Page 68 of Thaddeus

He was also one of the good guys.

To say that I’d already known I didn’t deserve a man as good as Thaddeus would’ve been an understatement. But now I really knew he was far too good for who I’d become and he’d figure it out.

Shit.

Thad

Emerson’s body stiffened and her hand, still in mine, gave an involuntary twitch.

“What’s wrong?” I asked quietly.

“Nothing.”

Bullshit. There was something wrong. I didn’t think it was the ribbing the guys and Tatiana gave when we’d come downstairs together, because that was nothing compared to the shit we’d given Brooks when he was chasing after Tatiana. In fact, it was so light, I knew they were holding back and waiting until they could give it to me in private.

“Give us a minute, yeah?”

“No.” Emerson dug in, preventing me from dragging her back upstairs for some privacy. “We have stuff to do.”

“Em—”

“Thaddeus. Nothing’s wrong except the fact that we need to figure out where Paul is.”

That was a lie. Paul was absolutely an issue, but that wasn’t what had made her flinch. I’d give her the play, not wanting to embarrass her by drawing attention to the fact that something had upset her. Maybe it was what the guys had said. I’d have to explain that their banter wasn’t in an effort to make fun of her, but it was a welcome to the family.

“Has Tex been able to get us a lead on Leon, I mean, Harry Landry?” Tatiana asked.

“He thinks he’s back in the U.S. Facial rec put him at LAX. But nothing after that,” Declan told her.

“So he wants us to know where he is,” Tatiana surmised.

“Or he doesn’t know we’ve figured out who he is,” Dec returned.

Everyone fell silent for a moment, then Max spoke, “He knows we have Emerson, so he’ll also know we’ve figured it out. Either we got really lucky taking out Garcia the night he was meeting with Landry, a man who knew Emerson well, therefore protecting her cover when Thad took her. Or, that meeting was by design because he knew what Emerson had been doing, and knew she was with Garcia.”

“You think Landry wants Emerson?” Tatiana asked before I could.

“Of course he does. I’d bet Landry made Emerson within a few days, and that’s why he got shot of her. Out of all the men Emerson targeted, Landry was the most powerful and obviously the most cautious. It wouldn’t surprise me if that meeting was set to take Emerson out and really I wouldn’t be shocked if Landry was funding the bounty on her now, just using Paul as the front man. It’d be a smart play, Landry knows Emerson can identify him and he needs her eliminated,” Max finished.

“Jesus, you think you coulda cushioned that blow a little,” I bit.

“I coulda, but that woulda meant sugarcoating it. You ever know me to do that shit? Especially with something as important as your woman’s safety. Paul needs to be taken out ASAP. And Landry next, for a variety of reasons. He jacked Tatiana and almost had her killed. He’s up to his eyeballs in Omni business. And he’s an all-around asshole who is responsible for the selling and trading of countless women. Now we can add Emerson to the list of reasons why Harry Landry cannot be left breathing.”

Once Max was done laying it out, Emerson had scooted closer to me and she was squeezing my hand with more strength than I thought she was capable of.

Son of a bitch.

“Max’s right. Sucks to say, and I’m sorry you’re scared, Emerson, but the truth is, you got yourself tied up with a bunch of fuckwits who don’t bat an eyelash at killing innocent women. Though to Landry you’re not innocent. And as much as I really hate to say it, that is a stink you don’t wash off by walking away. It needs to be scrubbed clean and the only way to do that is to eliminate all involved,” Declan not-so-helpfully added.

Now Emmy was damn near panting in fear. “You should… all of you… you should walk away from me before the stink rubs off on all of you.”

“Not a chance,” I growled.

“That is not how this works,” Max told her.

“But I think—”

Declan’s phone rang, cutting off her protest. “Zane, you’re on speaker,” Declan greeted.