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But there were so many of us in one place. There were so many goddamn kids. And no one else seemed to recognize the absolute stupidity in the scenario as they all continued arguing with—and over—each other.
“There has to be something we’re missing,” Dare said, voice low and showing his irritation with the news we’d been given.
“Clearly, but not with them,” Kieran responded in a tone that still managed to scare the shit out of me, even though we’d been working together for years.
But Kieran Hayes had been trained to be an assassin from the day he could walk. So, even when speaking with friends, the guy was just as terrifying as he was lethal. There was a reason he was the most notorious assassin alive—not that Maverick wasn’t bitter about that title.
“Moretti family still looks too scared to even come out of the shadows of Chicago,” Kieran went on as he scooped up his son when he tottered over to the bladed killer. “Tennessee Gentlemen look like they’re falling apart because we took out an entire generation of them.”
“But they’re the obvious ones,” Maverick said through clenched teeth from where he was leaning against Einstein’s desk. “One of the TenGen took Einstein from the Thai restaurant. The owners of that restaurant were killed and had our symbol put on them.”
“You’ve made that point,” Kieran murmured, cold eyes locked on my brother. “Jessica and I checked it out. It isn’t them.”
“Looks like they’re just trying to keep their businesses and lives afloat,” Jessica, Kieran’s wife, said from where she sat in one of the computer chairs with their infant daughter.
I stood there as opinions and the little facts we had were tossed back and forth like fuel for a blowout we didn’t have time for. But I kept my jaw clenched tight as the tension between everyone thickened and let my gaze drift around the main room of ARCK again.
Sometimes, it was still crazy to me that we were all here. Not in this building, even though that was fucking grating on me, but just...here.
Our families had been rivals—the biggest until Kieran had broken his sworn-and-blood oaths to the Holloways and begun covertly working with us to take out their boss and disband their family.
Not long after their boss was in the ground, Kieran, Jess, and Conor—another Holloway—had opened ARCK, a private investigating firm that also secretly helped women and children escape shitty lives and start over.
Next thing we’d known, Einstein decided to work for them, taking care of the illegal side of things that needed to look legitimate, the way she always had with her skill of hacking. The move had caused more than a few heated arguments at first, but ultimately, it’d brought our broken families even closer together.
Then, a few years ago, Maverick and I began unofficially working with them considering they’d needed the help on jobs once everyone started having kids.
So many kids...
And at that moment, nearly all of them were in that room. Nearly all of us were in that room.
My gaze swept the open space again, landing on every single member of our blended family. Counting them. Tallying the potential blood on my hands if I didn’t find this threat before it came for us.
Kieran and Jess. Conor. My brother and Einstein. Dare. His sister and her husband. Six toddlers and infants.
The oldest of all the kids was at school. Conor and Dare’s wives were working, but Lily would’ve been there if she hadn’t gotten held up at Brooks Street Café. And everyone else?
We were there. Practically begging to be taken out in one hit, considering the building wasn’t battle-ready.
As if he could sense my growing anxiety, Maverick’s head snapped my way and his eyes narrowed on me.
Before I could let him know in any way that I was fine, that we were fine, Maxon said, “I gotta go.”
I glanced at Dare’s brother-in-law as he pressed a swift kiss to his daughter’s cheek and reluctantly released his wife. “I’m already late for rehearsal, but I’ll be watching for anything out of place and make sure the guys keep the estate locked up.”
“They don’t need to know what’s going on,” Dare reminded him, referring to the other members of the famous rock band Maxon was part of: Henley.
Maxon released an edgy laugh as he glanced around at us, his voice hesitant as he backed away. “I know that. All of you make that a little hard though.”
“He isn’t wrong,” Libby said once her husband had slipped from the room. “If the rest of Henley doesn’t already know what we are, they will one day, considering we aren’t subtle around them. Maverick left a dead man on their driveway for crying out loud.”
“Finding you was more important,” Maverick shot back defensively.
Libby lifted her free hand in the air. “I’m just saying.”
“Next time one of you has been taken, I’ll make sure to clean up my mess first.”
Einstein smacked his back as Libby flipped him off. But before anyone could say anything else, Dare spoke. Tone unwavering and full of authority.
