Page 82 of Wilde and Deadly

“Yeah.” She nodded. “Itwasyour responsibility.”

His gaze narrowed.

She smirked. “And you handled it. You got to him in time. Yousavedhim.”

Davey exhaled, shaking his head. “Wasn’t fast enough.”

“It was fast enough for him to still be breathing.”

That shut him up.

Rowan let the silence sit between them for a beat before nudging him again. “And just for the record? You’re an insufferable bastard when you’re stewing like this.”

Davey huffed a quiet laugh, the tension in his shoulders loosening justslightly.

“I need to figure out who did this,” he murmured.

“You will.”

He finally looked at her, something dark and determined in his eyes. “And when I do?—”

She held his stare. “We burn them down.”

A muscle ticked in his jaw. Then, slowly, he nodded.

Rowan let the moment settle before tipping her head toward the rooftop door. “Come on. Sabin’s probably already causing problems.”

Davey sighed, rolling his shoulders before pushing off the ledge. “God help us all.”

twenty

The meeting was alreadyin full swing when they walked in.

Sabin, arms crossed, was glaring at Liam. “I never should’ve brought her into this.”

His sister. Vivianna.

Sabin wasn’t prone to guilt, but Davey knew he worried about those he cared about. And right now, he was spiraling.

“She’s not a kid, Sabin,” Rowan pointed out, dropping onto the couch.

“She’s not a soldier, either,” he shot back.

“Sabin.” Davey waited until the man’s angry blue eyes met his. “Look, I know you’re pissed off and worried. We all are. But Vivi’s okay. She was never at the safe house, and Frost has no reason to go after her.”

“You don’t know that for sure. Frost is unpredictable, and he’s already proven he’ll go after anyone associated with us.”

Rowan let out a sharp breath. “You mean like Rue?”

Silence.

Sabin shifted uncomfortably, but Brody was the one who finally said it. “You have to face the facts, Bristow. She’s working with Frost, which makes her an enemy.”

Rowan’s jaw clenched, her hands curling into fists against her thighs. “No. He’s using her. He’s funding her upcoming expedition to Antarctica. Why, I don’t know, but it has nothing to do with the contract on Davey’s head.”

Davey exhaled. “Ro?—”

“No,” she repeated, cutting him off. She leaned forward and rested her elbows on her knees as she met his gaze. “Rue’s not in this, Davey. She’s a pawn in some other game he’s playing, and I’ll figure out what that is, but I guarantee it has nothing to do with what’s happening here now.”

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