Page 150 of Barinov

“Hell no!” I eye Briggs leaning against the wall, arms around Ellie’s waist from behind. Rage spikes. I rip out of Cade’s grip and stalk forward until I’m nearly chest-to-chest with them both.

“You stood there while he took the necklace,” I grit. “Hell Briggs, you let him put his hands all over her. And for what? To put me on the fucking floor?”

“Lex, please,” Ellie whispers.

“No, El!”

Briggs arms tighten around her. “Just shut up for a second and listen, yeah?” he says, his voice gravelly.

“Babe.” Cade’s hand finds my forearm again. “Listen to him.”

I drag a hand down my face, pacing once before turning back.

“Fine.” My jaw clenches. “Someone spit it out.”

“Zeke said pretty please,” Briggs says.

I gape at him.

Flat.

Fucking.

Unimpressed.

“So, what?” I snap. “We let the guy who assaulted our girl just walk because he has manners? That some sort of Black Book protocol?”

“It’s a code word,” Knox mumbles from behind me.

I whip around. “A what?”

“It’s Project Dylan’s code word.” Knox sighs like I’m some sort of idiot. “When someone says it, it means they know something you don’t and that you need to trust them.”

I blink, the last bit of fog from Briggs’s cheap shot finally burning off. “Well wouldn’t that have been nice to fucking know before I went in there!”

“Enough,” Nate booms as he steps forward. “Let’s get out of this cramped closet. Everyone get upstairs where we can have a chat without causing a scene”

His eyes flick to me.

“And new rule, no more throwing hands unless you’re in The Pit.”

Chapter 38

CADE

The Obsidian

58 days since Bella’s kidnapping.

The second we get back to The Obsidian, Lex heads straight for the vodka.

It had taken a small miracle to choose who was staying downstairs and who was coming up here without making what Nate called a scene.

I get it.

What started out as a plan for a fake website spiraled into Roman creating an actual charity in Bella’s mothers honor. Roman poured his blood, sweat, and tears into the thing. Going through Izzy’s things took a lot out of him. Mom noticed the grief hovering, so she jumped in and helped set the charity up. Made it legit in less than a few days.

Plus, the girls worked their asses off to make tonight’s Casino Night a success. And it’s been a massive win. The donations were raking in and the last thing we needed was a spotlight on us for the wrong reasons. That money is going to help so many people fighting the same darkness that took Izzy.