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His gray eyes glitter, his jaw working as he considers his answer for a long moment. Then he nods.
“Thank you.” I breathe, relief hitting me so hard that my legs wobble.
He just grunts, then goes back to all but ignoring me. But at least I’m here.
I settle back onto the couch, keeping my lips glued together and mostly just listening, trying to get caught up on where things stand with West Point. The three men bounce ideas off each other like a well-oiled machine as they discard and refine different options about how to find Chloe, and I listen intently to all of it, throwing in small bits of information where I can.
I can’t tell if Maddoc allowing me to stay is a sign that he’s starting to trust me or if it means the opposite, more along the lines of “keep your friends close and your enemies closer,” but either way, I’m grateful.
Better than that, I’mhopeful.
Because if the Reapers are truly planning on making a move soon, that means I’m finally one step closer to getting Chloe back from the monsters who took her.
19
RILEY
A few days later,I’m still grateful… but I’m also frustrated as all hell that we still don’t have a solid plan about how to get Chloe away from West Point yet.
True to his word, Maddoc has included me whenever they discuss it, but they’re still not sharing everything with me. I even understand why, but that doesn’t make it any less maddening to hear the three of them bat around ideas only to have the planning stall out due to details I don’t understand because it’s gang business.
Reaper business.
Not, as it’s been made crystal clear, any ofmybusiness.
It’s midmorning, and I’m going stir crazy with nothing to do besides pace around my room, so I finally slip out into the hall and head downstairs. I’m not really hungry, since I ate breakfast just a couple hours ago, so instead of turning toward the kitchen when I reach the first floor, I glance toward the back of the house.
I’ve never been back that way, so I don’t technically know if it’s considered a “common area” or not, but I decide that it probably is… or at least, I could easily argue that I thought it was if Maddoc finds me and gets pissed again.
A hallway leads toward what looks like the door to the back yard, and there are a few other doors off the corridor. One of those doors has been left open, and I peer inside as I pass. It looks like an office, which piques my interest immediately—but it’s not empty.
Maddoc is sitting behind the large desk that dominates the room, and he looks up at the sound of my quiet footsteps.
My heart lurches, and I clear my throat. “Is… um, there a bathroom down this way?”
To my total shock, Maddoc doesn’t turn cold and deadly or whip out the gun he’s always got tucked into his waistband and just shoot me in the head. Instead, he almost looks… amused.
“No,” he says, setting down the tablet he’s holding. After a beat, he adds, “Any other questions?”
Oh, I’ve got a million questions. I just have no idea which ones will get me killed.
I shake my head. “No. I’ll just leave you to do… whatever it is you’re doing.”
“Riley,” he says sharply when I start to back away. “Come over here.”
I hesitate, but he gestures me closer, and since I’ve clearly already broken the no-stupidity rule I gave myself once, the last thing I need to do is break it again by defying him.
Besides, if I’m being honest, I don’t want to. Maddoc may be intimidating as hell. I may hate him—Idohate him, even though I’m grateful for his help. But there’s also something about him that’s pulled me toward him from the start, like a moth to a flame.
“West Point,” he says once I reach his desk, tapping the tablet he set down, “is shooting itself in the foot.”
“What do you mean?” I ask, instantly on high alert now that I know he was working on something that has to do with Chloe’s captors.
He sighs, scrubbing a hand over his face, then seems to catch himself, dropping his hand and hardening his gaze, as if he didn’t mean to let me see him in anything less than total control.
“I mean they’re fucking stupid,” he growls. “Too willing to sacrifice their own people for short-term gains. No idea what it actually means to build an organization of strength. No concept of true loyalty.”
He spits out the last sentence like he’s disgusted. It’s the exact feeling I have anytime I let myself think too hard about Frank selling my sister, so I can completely relate to his anger for once.
