them to make you happy and to look after you.”
“You’re not mad?” I tilt my head to the side, wondering if she’s being truthful or she just doesn’t want to leave on a sour note.
“I’m not going to criticize your decision, because you know when you know. You should never deny your heart.”
“I love them, and I know what I want.”
She reels me into a hug. “If there’s anything good to come from this sorry state of affairs, it’s that you have found your future. I look forward to getting to know them better when this is all over and done with.”
“Thanks, Mom.”
“Giana, we need to go,” Diesel reiterates, coming up behind her.
“Be safe, honey. You are everything to me.” She kisses my forehead. “I’m so proud of the young woman you’ve become, and I love you so very much.”
“I love you too, Mom. I might not approve of how you went about things, but I know you did it for me and for Dad.”
She hugs me one final time before getting into the car.
“Don’t worry. She’s in good hands,” Diesel reassures me. “We’ll take care of her.”
“Thank you for this.”
“No thanks are necessary.” He jangles his keys in his hands. “I’ll call later, and we can talk about the DEA agent, but I also wanted to let you know my boss has approved the plan for the commissioner.”
“He has? I honestly didn’t think he’d go for it.”
“He understands it’s our best chance of getting to the bottom of this. Whoever has that evidence hasn’t come forward so far, and he believes this might be the push they need to come clean.”
“I hope he’s right. And he’s seriously okay working with us on this?” I expected him to balk at the notion of trusting an eighteen-year-old sharpshooter and the offspring of the man he wants to take down.
“He trusts my judgment, and giving him those files went a long way toward securing his loyalty. He was delighted to get them back. The head of Homeland Security is a friend of his.”
“Well, that’s good. I suppose.”
“It is. There’s no way you could’ve pulled this off without VERO’s help. My boss is going to speak to the commissioner this week. Let me know when Sinner has put the plan in motion.”
“Will do.”
He opens his arms, and I hug him briefly. “Mind yourself.”
“You too,” I tell him, waving them off before retreating inside the cabin.
I lean back against the closed door, rubbing my tired eyes. It’s been a long, exhausting day.
“Lo?” Saint calls out.
“I’m coming.” I push off the door.
“Not yet you aren’t,” Caz retorts with a chuckle.
“Have I ever told you I love your one-track mind?” I quip, stepping into the living room.
“A time or ten,” he replies, swatting my butt as I pass.
“We need to talk,” Bry says, and I pick up a thread of anxiety in his tone. He’s standing against the wall with his legs slightly spread and his arms folded across his torso. His face is stretched tight, highlighting the prominent scar that runs from the corner of his eye into his hairline.
“So, you’ve said,” Galen drawls, eyeing him suspiciously.
“What has you on edge?” I ask, plopping down on the couch alongside Theo.
“It’s about this DEA agent.”
“What about him?” Saint asks, sitting up straighter and outright glaring at Bry.
“How is he involved? I don’t get why he’s a threat,” Bry asks.
“He has a video of me killing Luke McKenzie, and he’s threatening to use it to take me down,” I say.
“Not just you,” Theo adds. “You weren’t the target. We were.”
Bry gulps hard, and a host of emotions flits across his face.
“Spit it out, Bry. What don’t we know?” I ask.
“If I got the video, would you lay off him?”
Saint opens his mouth to speak, but I silence him with a look. I stand, walking over to Bry.
“How would you be able to get that video? And why do you care?”
He drags his hand back and forth across the top of his head, and his tongue darts out, wetting his lips.
“Bry.” I’m pretty much all out of patience by now.
“Because he’s my brother. That’s why.”
CHAPTER 30
Caz
“I KNEW YOU lied to me before,” Lo says, fixing Bryant with a wary expression. “You told me during training that you had three brothers, yet earlier, you said you had two.”
“I wasn’t lying when I said I have two adopted brothers. That’s the truth. But, Howie—the DEA agent—he’s my biological brother.”
“Start explaining,” Saint snaps, and I can tell by his tone he’s ready to rip Bryant Eccleston in two.
“I was adopted when I was a baby after my mom committed suicide. My father died from cancer while my mom was pregnant with me, and after she lost my older sister a few months before I was born, she lost the will to live.” He shrugs. “Or so Howie tells me.”
“Why didn’t your brother assume guardianship?” Theo asks.
“He was in his early twenties and not capable of minding a baby.”
“Wow. That’s a big age gap,” Lo says.