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As he descended the stairs, he drew in a deep breath and tensed all of his muscles as he mentally and physically prepared himself for the teasing that was waiting for him. This was his family. They were insane and nosy, but there wasn’t a single doubt in his mind that they loved him.
The living room was silent when he entered. All of his oldest friends and their boyfriends sat on the furniture or stood, their eyes trained on him. Even Soren and Alexei were back in time to share in this nonsense. Their expressions were eager, looking as though they were going to burst if they held it in another second longer. It was so very tempting to let them dangle in silence and see who pulled a muscle first. Only West seemed like his usual sour self, as if he couldn’t understand what had them all worked up.
Standing in the doorway, he sighed heavily and dropped his head. “Fine. Okay. Let it out.”
It was an explosion of nonsense. That was the one good thing about them all talking at once. He couldn’t make out what any of them were specifically saying. It went on for a full minute before Charlie stood and walked over to Ed. He placed one hand on his shoulder and held up the other, silencing the room.
“All right, enough. No matter what’s going on with Ed’s personal life, we support him. The important thing we need to focus on is this new threat to Max and how we’re going to handle it.”
“I can handle it easy enough,” West drawled from where he was standing in the corner. He lifted one hand from where it was folded across his chest and formed a gun with his fingers. “That is, if he’s willing to let me put one between her eyes. I could have done it today…”
Ed’s stomach churned up this queasiness that sent a cold sweat across his skin. “I don’t know. He says that he doesn’t care about his sister or any of his old family, but…” He paused and glared at the floor. “This was his first time seeing her in years. I don’t want him to make this snap decision and regret it later.”
“But do you think she’s honestly willing to hurt her brother to get what she wants?” Will asked.
“Yes.” Ed didn’t hesitate. He didn’t even have to think about his answer. Spending five minutes in her presence, watching how she treated Max, was enough to leave no question in his mind that she had no softer feelings toward him. There was nothing but greed and determination driving her forward. Not even her own brother could stop her.
She wasn’t allowed to touch him.
And for now, Ed would instruct the guys to keep from harming her if it was at all possible in hopes of protecting Max’s heart, but if there was a moment where they had to choose between Max’s safety and her life, Max would always win.
Every time, Max.
“Okay. This is good information, but it’s only a start,” Charlie announced. “Kairo, I want you digging into what you can find about Rive and Nail Mironov. Make sure they’re not working together. Dig up known associates. Find out their SOP.”
Soren lifted one hand in the air, a wry smile twisting up his lips. “I might be able to give Kairo a hand with this. My cat burglar days brought me into contact with people like Mironov and Rive. Plus, a smuggler is a smuggler, regardless of whether they are moving art or bombs. A lot of the same channels are used.”
“Good. Alexei, lend a hand where you can. The faster we can learn about who is on Max’s tail, the sooner we can shake them off.” Charlie squeezed Ed’s shoulder, and he looked up to find his boss’s expression stern. “Ed, your focus is on shoring up security here. Do whatever it takes to make this place tighter than a virgin’s asshole on Sunday. We also need a backup location in case we need to suddenly bug out. All the logistics are in your hands. Get it done.”
Ed nodded. Not a problem. This was a job he’d handled on plenty of other missions, though he might want to confer with Max about their secondary location since he knew the area better. They might also be able to move their next location close to their ultimate destination if Max had even the smallest idea of which direction they would be headed.
“What about me, Boss Man?” West prodded.
Charlie huffed a low laugh. “I want you on the street, blending in, keeping an eye out for spies.”
West’s mouth twisted into something grim that couldn’t quite be called a smile or even a smirk. That expression always chilled something deep inside of Ed and made him ache for his friend. He didn’t want this for West. The man kept feeding that darkness instead of trying to crawl out of it.
