Page 207 of Forever Relentless

“You made a deal with him.” He shook his head. “I needed time to process.”

“I was in his office, he had me cornered, I had no fucking choice but to think on my feet on how to protect you all.”

Dante’s gaze didn’t move. “You went to Cardinal before you were in that situation.”

That was fair. I’d have been pissed too; I knew he’d see it that way. “So this is what you’re angry about? That I went to them?”

“Yes! We are a team.”

“You mean the team that hasn’t spoken to me in a week? That team?”

The room went still.

Dustin shifted on the couch, looking between us. “Let’s not lose our tempers,” he reminded us both. “We’re talking this out. Not yelling it out.”

Dante leaned forward, elbows on his knees. “So what you’re saying is that you didn’t trust us?”

That was bullshit, and he knew it. I looked at the floor for a second before answering. “No,” I said honestly. “But when I realized I’d made the wrong call going to Cardinal, I also knew for you, that realization would have come too late.”

His eyes narrowed slightly as he considered what I’d said. “You could have told me before Briar did.”

“I could’ve. Would it have made a difference?”

He looked away, and then back at me. “Yes.”

I shrugged, saying nothing. That was probably true.

Dustin finally leaned forward. “Okay,” he said. “Time-out.”

Neither of us looked at him.

“We’re just going around in circles,” he said with a sigh.

Dante leaned back with a frustrated breath.

“Fine,” Dustin continued, taking Dante’s movement for agreement. “Let’s simplify this.” He pointed at me. “After telling us about the deal you made, you shut down.”

That might be fair.

Then he pointed at Dante. “And when you found about the Devils, you shouldn’t have iced him out for a week.”

Also fair.

Then he pointed between us. “And both of you are too damn stubborn to say that out loud.”

“Just us?” I asked Dustin.

Silence.

“Fine,” he conceded. “We all could have used our words more.”

I exhaled slowly. “You might be right.”

Dante looked at me.

I let out a loud exhale. “Fine, we’ve discussed it now.”

Dante snorted. “And if you were in the same situation again?”