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Finally, he said something. “She betrayed me.”
Pearl was the loyal type. She’d risked her life to save mine. My brother was always honest, but I didn’t believe him for a second. “How so?” In terms of fidelity, she wouldn’t cross Crow either. She was committed to him now just as much as she was the day she married him. I didn’t see why she loved him or agreed to put up with him for the rest of her life, but I didn’t doubt her love.
Crow took a deep breath before he answered, like saying the words took all his energy. “She went to Tristan.”
“Tristan?” I asked. “Psychopath Tristan?”
He nodded. “She went by herself to help Adelina.”
The words screwed into my brain and an image of Pearl with Tristan appeared in my mind, but I still couldn’t believe it. No woman was safe in his domain. He used women like he used bullets, disposing of them the second he used them. “Is she okay?”
“She’s fine.” He closed his eyes, struggling with another jolt of pain. “Thank fucking god. If she weren’t my wife, Tristan would have…” He never finished the sentence, and I knew he never would.
I rubbed my temple, irritated that my sister-in-law was such a stupid idiot. “Jesus Christ. What did she say to him?”
“I don’t fucking know. I didn’t ask.”
“You didn’t ask?”
“I was too busy slapping the shit out of her.” He suddenly grabbed the table and flipped it over, sending all the equipment flying onto the concrete floor. His hands gripped his skull like he was melting from a migraine. “I’ve never been so angry in my life. I couldn’t even look at her. I couldn’t say a damn word. I just…snapped. I told her I didn’t want to speak to her for a week. And she hasn’t been stupid enough to try to change my mind.”
“So, let me get this straight…she went all the way to France by herself?”
“Hopped on a plane the second I went to work.”
“How did she figure all of this out?”
He shook his head. “Doesn’t matter, Cane. She went there without saying a damn word to me. I told her I would do what I could for Adelina. She’s an idiot for thinking she’s smart enough to find a path that I can’t see. She risked her life, risked my whole world, by going there. It’s unforgivable. Un-fucking-forgivable.”
I had a distinct fondness for Pearl and admired her determination, but I had to agree with my brother this time. Her actions were completely naïve. If Crow and I hadn’t been formidable allies, Tristan would have done unspeakable things to her. She would have missed Bones—as crazy as that sounded. I thought my brother overreacted to a lot of things, but this time, his fury was justified. “At least she’s okay.”
He released a quiet growl. “That doesn’t sheathe my anger. If she really wanted to talk to Tristan that badly, we could have worked out a plan together. I could have met with him. I could have just called him. But she’s so arrogant that she thinks she can handle it by herself. Pisses me off.”
“Yeah…”
“Now Tristan and his men think I can’t handle my woman. It’s fucking embarrassing.”
Yeah, that didn’t look good either.
“And now he also knows we want to keep Adelina. That ruins any potential move we could have made.”
“We weren’t going to make a move anyway.” I was going to hand Adelina over in two weeks, and that was the end of the story. I would try to make the last two weeks of her life beautiful, meaningful. But that was the extent of my compassion. The only way I could save her was if I declared a blood war against Tristan and looked over my shoulder for the rest of my life. Bones was finally gone, and I was free. I wasn’t willing to walk back into the shadows—not for her, not for anyone. “What did Pearl say to Tristan?”
“I told you.” He ground his teeth together. “I don’t know.”
“Well, we need to figure it out. If Tristan calls me and I don’t have a clue, I’m going to look like a moron.”
Crow gave a slight nod.
“So talk to Pearl, and let me know what she says.”
“I told you I’m not talking to her.”
Damn, then this fight was serious. “You haven’t spoken to her since she came home?”
He shook his head. “And I’m not going to. I can’t…”
I didn’t ask why because I already knew the reasoning. He was just as pissed now as he was the day she came home. Calm people didn’t flip over a table with valuable weapons on top. He couldn’t keep his hands still or his anger sheathed.
“You talk to her.”
I stood beside him and looked at his profile. He wouldn’t meet my gaze head on. “Me?” Last time I checked, he didn’t want me anywhere near Pearl when he wasn’t around.
