Every time he opened his mouth, I wanted to pop him. "So you wanted to speak to us outside of the normal selection process?"
Middleton grinned at me and sat back, steepling his fingers. "Yes, I did. There are ways things are done for the everyday people, and there are ways things are done between the Elite. You know I have the goods to deliver. My client list speaks for itself. Several Elite companies all use Middleton Communications. It's actually shocking that London Lords does not."
Ben smiled. A lesser man would see that an as off-table agreement. "We've always liked to stay independent."
Middleton shook his head. "As dangerous as the Elite are, we are a unit for a reason. We provide protection for each other. I know you’ve taken care of your communications in-house. And I understand that. But just think what I can provide for you."
He was really laying it on thick. Making his pitch. Once he saw me scowling at him, he turned his pitch mostly to East and Ben. I wasn't sure why he thought they were the easier targets, but it was probably because it didn't look like they might actually know murderers.
On the surface, I looked like them. Polished. Poised. But he must have sensed something else under my skin. Maybe exactly how many fucks I did not have left to give? Because he stopped pitching to me. He probably saw the danger in that and focused on my mates. But what he didn't realize was that Ben and East were just as ruthless as I was. The lengths we each would go to in order to protect our family. The things we were willing to do to burn down the house of everyone who had hurt anyone we loved. I just wore my thirst for vengeance on my face. Them, not so much.
"This is just a formality, really."
Ben leaned forward, wide grin in place. "Well, it’s a little more than a formality. Brother or no brother, you're going to have to submit your proposal like everybody else. You recognize Labor has been up our ass, right? Everything needs to appear fair and neutral."
His brows dropped. "Are you fucking serious?"
Ben nodded. "While we are brothers, and sure, Elite men stick together, I just happen to be familiar with what Fredericka Zicks expects. She asked us to send out requests for proposals to make sure we're keeping this equitable, and that was just one of her many requests."
I couldn't help it then. A smirk tugged at my upper lip. He was seeing now that we weren't going to roll over and just give it to him. We were going to make him do the work, and there was an off chance we might say no. And he had never in his life had anybody tell him no. I watched with contempt as Middleton walked out.
When he was gone, it was Drew, not Ben, who spoke first. “Are you out of your goddamn mind, Bridge?”
“I don’t know what you’re on about.” Which was bullshit, and we all knew it. I’d been deliberately antagonizing Middleton and had nearly tipped our hands.
My gaze went to Ben's. He just lifted his brow. East was scowling. Drew… Well, Drew was uncharacteristically sober. “You hate him. We’ve got it.”
“It’s not him, or rather, it’s what I had to do because of him.”
Ben's brows lifted. "Mate, what happened?"
East was hot on his heels. "Who do we kill? I prepped my gear, just in case."
He, in fact, did have a duffel with him. And while it would have amused me to no end if he had murdering gear for real, I knew full well it was just his laptop and a portable modem in case we needed to hack something. That was how East murdered… With hacking. Sometimes I really wanted to hug my best mates. "Unfortunately, you would have to kill Emma."
All three of them stared at me. "What?"
"I just caught her having a clandestine meeting with my father this afternoon."
Drew chuffed a laugh. "You're not serious."
Ben's response was more measured. "Why? That doesn't make any sense."
And East… Well, he just had a string of curses to offer. The fucks and the bleeps and the twats and the cunts. It was a very long sailor's passage.
"I saw her myself. The good news is, she didn't look happy about it. The bad news is, she was meeting with him. So yeah, now I have to punish my own wife."
All three of them exchanged glances as if even talking about punishing Emma wasn't on the approved list of things to do.
"Stop looking at each other like that. That's a full-on betrayal."
East tried to reason with me first. "Mate, I get it, but maybe you should talk to her and find out what's going on before you jump to conclusions."
"Oh yeah, like I talked to Mina? Remember her? Planted by my father?"
"No. I hear you, but Ems is different. She's one of us. Toby died."
The anger I normally kept a tight leash on lashed beyond my reach as I exploded. "You think I don't fucking know that? You think I didn't love Toby like he was my brother? You think it’s easy to see my fucking wife in cahoots with my father?" I was screaming so loud I was vibrating.
Drew’s brows furrowed. "Mate, this is Ems. She wouldn’t do that to us. Besides, so she met with him. What’s the big deal?"
Ben just lifted his brows and his eyes widened as he stared at Drew. "Mate, how are you so fucking oblivious? He's in love with her."
Drew blinked in surprise and stared at me. "I know. What’s the problem? This is Emma. We know her, so there has to be a good reason for this. She loves the git."
Hearing him say the words sliced through me. It clearly wasn’t true. "No, mate. She doesn’t love me. I love her. Or at least I did until I found out she’s a plant for my old man."
He shook his head. "You’re wrong about this. But let’s fix the problem then we can work on your fucked-up relationship. What are we going to do?"
East shook his head. "We can't hurt her. It's not what we do. And it's fucking Emma."
"Oh, you can stop worrying. She's my wife, and because I love her, my one directive is to keep her safe. But since she keeps putting herself in harm's way and apparently doesn't love me back, I am released from any guilt I felt about trying to control her. So now, it's plan B."
Ben and East exchanged a look before East asked, "What the fuck is plan B?"
"Plan B is no more Mr. Nice Guy. She's lucky I love her. She's also unfortunate because I won't be fucked with, so I'm going to make her pay."
Ben's voice was harsh. "You can't hurt her, Bridge."
"Oh, I'm not going to hurt her. I'm just going to show her what happens to people who lie to me and betray me. I won't harm her. She's just going to find her circumstances extremely unpleasant."
Two
Emma
Don't panic. Don't panic. Don't panic. Don't panic.
I repeated the words to myself over and over again as I struggled against the restraints. I was zip-tied, not too tightly but with my arms behind my back. My legs were tied together as well, so mobility was a problem and there was no breaking out. All I knew was that I’d been placed in a vehicle of some sort and we’d driven for a while, at least an hour. And then finally, I’d been carried out.