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Brodi, Zane, Baylor, Vincent, and Chaz are circled around, witnesses and victims to her epic tantrum. Since no one else has the balls to stop her, paralyzed by either their guilty consciences or rank, I have to step in and play the role of bad guy yet again. My hand darts to the back of her neck, and I aggressively yank her away. Fingers digging into her soft flesh, I force her past the stages, down the hallway, and toward the office.
“I loved you guys!” she screeches just as we bust through the office door.
Her unexpected confession immobilizes me.
The door clicks shut behind us. In my moment of surprise, my grip on Lace loosens just enough to give her the freedom to turn around.
She lifts her hand and slaps me across the cheek.
My world stops spinning.
Paralyzed, the only thing keeping me grounded in reality is the mechanical tick tock of the vintage mantle clock on the desk.
Her amber eyes glisten as she glares up at me, her eyelashes twitching from the tremendous effort needed to keep from blinking or looking away. One of my favorite tells of hers, it brings me back but in the most unexpected way. I soften, the tension in my shoulders disappearing and the clench in my jaw releasing.
My soft reaction is not well received. Lace loses it. Tears explode from her eyes. She wails on me, pushing, slapping, and thumping against my chest with tight fists. I allow it because no one is a witness and because she deserves this much, especially considering what is coming.
Things are going to get a hell of a lot harder for her before they get easier.
Once Lace is done pommeling me, I wrap her shaking body in a hug and hold her tight. Really, I have no idea what to expect by way of a response. Her writhing to get away? More battering? The middle finger and a, “How dare you?!”
No. Lace becomes lax, and she wraps around me, her fingers curling into my club colors and wet mascara staining the President patch on the breast of my jacket.
With her bleeding heart cradled in my arms, I am reminded why I had originally walked away and passed her off to Coty three years ago.
My gaze floats up to the tin ceiling, goes unfocused on our wavy, obscure reflection, and I concentrate hard on packing those memories away. If all works out, eventually there will be a better time and place for me to revisit them. Little does Lace know, she is literally our only hope for that “better time and place” to come to fruition. Not just for me and Hell for Leather, but for her future and the future of her family, too.
I adjust so she is tucked under my arm and guide her slowly toward the couch. Sniffling, she scuffs her feet against the antique carpet but still follows without question.
Once seated, I pluck out a tissue from the box on the side table, wipe the mascara streaks from her cheeks, and do my best to even out the smudges on her eyelids. She blinks once, slow and long, her lashes ending in a high fan near her brows. My fingers curl, burying the tissue into my palm, and my thumb takes its place instead, dragging down to brush against her trembling lips while fresh blood begins to ooze again from the coagulating splits across my knuckles.
Lace closes her eyes, leans forward slightly, gives me that beautiful 10 percent we all ache for, and I have to throw away the opportunity and break her heart even more.
“Someone betrayed us. They betrayed you. Our assignment last night was compromised. The original docket was stolen and replaced with one that led Vee and Brodi directly to your parents’ house.”
Her closed eyes open, damp and clumpy eyelashes leaving little dots where I just wiped.
Fuuuuck I hate this. Universe, or whatever, give me strength. “Harry Kensington no longer exists because of it.” I clench my teeth and flare my nostrils, hoping my display of anger fuels hers. I need her heartbreak to turn into determination. Lace is the best person for the job. She has the power to get inside their heads like no one else.
“Bay keeps the assignment folder on him at all times; so we know without a doubt someone on the inside did this. You know my men better than they know themselves most days. They trust you. Just so happens one of them trusts you enough to think they can get away with this without you figuring out who is to blame. You wanted in? Wanted responsibility? Now you have it. Spy on my men. Figure out who deserves to expire. Do that, and I will tear up your contract and reunite you with Reece.”
She knows without having to ask that the consequences will be something terrifyingly opposite of the reward should she refuse or not complete the job. Neither is an option. Not in this circle.
“One more thing. I changed the answers on the prelim questions. It was me. I needed to get a rise out of Stoney for reasons unrelated to this current issue. Those of my men whose hands are clean of this mess love you just as much as you love them, if not more. Keep them close, Lacey. You need each other. Especially right now.”
It was a lot for me to dispatch and a lot for her to receive, but through it all, her mind and heart stayed set on obtaining the one detail I tried hard to avoid: “Who pulled the trigger?”
For once, I wish someone else was president. I would promote Coty right here and now to carry this burden. Hell, I would even promote Zane.
But neither is an option.
Not in this circle.
“I did.” After a dramatic pause, I launch to my feet, lumber to the door, twist the handle, and put one foot in the hallway, ready to escape immediately after delivering my final edict.
“You have twenty-four hours.”
