I’d only flushed and shrugged, hurrying to strip off my fancy clothes, rinse off the chlorine, and climb into bed with them. Conrad had me sit on his face while West rubbed cream on my sore ass, and then I’d passed out for a deep and refreshing sleep.
My time of ignoring the information we’d found was over, though.
Lavinia, Mira, and Violet sat across from us at one of the long cafeteria tables as Mercer explained the files we’d discovered in Ronald White’s office.
“Jurah is going to order us home immediately when he hears about this,” Lavinia said. “It’ll be full lockdown.”
Her hands were fisted together on top of the table, a tightness in her jaw. She was pissed. So was Mira. Hell, so was I.
We’d had an O’Connor right under our noses for years. He’d been in my bed and in my heart. Now he’d forced himself intomy head. I pressed a hand over my healing bondmark, once again hidden from the world with a bandage.
“That’s probably for the best,” Mercer said. “We can’t keep her safe here. Besides, if this is some kind of mafia turf war, it’s irresponsible to stay in a place with so many vulnerable people.”
He placed a hand on my thigh, rubbing it gently.
“Agreed,” Mira said. “Only problem is that it makes it more difficult for us to find Benjamin.”
“Why do we need to find him?” Conrad asked. His arm slung over my shoulder, tucking me close against his side. “Aren’t your fathers on that?”
“They are. If Talia wants to kill him, though, they’re never going to…” Mira trailed off at my wide-eyed look. “Shit. You haven’t told them about that option yet, have you?”
“What option?” West demanded. “Killing himisn’tan option. If he dies, Talia dies.”
Mira shrugged awkwardly. “Uh, have a pack discussion later. What’s relevant is that we need to try and find Benjamin ourselves.”
“I’ll look into his O’Connor connections,” Lavinia said, bulldozing past West’s next attempt at a verbal complaint. “If Benjamin is Benji O’Connor, then he’s involved in the poisoned bullets too. I can pick up Gears and Hawk from the motel on my way back to the mansion, and then everyone we need will be on the Alfieri property before Jurah calls for a lockdown.”
My forehead scrunched in confusion. “Gears and Hawk? Why do they need to be picked up from a motel?”
The guys had mentioned that they were being framed by Mercer’s father for selling the poisoned bullets to the O’Connors. I figured Gears and Hawk would be on their side considering how friendly they’d been with me at The Hidden Barrel, but had they needed to flee the club too?
Was itthatbad?
Fuck, Mercer couldn’t be doing well with this. The Alpha Chariots had seemed to respect him. To have them turn on him like the flip of a switch would sting.
I placed my hand on his thigh and squeezed, and he squeezed mine in return. “Gears and Hawk are from the club,” he explained.
“I know that part. I met them.”
His eyebrows drew together. “When? Hawk was there the night we met, but we never introduced you. And Gears wasn’t around.”
“I went to The Hidden Barrel on…thatnight.” It felt so long ago and so fresh all at the same time. “Gears saved my ass from some creepy guy after Hawk recognized me.”
“Gears at The Hidden Barrel? I bet Kaylie had an eventful night.” Conrad snorted.
“Why were you there alone?” West stood up from his bench seat, pacing for a few seconds before he came to place his hands on my shoulders. His thumbs massaged gentle circles on my upper back.
“I called you guys, but you didn’t answer. I wasn’t there long because I ended up getting called in to an emergency shift at Villem Central.”
And things only devolved from there.
I wasn’t going to think about that right now. I’d have enough time at my appointment with Dr. Jalisco in twenty minutes.
“We told you not to go there alone, princess,” Mercer said.
I smiled sweetly. “Did you really think I was going to listen?”
“Should have known you wouldn’t,” West grumbled.
