Page 97 of Play The Game

Atticus stands and runs a hand down the front of his suit jacket. A slow smile forms on his lips and he suddenly looks closer to his age. “If you cut yourself off from the Jackal and start calling me when you need help instead of him, then I will take him on with you. Induct them, keep Avery safe from the Jackal and her father, and I will offer my help with anything from this moment onward. Whatever the cost.”

That’s exactly what we need.

I glance up at Avery. This is her choice, if she doesn’t want to trust this guy ever again then we’ll figure something else out. If I decide for her then I’m just as terrible as everyone else in her life.

She’s staring at Atticus, her eyes guarded and her mouth turned down a little. I’m not sure he’ll ever be able to repair the damage this has done to her trust of him. She sighs and gives me a little nod. I look at Blaise and he leans in to kiss me under the ear, sweet and sure. Then I take a deep breath and turn to Ash. He’s looking at my thigh, where his fingers are drawing lazy circles on the skin exposed by the deep slit in the dress. I wait him out, this isn’t something I’d ever rush. This is lifelong. As long as I breathe, I am the Wolf. If he chooses this then he will be tied to me forever. His fingers still and then he gives me the smallest squeeze.

“Done,” I say to Atticus, and he shoots a resigned smile at Avery, who stares back at him like she’s plotting his death, before turning to the door.

He hesitates for a second and then turns back to me. “Don’t ever let her wear red again. She wears your color or mine.”

And then he’s gone.

Blaise gets up and locks the door behind him, and Avery slides down to take his seat, her hand finding mine.

“His color is black. Mine is white,” I murmur, and she nods.

“I’m guessing the Jackal’s is red from that little display. I’ll burn it all. What does induction look like? If you tell me I have to be naked or bleed I’m pulling out. My brother too, I’m not having him frolicking around the city in the nude.”

“Should have told him that earlier,” Blaise murmurs, and then laughs at the glare he gets from Ash.

“It’s done. I told the Crow, he passes it on. It’s weird but, yeah, it’s that simple.”

THIRTY

My phone wakes me at three.

I have to struggle my way out from under Ash to reach it, and when I see it’s Harley, I answer immediately. My heart in my throat.

“What’s happened?” I whisper, not wanting to wake Ash if it’s nothing serious.

The line stays quiet, I can hear a rhythmic rustling, a sort of swishing noise, but nothing to tell me what the hell is going on. I sit and just listen for a second, and realize his phone is in his pocket and the noise is the sound of his pants as he walks.

I’m on edge immediately.

Why is he walking around at this time? Why has he called me only to put his phone in his pocket? Butt dialing isn’t really a thing anymore, is it? Is he in danger?

What the fuck has happened in the last three hours?

I keep the phone to my ear and climb over Ash, the deepest sleeper out of all of us, and he barely mumbles as my weight hits his chest. I grab his phone and then use his finger to unlock it, like some creepy stalker girlfriend but fuck it, this feels like an emergency.

I fucking hope it’s not an emergency.

Dialing Illi’s number, I’m almost choking on my panic.

“What’s happened?” he answers, an echo of my own worry.

I barely recognize my own voice. “Do you still have eyes on Arbour? Something is wrong.”

Illi grunts and starts to move. The swishing noise in the other phone stops, and a door opens and then shuts.

He swears low and colorful under his breath. “He’s just taken a girl into his room, kid. Fuck. He’s clearly fucking wasted, she’s practically holding him up, but cheating’s fucking cheating. I didn’t fucking see him doing this, he’s so fucking taken with you. Fuck. You need me to kill him? I can do it with a bullet, nice and quick if you feel squeamish about it,” Illi says, gentle in a way I didn’t know he had in him.

But fuck that.

I know Harley and I fucking trust him.

“No killing, no matter what. Go and get a look at what the fuck is happening in that room.”