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No, it couldn’t, because … “We’re both clear on how things are. We’re also not fucking anymore. And no, I don’t want to talk about that either.”
Knuckles rapped on the office door.
“Come in,” Knox called out.
Tanner strolled in first, followed closely by Jasper and Sefton. Larkin came in behind them, closed the door, and took up position there.
“Hello, Jasper, Sefton.” Knox flicked his fingers, urging them to come closer.
“We had nothing to do with whatever happened to Piper last night,” said Jasper, halting in front of the desk. He was doing his best to look sure and confident, but the fine line of tension in his body gave him away.
Knox lifted a brow. “No?”
“No, nothing,” Jasper stated.
Sefton swallowed. “Nothing,” he reiterated.
Knox cocked his head. “You didn’t confront her at the Xpress bar, Jasper?”
His brows pulling together, Jasper said, “It wasn’t a confrontation.”
Levi folded his arms. “Then what was it?”
“I’d had a few drinks, I sniped at her a little,” replied Jasper. “It was stupid, yeah, but I didn’t hurt her or anything. I definitely didn’t teleport her out of the damn bar.”
Knox hummed. “But could you or your brother here have arranged for someone else to do so? Yes, that’s a definite possibility.”
Sefton shook his head. “We didn’t, Knox, I swear. We wouldn’t.”
“We’re not fans of Piper, but we don’t want her dead,” said Jasper. “All I want is for her to admit that she lied about my brother—that’s it.”
Knox locked his gaze on Sefton. “You still insist to your family that you’re innocent?”
Avoiding eye-contact, he replied, “I admitted my guilt—”
“So that I’d let it alone,” began Jasper, “because you don’t want me to end up in the damn Chamber.”
“Blind faith can be a dangerous thing, Jasper,” said Knox. “As can targeting the psi-mate of someone like Levi.”
“Even if we wanted to hire a person to teleport her somewhere—which we don’t—we couldn’t have done it,” Jasper clipped. “We don’t have the cash. The way I see it, a person would charge a hell of a fee to kidnap the anchor of one of your sentinels. We’d have no way of paying that.”
Valid point, but … “Not all fees are cash-based.”
Jasper raised his shoulders. “What else could we offer someone in payment? Nothing. We don’t own our homes. We have no assets. Our cars are pieces of shit. An IOU wouldn’t be enough of an incentive for someone to snatch a person as well-protected as Piper.”
“Maybe you never intended to pay anyone,” mused Knox. “Maybe your plan was to kill your hirelings once they delivered Piper to you.”
“It would have been a shit plan,” said Levi, dancing his gaze from one brother to the other. “But neither of you is the brightest bulb.”
Jasper’s mouth tightened. “It wasn’t us. The only thing I’m guilty of is acting like a dick last night at the bar and … fuck, I don’t even remember all I said.”
“I have plenty of witnesses who do,” Knox told him. “The words most used to describe your manner during that encounter were ‘ugly,’ ‘aggressive,’ and ‘threatening.’”
Jasper’s brow pinched. “I didn’t threaten her.”
“How do you know?” challenged Levi. “According to you, you don’t recall everything you said.”
“I’d remember that.” Jasper softly cursed. “Look, I was rude and out of line. I wouldn’t have said anything to her if I hadn’t been drunk.”
“And as I said to your brother last night,” Larkin cut in, “I’ve never considered ‘drunk’ a valid excuse for any form of behavior.”
“Neither have I,” said Knox. “Speaking of Sefton—”
“He didn’t do nothing,” Jasper insisted. “It was all me. He tried to pull me away.”
“He made a show of it, yes,” Knox agreed. “But he was also overheard by a patron telling you that someone needed to give Piper a reality check.” Knox pinned the other brother with a glare. “You goaded him.”
Sefton’s eyes widened. “No, no, it wasn’t like that. Someone said they were surprised that Celeste hadn’t screamed bloody murder over Piper and Levi being anchors. I said Celeste would probably do something sooner or later; that she’d never give them her blessing and that Piper needed a reality check if she thought differently. I wasn’t trying to rile my brother. I wouldn’t.”
“There was no riling,” said Jasper. “He had nothing to do with this.”
Ignoring him, Knox spoke again to Sefton. “I think you like that your brother insists on being so mouthy. He says all the things you’re too scared to say yourself. The risk is all his. That suits you just fine.”
Both Sefton and Jasper began profusely objecting.
“Quiet,” clipped Knox, and the protests abruptly died. He narrowed his eyes on Jasper. “You knew what would happen if you didn’t keep your distance from Piper. It doesn’t matter to me what state you were in last night, you have no excuse for disobeying my orders or ignoring Levi’s warnings. You will be punished.”
