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Several outlets had still tried to connect the violence to the recent incidents in the figure skating world, though. A couple of reporters at the other arena yesterday had shoved microphones toward my face and asked with the aid of translators whether I had any thoughts on the new bout of violence in the city.
Wouldn’t it be sweet if someday I really could skate without anyone focusing on the shitty parts of my past life? Hopefully that wasn’t too grand a dream.
I shed those worries as well as I could while I stretched out my limbs. Quentin joined us for the last several minutes, and then Rafael fell into step with us as we headed out to the car. There was something comforting about having all four of my men around me, knowing I had every bit of their support, even if the rest of the world looked at me with skeptical eyes.
When we reached our building, I spotted Ursula casually standing guard on the sidewalk outside. She had her hood pulled low and a scarf tucked over her mouth to make her difficult to identify, but I’d expected to see one of the turncoats out here.
She dipped her head to me in a subtle nod as we drove by into the underground lot. Her coat hid all sign of the bandage on her arm.
We’d managed to score the three Deadly Rose defectors a small apartment on a lower floor of the building, a furnished space normally used by short-term business visitors. Which I guessed they technically were.
Rafael had managed to get a doctor to Dámaso before he’d lost a dangerous amount of blood, and the bullet hadn’t punctured anything vital, so at least he was getting to recover in relative comfort. When I’d stopped by to check on them this morning, he’d been walking around the apartment, if with occasional winces. When I’d thanked him for helping save our lives, he’d only chuckled and waved me off.
“I don’t know whatwe’ddo if we were stuck with just Mireya to answer to. It was for my benefit as much as yours.”
I wasn’t going to complain about that attitude as long as it worked in my favor.
We were just stepping into the plain but cozy living room of our own apartment when my burner phone pinged with an incoming text. My pulse skipped a beat.
There were only two people other than the guys with me who had this number. Neither of those two would be reaching out unless it was important.
My men all turned to study me as I pulled out the phone, their expressions darkening. We hadn’t gotten a whole lot of good news by phone recently.
A text had popped up on the screen. My gaze skimmed over it. “It’s Beckett—the Storm. He’s asking to video-chat.”
Quentin hustled over to the laptop we’d left on the kitchen counter after Jasper had been consulting it for recipes. “I can set that up. On the coffee table so we can all join in?”
From the other guys’ stances, they definitely wanted to be included in the conversation. I nodded and hurried over to the sofa.
I ended up sitting in the middle with Rafael at my left, Niko at my right, and Jasper and Quentin perched on the sofa’s arms. With a couple of quick texts, I passed on the necessary info to Beckett. Seconds later, an alert appeared on the laptop’s screen.
When I tapped to answer the incoming request, a window expanded to show Beckett’s boyishly handsome face, his ash-blond hair slicked back from his face like usual and a wry smile curving his lips. The guy didn’t look old enough or harsh enough to have a place at the Devil’s Dozen’s table alongside people like my mother, but so far he’d seemed capable of holding his own.
“Hey, Lou,” he said in a typically smooth tone. “How are you hanging in there?”
I nearly choked on my laugh. “I’ve been better. What’s up?”
“I thought you’d want to know about some recent developments that affect you… Good ones, I think.”
Most of my panic dissipated. “I’m all ears.”
His smile turned a bit crooked. “You know the Blood Hunter and I appreciated that you exposed your mother’s treachery rather than holding on to it for longer as leverage. You saved us a lot of time, money, and unnecessary bloodshed, and we don’t like what we’ve been hearing about how the Deadly Rose has repaid you for that favor.”
I made a face. “Yeah. My mom definitely didn’t see it in a positive light. But it was the best move I felt I could make for myself too.”
“Still, we were hoping we could balance things out and see that you get the recognition you deserve. Or at least the peace. The two of us and a couple of other members of the Devil’s Dozen who your mother was gunning for have been pushing hard on the rest of the group to enforce sanctions against the Deadly Rose. Including penalties if she continues attacking you, since you acted in the best interests of the entire organization.”
My heart leapt in eager surprise. “Seriously? Is there any chance the other members will listen?”
Beckett’s smile stretched into a full-out grin. “Based on this morning’s conversation with the full Devil’s Dozen, opinion has swayed in our favor. We’ve gotten a few more members speaking up in favor of our motion, which gives us a majority. Your mother finally agreed to a ceasefire while we sort out appropriate restitutions and so on.”
Quentin let out an approving whistle, and Jasper squeezed my hand.
My jaw had gone slack. “She’s said she’ll back off—completely.”
“In theory.” Beckett’s eyebrows twitched upward. “Whether she’ll stick to it remains to be seen. But if you have any more trouble in Japan that you think she’s responsible for, let me know, and the Blood Hunter and I can send people over to assist. Now that we have an official agreement within the organization, we can act against her without it being a betrayal.”
A startled laugh rushed out of me. “That’s amazing. Thank you so much. I’ve been doing everything I can to keep her at bay, but obviously I don’t have a whole lot of resources on that side of things.”
