“Exactly,” Clover replies, grinning evilly. “You can call for backup if you need. It’s perfect. We could make sure Con, Atlas and Decker are safe. Cara is right—we can’t just sit here. We need to be where the action is.”
Felix’s phone rings and he picks it up once he sees it’s Decker calling him. “What’s up?” He looks over at me and nods. “All right, we will be right there.” He pauses, and then says, “Yes, ‘we’ because you try to tell these two that they’re not coming.”
Another sigh, and then he ends the call. “Decker wants me to go and meet with them. The FC ran Con off the road, but don’t worry, she’s fine. Decker and Atlas rushed in and shot at the car, so the men drove off. She is going to need a new car, though.”
I close my eyes in relief, and then open them, ready to go and see her. “All right, let’s go then.”
When we arrive at the location, I can see her car crashed into a tree. Felix is right, she’s definitely going to need a new one, but I can make sure that is taken care of for her. Decker, Con and Atlas are all standing, leaning against Decker’s car, waiting for us.
As soon as the car stops, I jump out and run to Con. “Oh my God, Con. I’m so sorry—are you okay?”
She nods, hugging me. “I’m fine, Cara. I mean, I wasn’t expecting to be chased down and run off the road today, but I didn’t get hurt. Just a little...shaken, I guess.”
“Understandably. This is why I told you I couldn’t see you.”
She winces, rubbing the back of her neck. “Yeah, I thought you meant, busy with work or family issues. I didn’t realize you meant busy trying to stay alive.”
“To be fair, this is a family problem,” Clover says as she walks over and hears our conversation.
I turn to Decker and give him a hug, ignoring his disapproving look. “Thank you for keeping her safe. You too, Atlas.”
“It was kind of fun,” Atlas says with a smirk, sharing a look with Decker. “Been a long time since I’ve been in a car chase. I can see why you all chose to be cops.”
“Change of career?” I tease.
He laughs, and shakes his head. “Fuck no. As if they’d take me now.”
I look back up at Decker. “What now?”
“Now we get Con home, and get the hell out of here before the FC comes back with more men,” he says, tucking my hair back behind my ear. He kisses my forehead. “CJ called Atlas and told him that Marko might agree to a sit-down meeting.”
I still. “So he’s willing to come up with an agreement to let this all go?”
“I don’t think it will be that easy. He’s going to want his revenge somehow, but maybe we can think of a way to get him to back off. Maybe the Wind Dragons and the Knights could roll up together or something. You all have power, too, and I think it’s time we went on the offensive instead of playing defense.”
We drop Con home, and then head back to Clover’s. I keep thinking about Decker’s words. Maybe he’s right. Maybe instead of trying to keep the peace we need to show our power.
Maybe we need to fight.
Chapter Thirty-One
Decker
“Yeah?” Rhett answers his phone with a terse voice.
“Rhett? This is Seth Decker. And we need to talk about Cara.” I don’t like that I have to make this call, and I hate that I had to use Cara’s phone without her knowledge to do so.
“Is she okay?” The mention of her name has him dropping his tough guy image.
“I don’t know how much you know or what they’re keeping from you, but the FC have been targeting her since you’re MIA. And now she’s in danger because of you.” There’s an edge to my voice that I can’t help. I know being confrontational isn’t the smartest way to get through to him, but this whole situation annoys me.
“What the fuck are you talking about?” he barks out.
So he didn’t know. Which is a relief, because if he did, that would make him a pathetic excuse for a man.
I give him a quick rundown on what’s happened so far, and he mutters a curse at the end of it. “Fucking hell, I had no idea. I’m packing my bag now and coming back. Tell her I’ll be there soon and I’ll take care of her and keep her safe,” he says.
He thanks me like she’s still his, but he has no need to.
She’s mine to protect now.
“She’s already safe. I’m telling you this so you can get back here and clean up your mess. She doesn’t even know that I’m calling you.”
“Look, man, Cara and I have a history that you’ll never be able to compete with, no matter what you think.”
I grit my teeth at his words, but make sure to keep my voice even.
“Okay, well, I’m just going to come out and say it: She loves me. I love her. We’re together. So yeah, you may have history, but that’s exactly what it is. In the past.”
He’s quiet for a moment. “We’ll see about that,” he says, and then hangs up.
Cara might be mad at me for going behind her back and contacting him, but I’m not about to let her get hurt because of him. He needs to man up and clean up this colossal mess he has made before Cara gets hurt.
I don’t care if he’s the future of the Wind Dragons. Cara is my future.
* * *
“Do you think they will find out where Con lives?” Cara asks me later that morning, pacing up and down the kitchen. “I don’t know if bringing her here would be safer or more dangerous for her.”
“I don’t know either,” I admit, stopping her in her tracks and taking her hand. She comes to stand in between my legs, and I look into her gorgeous eyes. “It’s going to be okay. You know that, right?”
“Con could have gotten hurt today.”
“But she didn’t,” I say, leaning forward and kissing her nose. “If you want to bring her here, you can; it’s up to you. But I think they just thought she was you, to be honest. She just needs to stay away from us until this is all over.”
“We don’t even look that much alike,” she grumbles.
“You look a little alike,” I say with a smile. “I might be biased, but of course I think you are much more beautiful.”
She rolls her eyes. “Decker—”
“Yes?”
She cuddles into me, arms wrapped tightly around me. “Thank you for being here.”