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You try staring down a fierce granny rocking a power suit. Or try staring down any granny. I dare you. It’s hard to do.
“You see, Cass, we’re not like any other family, and it’s not just because I have grandsons, and they were all adopted. I never had any kids of my own, so they’re more than just grandsons. They’re like my sons too. My boys. All five of them. My husband was taken from me in a brutal manner. He was working a job he shouldn’t have been doing, and when he knew too much, he was killed off in an accident that was no accident. I swore vengeance, and I dedicated myself to reaching that objective. I breathed, ate, and slept it. I trained in the only way I could because a woman well past middle age couldn’t go in and physically kick ass, although I dang well would have tried. However, that wouldn’t have been smart. A person can only do so much damage with a weapon or their body, but they can do so, so much more with their mind. I would never have asked my boys to do what I do, but it kind of all came together, and they were happy to do it with me. Anyway, I’ll get right to it. We fight crime. We right the major wrongs in the world and come up against some of the biggest crime bosses, drug lords, made men, and criminal organizations of all types. A huge portion of their business is conducted digitally now, lucky for us. All you need is the right skill set, and you can bring anyone down.”
It all makes sense now. Oh my god. It. All. Makes. Sense. The inklings I had that Lennox and his family were a little too good with technology, the disappearing to different places all the time, the things Ayana could never tell me, and the things Lennox couldn’t tell me because he wanted to keep me safe.
“Oh my god,” I gasp. Good gravy, why is the room getting dark, and what are those black things making strange swimming patterns in front of my eyes? “You’re the mafia, aren’t you?”
Lennox’s granny cackles so loud that I swear the laughter echoes off the walls in the room. “No, honey, we’re not the mafia. We take the bad guys down.”
“Cass?” Lennox’s voice, coming from far away, calls out.
I see his eyes, green and swimming. Why are they swimming? He’s looking at me like he truly cares, I realize. Truly. Cares. Is that why they look so intense? He’s a good man. He’s not one who just puts in the time, pretending to care. He’s not looking for himself when he’s looking at me. No, when he looks at me, he’s not mentally skipping ahead to the beer he’d rather have with his friends or the sports he’d rather be watching than having a conversation with me. Okay, so maybe I’m a tad bit bitter in that area because I’ve dated one asshole too many. But when Lennox looks at me, he really does see me, and it doesn’t take knowing a few assholes too many to know that.
Oh god, why are his eyes doing that now? I’m pretty sure they’re not supposed to be detaching from his body and swimming for real. Arp! Out of his face. My eyes are doing funny things. I try and put out a hand in front of them because maybe it’s my eyes that are swimming, but my hand feels like it weighs a thousand pounds. Oh, joy, am I walking through a tunnel now? Where did that come from?
“Oh shit!” Ayana’s face appears, looking even further away.
“Garble-diddle-do-goooo!” Maya’s happy exclamation sounds from even further.
Then everything goes dark.
CHAPTER 12
Lennox
I grab Cass and catch her before she can topple over the edge of the couch. She falls in my arms and slumps down, now a deadweight. It gives me a heart attack seeing her practically gray and unresponsive. Even though I know it was the shock of what we just told her, it is not okay. She just passed out after hearing about what we really do and who we really are. Seriously, why was there a single part of me that thought she would be okay with it? Was there even a fractional part of me that thought I could keep her safe?
We create our own luck. We make our own destiny.
I believed in that. I really, truly did.
“Whoa! Cass!” Ayana leans in, fanning her best friend’s pale face with one hand while holding Maya safely in her other arm. “Maybe we need to give her space,” she suggests as everyone starts anxiously crowding around.
Immediately, the surge of my brothers backs up as Granny leans over Cass’ still form. “What did I offer Alden when he passed out at his wedding? Whisky? Looks like we might have another taker here.”
