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Nodding, I tuck her under my arm, and we head back out to the main room.
I smirk as I watch Thor walk toward his office with Levi thrown over his shoulder, and then freeze.
Roy’s here.
Shit. I hope Thor doesn’t let things escalate while he talks to her about not listening to him.
Scanning the room, I see Roy and Bear off in a corner, talking quietly. I walk to the bar and Colt hands me a beer.
“Give me two more for Bear and Roy.”
He gives me a chin lift and pulls out the kind they both like. I grin. This is another thing I like about Colt. He knows what we all like and often has them ready for us before we even approach the bar.
Grabbing the beers, I walk over to them and set the bottles down on the table in front of us.
“You okay, Roy?”
He sighs and nods as he ran a hand over his face. Grabbing the bottle, he takes a long pull.
“I didn’t know she knew about what Sean did to her,” he says quietly. I nod, picking at the label on my bottle.
“Outside, she told Thor that Emily had told her what happened a few months before she died. That she wanted Levi to know the truth.”
A ghost of a smile crosses his face as he fingers the necklace that he’s worn for years.
“That sounds like Em. She always hated having to lie to Levi whenever she asked why Sean never attended family events anymore. It ate at her.” He pauses as he stares at the bottle in his hands. “In a way, I’m glad Em told her. Looking back, I should have realized it. That was probably around the time she pulled in on herself for a while. Not even Sasha could get her to come out of her room except to eat and go to school. After a few weeks, she suddenly had a different attitude, and she started training harder.”
“You’re probably right. There were a few times that I caught her and Sasha out back with her laptop and some rope. They were learning how to tie knots. Then they’d each tie one end around each other’s wrist and they’d try to get out to get them undone with one hand. After a while, it progressed to tying both hands behind their back. That was right before Levi and Emily were taken.” Bear pauses as his fingers run over a bracelet I’d noticed he’d always worn. One on each hand. I’d always thought it was kind of odd, but never questioned it.
“Levi had these made. Did you know that?” Bear asks. Glancing at Roy, I notice he also has the same bracelets. Now that I think of it, they all wore them.
Bear stands and then, as he turns around, puts his hands behind his back like they were tied together. With one hand, he twists the bracelet on his other wrist, and it comes apart. My jaw drops when I see a small knife that’s hidden inside. It could take a while depending on how thick the rope or zip tie was, but you could cut through them. He sits back down and chuckles at my shocked expression as he puts the bracelet back on.
His fingers linger on the bracelets before he looks up at me. “I never questioned her when she gave us these. It was maybe a month after Em died. I knew why she’d done it. Granted, it wouldn’t have helped her or Em since they were tied up spread eagle, their ropes hooked to chains. But still, the fact that she thought enough about it to make them for if one of us was ever in a similar situation broke another piece of me. She’s been through so much in her short life. I hate that it’s coming back around to haunt her again. This time though… This time it ends.” His hands clench, and I nod.
“This time it ends,” I repeat.
We’d have to be careful, though. Knowing now that the FBI has a lock on Black Plague, particularly Fang, it’ll make things more difficult. One way or another, I’d make sure the bastard’s gone. Either permanently or locked up for life. I smirk. I have a few contacts that are currently in prison. An ‘accident’ could always be arranged.
Roy looks up at something behind me. Turning, I see Thor and Spitfire approaching, each having grabbed a drink on their way over. I pull my girl into my lap, burying my face in her neck.
“You had me worried earlier, Spitfire.”
She sighs and snuggles into me, wrapping her arms around my neck.
“I freaked out with both of you out there when I kept thinking it could be a trap. Or if one of Fang’s men was watching and was armed. I think I might have triggered something for Smoke with my freak-out. He wrapped me in a hug and tried to get me to calm down. When he couldn’t, he said he’d take me out to you guys, but had Alexei, Ethan, and Travis all sneak out to provide cover for us should it be a trap. Please don’t be mad at him. He was trying to help me.”
I sigh. While I wasn’t happy he did that, at least he took steps to help protect her.
“I don’t like that he did that, but I won’t beat him up for it.”
She kisses my cheek and then leans back, digging something out of her pocket. She pauses as she fingers a couple of pouches and then hands one to Thor and gave me the other.
“I want you guys to have these. It’s something I had made for my family to help if any of us are captured. I had some made for you guys, too.”
She blushes, and I place a chaste kiss on her lips. Opening the pouch, two bracelets fell out, and I grin.
“Bear was just showing me his. It hadn’t dawned on me before then that you all wore these. Thanks, Spitfire.”
