Page 35 of Barinov

Over the last few days, we’ve officially turned The Obsidian into something unrecognizable. Knox and Nate stripped that nightclub down to its bones and repurposed it into a full blown replica of Project Dylan’s headquarters.

It’s like the mission van threw up in there. Massive screens lining the walls. Whiteboards covered in timelines and coordinates. Tables buried under laptops and endless Luca poems.

Roman also cleared the entire eleventh floor for us at NOX so we could stay close. Close to each other. Close to The Obsidian. Close enough that if Luca so much as sneezes, we’ll all know about it.

Still nothing.

No coordinates.

No messages.

No videos.

No fucking anything.

The silence is deafening. It’s calculated. Seems like Luca wants us wound tight, exhausted, and desperate. Wants us to be buried alive inside this stupid waiting game of his.

Well congratulations, asshole. It’s working.

Knox and Haley took the room next to ours. Though, I’m pretty sure Knox hasn’t actually slept in it. Half the time he’s zonked out in a booth and drooling on his laptop downstairs. The other half he’s just staring at lines of code as they burn deep into his retinas. Haley’s come in here at least three times now because she doesn’t want to sleep alone.

The room on the other side belongs to Ellie and Briggs. That one took a minute or two to wrap my head around. We finally dragged the truth out of Little Whitmore the other day when Cade and I cornered her while everyone was picking their rooms at NOX.

Turns out Caleb Briggs reached out to her after the Donor Fight. One message turned into a couple of conversations. Conversations turned into a few dates. And eventually the dates turned into a secret relationship—her idea, not his. Ellie wanted it secret with everything going on. I don’t really blame her.

Cade did.

The guy nearly had a coronary when the words “I love him” flowed from Ellie’s pink, glossy lips. Not because Briggs isn’t solid. He’s just the kind of solid dude Cade didn’t want his little sister falling for. Black Book and all that shit.

Which Little Whitmore was quick to remind him that my family deals in just as much blood and guns. Probably more, if we actually counted.

That shut him up. Sort of.

I think it’s just hard for him to come to grips with the fact that three of the people he loves are now tied to dangerous families in one way or another. Shit, if Cal ends up with a criminal girlfriend one day, Cade will lose it.

He’s still pissed about Ellie and Briggs. Just quieter about it now.

Honestly, I think it’s great. He’s not the normal annoying as hell Wall Street trust fund brats she usually has draped all over her. Briggs is different. He’s steady. Smart. Protective without being stupid about it.

Plus, the guy looks at Ellie the same way I look at Cade and Bella. Like he’d take a bullet for her. Like he’d kill for her.

He’ll keep her safe.

Cade stirs beside me. His breath is warm against my chest.

“You’re still up?” he murmurs, his voice rough with sleep as he tilts his head to look up at me.

I nod. No point in trying to lie. “Yeah.”

He studies my face for a second. “You’re thinking about the trial.”

I huff, dragging the back of my knuckles down the hard cut of his jaw. “I’m thinking about what happens if I can’t protect you tomorrow.”

Cade pushes up on one elbow, closing every inch of space between us. “Hey,” he whispers, resting a flat hand over my heart. “I’ll be ok, babe.”

I shake my head. “You don’t know that.”

“I know this,” he murmurs. His fingers trace down the ridges of my abs, sending a spark straight through my spine. “You’ll be with me.” His hand slides lower, grazing that spot just above the band of my boxers. “And that alone proves I’ll be just fine.”