Page 20 of Harry

I sigh heavily. “You two are right, none of us belong here.”

“I never said that,” Brig says, taking a bite of pizza loaded with vegetables.

I look at her, she is the quietest of the three of us. Delicate in her looks and nature.

“You’d never survive,” Jack says with a snort of laughter.

“None of us would without the guys,” Brig retorts. “It’s like anything else, you learn about it, you get better at it. That’s what Julian said.”

Jack and I share a look.

“Oh stop it, at least I didn’t sleep with mine.” She looks at me pointedly and my lip curls in a sneer.

Jack shakes her head. “I must admit,” she begins. “I have thought about banging Vaughan.”

“It’s all coming out now,” Brig says with a giggle.

“Don’t act like you’re going to be a virgin for much longer. You have James and Julian both panting after you.”

Brig twists uncomfortably in her chair, not looking at us.

“Change of subject,” I say, partly to help Brig and partly because I have to update them about Uncle Philip.

The words catch in my throat, and I take a long drink of the bottled water.

“Uncle Philip is the one responsible for Dad’s death.”

Both stop and look at me. Brig slowly chewing and trying to swallow her pizza.

“Are you certain?” Jack asks.

I nod. “Aidan told me. They found the guy who did it and…acquired the information from him.”

“Acquired?” Brig asks.

I look at her before adding, “Tortured. They tortured the man.”

“Is he still alive?” Jack asks and I shrug, I never thought to get that information.

“We need to talk to the guys,” Brig says, and though I really don’t want to, I have to agree. We can’t do this without them, no matter how savvy or resourceful we are.

Aidan

I hit the gym, needing to work out the tension from my argument with Harry. Vaughan and Julian join me after a while.

“Where have you two been?” I ask, but neither one of them answers me.

“How the fuck did you manage to screw this up in less than twenty-four hours?” Vaughan asks and I fight the urge to punch him in the face.

“It’s not my fault Richard tried to protect them from this,” I mumble. “They don’t have a fucking clue how any of this works.”

“He wants us to teach them, Ade.” Julian spots me as I lift the barbell over my chest. “We have to at least try.”

I grunt.

“How the fuck can we keep Richard’s empire running and train the girls at the same time?” I ask. It’s a valid question.

“By making time.” Julian is talking in riddles again and I’m too tired and pissed off to figure it out.

---