"Um, yeah, I suppose," I muttered as I looked down at my hands.
"First of all, next time you're in trouble, you call one of us. That's the deal. I thought you knew this when you joined the crew."
I flushed. "I know. I should have called you. Any of you, really. I made the wrong call instead."
Telly met my gaze, and her dark eyes searched mine. "You did. But don't let him bully you. We love Bridge, but he can be a bit of a cock sometimes."
I laughed as I shoved the garlic bread in my mouth. "You sound like his mum."
"Oh yeah, I love Belinda. She calls him out to his face constantly. Or more along the lines of, 'Don't be a twat, Bridge.' It's quite a delight to watch."
I laughed at that. "So you're not mad?"
Nyla shook her head. "No one's mad. The lads are confused because, well, they know how things are with Bridge and his dad. And they're very protective because they have been around him longer and they know how horrible his father is. But they are very protective of you too, because they've known you since you were a kid."
"Yeah, a kid. That's how they still see me."
She shook her head. "You know, that's how they're always going to see you. They're men. But you have reasons to make them see you differently."
When I turned to meet Telly's gaze, she crossed her arms and cocked her hip. "I'm not sure if I should be stinging angry with you or high-fiving you for having the balls to go toe-to-toe with Bridge."
"I didn't intend for that to be the scenario."
“Maybe not, but I did hear that you gave Ollie and Liam quite the chase. You put some self-defense moves on them, and they had quite a difficult time with you."
"Yeah, but I still ended up locked up, didn't I?"
Telly shrugged. "Sometimes it's about the fight."
"Well, I hate that. I wish it was about the winning." I glanced around at my girls. "So, do I have to apologize again, or can we just hug this out and pretend that I didn't completely fuck up my marriage?"
Before I knew it, their arms were around me. The scents of jasmine and vanilla and lime enveloped me. They weren't mad, and I wasn't alone, which was a relief. I could feel the warmth spread all over me.
Dinner was a quick affair. The girls ate mostly in the kitchen. I’d thought most of them had already eaten, but they came back for seconds of Belinda’s incredible food.
When I joined the crew in the living room, I saw a familiar face. "What the hell is he doing here?"
It was the handsome kid, the one from the office. Alex was nearly as good-looking as Bridge. Less dangerous though. He had dark wavy hair, ice-blue eyes, a dimple on his chin that defied logic and natural selection. He nodded when he saw me. "Hi, Emma, I'm Alex. Pleasure to meet you finally."
I glanced around and glowered at my husband.
Bridge ignored me, which only made me glare harder.
Alex winced. "Sorry about that. I have tried to be discreet and stay out of your way."
"Yes, but the fact that you're turning up when I least expect you is concerning."
He shrugged.
"Is there anyone else I need to know about that works with us?"
Alex smirked. "I think you've already met Ollie and Liam. The undercover security in the office will make themselves known."
I groaned. "Let me guess, they’re mates of yours?"
Bridge came and stood behind me then, plopping a hand on my shoulder. Alex raised a brow and then backed off.
"You didn't have to do that."
Bridge shrugged. "Do what?"
This was the game he was playing? "Whatever."
Bridge nudged me aside and I had to make room for him. "All right,” he said to the group. “The reason we're here tonight instead of already tucked away is that our mysterious friend has been sending Emma notes."
Ben's gaze narrowed immediately. "What mysterious friend?"
"Do you remember the first note that let us know Toby's death hadn’t been an accident? And now this. I got a bouquet of flowers today, letting me know that my office was bugged."
East muttered under his breath. "Are you fucking kidding me right now?"
Drew leaned forward, his elbows on his knees. Surprisingly, he did not have a drink in his hands. "What makes you think it's from the same person?"
“The card stock is the same. The handwriting is the same. Smooth. Authoritative."
East sat forward. "Well, if you give it to me, I can analyze it and see if we can find anything about the person who sent it."
"Sure, I can do that. I don't know what to do, because they weren't wrong. I found at least one bug in my office. But I don't know if they're friend or foe."
East, ever cautious, ran his hand through his hair. "I don't like it."
Nyla nodded. "That's the thing; it's all well and good to give us information, but there is always a reason for people doing you a favor. I don't like it either.”
“What do I do?”
“Good question.” Ben’s voice was cool. “As long as your safety is not in question, I'd say utilize the information. He might be someone in our camp. What we've already learned from these assholes is that they've been assholes a long time, and there are other people who want them gone too. People who lack the power to make that kind of massive change themselves. So yeah, I'd say believe it."
I nodded. "Okay. So, what am I supposed to do now that I believe it?"
Bridge shook his head. "I don't like it. It puts you in even more danger."
Ben met his gaze. "Well, the fact that she's not in the Winston Isles means we're going to have to use her."
“Francis expects me to go to Barcelona with him in two weeks. There's probably viable information to mine from his team there that we could really use. I'll have better access to him, too."
Bridge shook his head. “I don't like it."
I shrugged. "Well, you don't have to like it. It is what it is. But we can learn something valuable from that trip. I say I should go."
Bridge started to shake his head, but Ben stopped him. "Look, she's already in whether we like it this way or not. So we're all going to have to just let her go and protect her the best that we can."
Next to me, I could feel the anger vibrating from Bridge as he said, "You might be right, because we need this over as quickly as we can. In the meantime, East, see what you can do to flush out who our friend might be. I want to know what they know. I don't want information force-fed to me. I like everything out in the daylight."
He met my gaze as he said it and that went straight to the heart. He and I were going to have to talk whether we wanted to or not. There were things we needed to discuss that were going to affect not just us, but the rest of the team as well.
Ten
Bridge
By the time we reached the estate, we were both tired and tense. Mum had fed us, and Emma seemed in a better mood, but nothing was at all settled between us.
Instead of the helipad, we landed on the lawn and walked in the front entrance. When I opened the door, she gasped at the foyer.