Page 103 of Borden 3

“A body bag, you mean,” the bearded one chuckled.

I didn’t know what to say to that. I had so many questions, but I was also painfully conscious of the other men in the room. This was Theo’s space. The men beckoned to him. He’d always had that effect on others. He was in control here, and while Borden liked me inserting myself in his domain, I couldn’t assume Theo was the same.

Still.

He wanted something.

After I cleaned up the gash and bandaged it, I finally looked over at Theo. Still shirtless, in some workout pants, his taped hand wrapped around a sausage as he demolished it. His chews slowed when his eyes caught mine.

“How long are you going to keep us here?” I asked.

Theo finished off the sausage and licked at his fingers. “I ain’t keeping you. You want to go? Be my guest.”

I looked at his men. They were so busy with their food, they weren’t paying us any attention.

He wasn’t giving me the right answer, which meant I wasn’t asking the right question.

“Why did you help us, Theo?”

His eyes lit up now, like I’d nailed it. “Your husband is under intense violence. Every day it seems something of his is going up in flames. He currently doesn’t have enough firepower to ward off over a dozen gangs who have joined forces to eliminate him.”

Hector’s eyes opened. He was listening very closely. I looked at him and back at Theo. I stared at him for some time, my mind ticking with the past, connecting the dots. “How long have you been here, underground, Theo?”

He smirked. “A while.”

“Trying to make a big move?”

“No big move.”

I pointed at his men. “You’ve recruited these guys.”

“They came to me.”

“The Lost Boys are back?”

He grinned. “Nightcrawler, we never left.”

I fumed, shaking my head. “No, you did. You were gone.”

“Yeah, well, they didn’t go anywhere.”

“Fine, call it whatever you want. You’re back to your old ways, then.”

“We’re simply observers, Emma dear.”

Hector blew out an incredulous breath. “Bullshit. You’ve been fucking with Borden, too.” He gripped my arm, pointedly saying, “Need I remind you that Jason got killed by one of these Lost Boys. The only reason we found that out is because we caught the fucker and took care of him.”

Probably not the best thing to say in the company of Lost Boys. But judging by the fact I already knew this, I could tell Hector was purposely stirring the pot. Theo’s men looked at him, but it wasn’t rage in their eyes. They looked almost choked up.

Theo frowned. “Barrett made a mistake. He paid for it. As did Borden’s man. It was a firefight exchange based on misinformation. He thought it was a different target. He mistook Barrett and my men for breaking into Borden’s business. They hadn’t. It got ugly both ways. As such, Barrett came forward and took responsibility for his actions. He paid the price because he didn’t want us to bleed for his mistakes.”

Hector’s lips thinned. If he didn’t believe Theo, he didn’t say it. He simply absorbed the information, while I reeled, trying to understand.

“You’re still not answering me,” I said, impatiently. “Why did you help us?”

“Why did we show up in that white van?" Oh, my God. "Because Borden needs help,” Theo returned.

Despite my shock, I shot him a salty smile. “In exchange for what?”

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