Page 32 of The Syndicater (Dark Verse 6)

"How about we come there?" Zephyr suggested. "You can fly on our jet, and my hubby can go with you. I'll come to your place and keep an eye on Xander in the meantime."

Tristan stared at the speaker, surprised by the kindness. The few times he'd seen Zephyr, she'd seemed sweet enough but he hadn't really given her much thought, but her offer, especially at a time like this, wasn't something he would forget.

Morana pressed the mute button, looking at him for the final say. "It's a good idea. I'd trust her with Xander."

He knew the three girls had become a group of sorts. He'd found them on the phone—and listened in on some of their conversations—more often than he cared to admit. Knowing how serious his wildcat was about the boy's safety and how protective she got about the tiniest things, her saying she trusted Zephyr to look after him in her absence was good enough for him.

He gave a nod and Morana unmuted the call. "How soon can you get here, Zee?"

Zephyr muttered something, possibly to Alpha, and then her voice became clear again. "The jet is getting ready as we speak. You guys get to the private strip."

Morana nodded, even though the woman couldn't see. It was cute how she sometimes gestured and mumbled just to herself without an audience.

"One of our guys will pick you up and bring you here."

"Perfect! We'll be there soon!" The sound was sweet, and this moment alone put Zephyr under the oddly expanding list of people he would protect.

***

"Tristan?"

Morana's voice brought him back to the present.

He realized Alpha had asked him a question about how he was holding up and nodded. He was as alright as he could be.

Morana put her hand over his, seated right beside him, and turned to look at the other man. "Thanks for this," she said.

He should be the one saying thanks. Alpha didn't owe him shit, and it wasn't like he was doing a favor for Dante. This was just because that man's wife asked him and he did it. As a man who would do whatever Morana asked, he could understand the sentiment. And seeing Zephyr through a new lens, he could understand why, too. The moment she had landed, she had hugged Morana and turned to him, giving him an"I hope everything goes okay". He wouldn't have cared for the words had she not immediately told them not to worry about Xander, that the boy already had a vibe with her from Dante and Amara's wedding and their recent trip to Los Fortis, and that they would be perfectly fine.

With that alone, she became one of the few people he would not only tolerate but, if need be, protect. He still didn't care much about Alpha, though, not forgetting that Morana had gotten shot in his territory by his man. While Alpha didn't pull the trigger, and he was as much a victim of Hector as anyone else, Tristan wasn't rational. He never had been where she was concerned. Morana had always elicited emotion in him—bad and good. Logic didn't exist in the same space as her in his brain.

His logical little wildcat kept her grip on his hand and kept her phone screen lit up on her lap, the timer and location visible on there for him to see.

"Could this be a trap?" Alpha asked them, his one eye taking them both in. It was a question Tristan himself had wondered and thought about, but it was too big of a stake not to see through.

Morana pursed her lips, thinking it over. "I doubt it," she began. "I know you guys don't like him, but the Shadow Man hasn't given me any direct leads that never panned out into something. His info has been pretty solid."

Just hearing her speak for the fucker got on his nerves. He hadn't liked the man ever since he'd found out he had been interacting and meeting Morana in secret. At first, it had been raging jealousy because they had been very new together and figuring their way out around each other, and Tristan didn't like any man, especially one he didn't know shit about, near her. Over time, though, the jealousy had changed into mild jealousy and sheer annoyance. Mild jealousy because the man was obviously smart and connected with Morana on an intelligent level that Tristan did not, and sheer annoyance because he was playing them around like puppets on invisible strings, and Tristan wasn't into that shit. The idea of being puppeteered by someone else made his blood boil, and for that alone, he was pissed at the asshole who thought he could lead them around.But he couldn't deny they wouldn't be where they were without his leads, with no idea about the existence of The Syndicate and now, his sister. And that pissed him off even more because he felt indebted to him too. If the lead panned out and was real, which he hoped with everything that he was that it was, he would have to come to terms with his annoyance of the man.

"Hate to admit," Alpha said, his tone grudging, "but he saved my wife's life. I spoke to him after, outside the hospital. But I still have no clue what to make of him."

"I get what you mean," Morana nodded. "He's been confusing. While he's been the best source of whatever information we've had, I wouldn't be surprised if he's been lulling us into a false sense of security only to ambush us, so I suggest we keep our eyes open."

Alpha agreed. "Question is, why send you this lead now?"

Morana was silent for a bit, thoughtful. He saw her glance at him from the corner of her eye and felt his own narrow. She wasn't sharing something, some theory cooked up in that smart brain of hers. Was it because they were in company or was she not sharing withhim?

"I want to hear this," Tristan spoke, for the first time in hours.

Morana swallowed. That old fire from when he'd wanted to both throttle her and fuck her, one that only simmered now because of their relationship settling into something so beautiful, became a blaze inside him. She was hiding something from him.

He turned his wrist, palm facing upward and captured her own, squeezing it, his eyes glaring into her profile. She looked at him, blinked innocently, like she hadn't just given him the biggest tell with that fucking swallow and that corner of her eye look.

"Maybe," she began, focusing back on the other man who had asked the question. "He just found the relevant informationnow. Or maybe, he wants us to owe him so he's using this as leverage."

Yeah, she was fucking smart, but she was sneaky. No one knew Morana Vitalio like he did, and the little tremor in her mouth distracted him long enough from what was coming to focus on what was going on.

"Yeah, possibly," Alpha mused out loud. "From the word on the ground, he's been going up against The Syndicate for many years now. That alone is a point in his favor in my book."

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