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“No.”
“Why the hell not?”
“Because I’ve been helping him.”
Cruz and Phin stared at Rohan as if he’d just announced he found a third testicle.
Releasing a breath, Zeke took advantage of their distraction to calm his bubbling emotions.
Logically, he understood that his current ill-temper had more to do with finding Liv gone than any nonsense Phin flung at him about the sword.
Why had she left his bed again?
When had she left?
From the cold sheets, she’d been gone well before the guys barged in.
In a way, he was glad. He didn’t like the idea of his brothers seeing Liv naked and disheveled. She was hard to resist clothed and put together. Rumpled and bare beneath a thin sheet would send any red-blooded man’s mind down a path of fantasy.
“Dammit, Rohan,” Cruz said at the same time Phin demanded, “What do you mean you’ve been helping him?”
Rohan resumed his place by the window. This time, he leaned a shoulder against the frame. “Searching the dark web for any mention of a sword meeting Lupos’s description.”
“Did you also know in advance about the hat trick he performed at the St. Martins’?” Phin asked.
“No,” Zeke said. “I didn’t even know what I was going to do last night.”
Not entirely true. He’d worn the Zorro costume, with its cape and sword, knowing if he found Lupos he would attempt to walk out of there with it.
Phin snorted. “Your choice of costume was a happy coincidence, then?”
“I’m that good, bro.”
“Enough of the bullshit, Zeke,” Cruz said in a tired voice. “How’d you know the sword would be there?”
He took a drink of coffee, relishing the liquid’s burn down his throat.
“I got a tip from an associate.”
“An associate?” Cruz echoed.
“Sardoff?” Phin guessed, incredulous. “You told him about your quest, but not us?”
“What’s it going to take to get you off my back about this?” Zeke’s body itched to pace. His suite wasn’t small, but when four Blackwell men breathed the same air, most spaces tended to shrink.
Besides, he refused to give these nosey-ass jamokes the upper hand. He would present the appearance of calm, even if it killed him.
“An apology?” Zeke pressed. “I’m sorry. I should have told you about my hunt for a stolen heirloom you couldn’t give two shits about. I’m sorry for taking advantage of a prime opportunity to get our family’s property back.” He took in each of his brothers. “We good now?”
With Flash-like speed, Phin pushed out of his chair and stormed across the room. “You can be a real asshole, Zeke.”
Cruz opened the door, and their little brother disappeared down the hallway.
Shaking his head, Cruz said, “Shitty apology accepted.”
Zeke bit down on the inside of his cheek as his second-in-command left. A heavy silence descended on the room, and he glanced up to find Rohan studying him.
“Go ahead, say it.”
