Page 114 of Borden 3

“What do you mean?”

He turned his head now, looking at me. “He left me a card in that basement you found him in. It said something on it. At the time, I thought he was being malicious. I thought…that he wanted to fuck with me, but…I got it wrong. He was telling me something.”

I connected the dots quickly, repeating what he’d said, “When he is united, divide him?”

“He means the gangs that have come together as one. He means for us to divide them.”

“He could have said that.”

“He wanted me to go to him. To read it and understand it and…so obsessed with getting to the bottom of who he is, so distracted by everything else going on, I didn’t make that connection.”

I frowned. Theo didn’t have to go all la-dee-da about it, though. “Does that mean he wanted to see you from the start?”

“I think that was part of it, but…I think you were in his crosshairs. I just don’t think it was in a mean spirited way.” He sighed, defeatedly. “I need his help, Emma.”

My heart sank slowly. “Marcus…”

“I have run out of options.”

“Theo…” I fought for words. “He’s hard to trust, Borden.”

He looked back out the window. “I know. He’ll have conditions. There’ll always be a catch.”

“To put it mildly, yes…”

“What do you think he’ll want in return?” When I didn’t answer straight away, he added, “You know him better than anyone.”

I shook my head. “Not anymore.”

“You’re wrong.” He finally stepped back, turning around to give me his full focus. He stared at me solemnly. “Doll, I know a broken man when I see one, but even in his utter ruin, he keeps tabs on you. He saved you.”

“Because he wants something.”

“You mentioned he’s latched onto you like tar, isn’t that right?”

I shut my eyes tightly. Fucking Hector, running his mouth.

“Alleycat, it’s you that’s tar to him. You got into him. You stuck. He came back, running from something, hiding from something, and he wanted to turn to you.” He advanced toward the bed and leaned over, resting his palms down on it to peer closely at me. “He found you taken by an even bigger, badder wolf. One that won’t let you go. As a fucking wolf, baby, I know another wolf when I see one.”

He was right. Deep down, I knew that.

Still.

I looked at him seriously. “Borden, you have to be careful with him.”

Borden stood back up, his mind already made up. “I know.”

“It’s risky.”

“It’s more risky putting my men out there without proper intel. My power is waning. I’ve known that for a while now. The bikers weakened me. But I can’t put anymore of my men in body bags, Emma.”

I nodded, resigned to this truth. “What does it mean, having Theo help you?”

“Means we’ll finally be cleaning up the streets once and for all.” He paused, voice straining as he added, “Means relying on a stranger who could be a snake, hoping he won’t bite me in the end.”

I shut my eyes, sighing. “His men will do anything for him.”

“I got that impression.” He paused, letting out a breath. “It’s fucking brilliant. Almost cult-like. I should have thought of that.”

---