Page 209 of Forever Relentless

“Better to be aware than blind,” he agreed. He punched me in the arm, hard enough to actually hurt. “That’s because you went to Gray Santo.”

“My options were limited.” I thought back on my actions as I rubbed my arm. “They have a spot that needs filling. I fit.”

He swore. “Fuck that, you fit in my team, not theirs.”

“You sound really possessive, you know that, right?” Dustin asked as he stretched.

“Don’t care,” Dante said grumpily. “I don’t need the fucking Devils to see weakness in my team.” He glared at me. “This, right here, is your ride or die. Got it?”

That was what I needed to hear and it was exactly why I knew I’d made the right choice. “Dust is right, you sound unhinged.”

“Yeah, well, remember that next time you get the bright idea that you don’t belong. Fucking stupid thinking, and I’d never say you were stupid.”

“It won’t happen again.” And I meant it.

“Fine.” Dante headed to his room. “I need to study. Finals don’t pass themselves.” He paused before leaving. “Noah?”

“Yeah?”

“I know why you did it all. You did well.” He didn’t look like he liked it still, but it was a move forward. “But you pull that lone-wolf crap again . . .”

I raised an eyebrow.

He pointed between himself and Dustin. “We won’t be so easy on you.”

Then he left.

Dustin watched the door close and shook his head. “You two can be exhausting.”

I dropped onto the couch beside him. “Tell me about it.”

He glanced at me sideways. “For the record?”

“Yeah?”

“I was never mad you made the deal.”

I looked at him in surprise. “Why’d I get the silent treatment?”

“I was mad you thought you had to do it alone.” He shook his head. “You walked in here and delivered it to us. You said we could discuss, and we knew you’d already practically agreed on our behalf. It took me three hours to calm Hadley down — three hours. You walked out and left me with that.”

I nodded again. That had been shitty; it was a fair point. “I needed to get to Briar and tell her. When I came back, the place was quiet. I figured no one wanted to talk to me.”

“Did you try knocking on any doors?”

Fair again. I tried to lighten the mood. “It was my first mafia negotiation.”

Dustin huffed out a laugh. “Dude, you’re from Vegas. Taking down an evil coaching syndicate should have been a breeze.”

I didn’t know what to say. “I genuinely think all of you need to come to Vegas, because you all have watched far too much TV. You have a really warped idea of what it’s like.”

“Wait until I’m twenty-one.” He nudged me. “Madden?”

“Or we could study?”

“This is studying. We’re preparing for our future,” he said, handing me a controller. “This is real-life research.”

I couldn’t even argue against his reasoning. “Fine. One game.”