“Cade didn’t have a choice,” Cam shot back, anger simmering beneath his words. “He did his job, and Davey?—”
“Cam.” Greer’s voice cut through the tension. “We’ve been through this. Whatever happened between them is between them.”
“So we just stand by and watch while the next generation of Wildes splinters apart?” Dad’s frustration was palpable. “After how hardyoufought, how muchyougave up, to keep us together.”
A heavy silence followed, and Elliot felt a twinge of guilt. His father wasn’t wrong. What had once been an unbreakable family unit was fracturing along fault lines that had been there for years, deepened by Praetorian’s attacks and the impossible choices they’d all faced.
“It’s not our battle anymore,” Greer finally said, his voice softer but no less firm. “We built the foundation. We taught them what family means. Now they have to figure out how to stand on their own.”
“I don’t like it,” Dad said.
“That we can agree on,” Cam added.
“None of us like it,” Greer replied. “But, Cam, Jude, they need to work this out themselves. Our interference will only make the rift worse, and we won’t be around forever to?—”
Elliot backed away from the door, having heard enough. He’d known things were bad, but hearing the older generation’s helplessness made it suddenly, painfully real.
How many times had he heard stories of the original five Wilde brothers fighting, splitting, coming back together? But this felt different. It wasn’t just a normal family squabble. The breach was about trust, shattered and stomped upon. About Davey choosing the safety of the company—and Rowan—overCade’s position within it. About Cade walking away rather than accepting what he saw as betrayal.
And caught in the middle was everyone else. Including him.
“Everything okay?” Rue asked quietly as he rejoined her by the elevator.
“Yeah.”
“Liar.” She looped her arm through his as the doors opened and they stepped into the car. “Family’s complicated.”
Elliot exhaled slowly. “Mine more than most.”
“Well, I don’t know about that. You have four uncles and ten cousins, but I have an entire mercenary team of honorary uncles.” She nudged his shoulder gently with hers. “And once, when I was thirteen, my dad threw a trainee through a plate glass window at Thanksgiving dinner because—gasp—he kissed me. That trainee was Jackson Quinn, the son of Dad’s second-in-command. It was an all-out civil war for, like, four months until Mom locked Dad and Quinn in a room until they worked it out. They came out with black eyes, but it was all good after that.”
Despite everything, he felt his lips twitch. “Was that your first kiss?”
“And last, as far as my dad was concerned. He thinks I’m still an innocent virgin.”
Heat curled low in Elliot’s gut at that, entirely inappropriate given the conversation and the fact that she was practically family—or at least, she would be soon enough. He just had to keep reminding himself of that fact.
But his mind betrayed him, supplying a vivid image of Rue not being innocent at all, of exactly how un-virginal she could be if he ever let himself cross that line.
He realized Rue was watching him with a knowing smirk, as if she could read every thought in his head.
He cleared his throat. “So… Jackson Quinn, huh?”
“Oh, give me a break. I was thirteen. You can’t tell me you had great taste at thirteen.”
“Is that how he got that scar on his eyebrow?”
Rue’s grin turned wicked. “And why he still flinches whenever he sees my dad.”
The elevator doors opened to the underground garage, and Elliot led the way to his car, keys jingling in his hand. The concrete space was cool and quiet, their footsteps echoing off the walls.
“For what it’s worth,” she said, pausing as they reached his car. “I had fun tonight. Your family’s intense, but in a good way.”
“Even with the Cold War erupting in the middle of cake?”
“Especially then.” She grinned. “Makes me feel right at home.”
Elliot shook his head, unlocking the car with a click. “You’re a strange woman, Rue Bristow.”
