Page 84 of Wilde and Deadly

“But he’s family. You really think he’d poison a family member?”

Dom lifted a shoulder. “We all know Elliot never eats when he’s on an op. It was a fluke he did this time. Maybe Cade thought he’d be safe.”

“If he hurt Elliot, I don’t give a fuck what his last name is,” Brody said softly. The cold had thawed, and his anger now boiled like magma preparing for an eruption.

Davey held up his hands. “Okay, okay. Let me talk to him. If we all go in guns blazing, we’ll only escalate things. I’ll bring Cade in for a conversation, try to get a feel for where his head’s at.”

“You know exactly where his head’s at,” Brody muttered.

“Maybe, but I’m not throwing a grenade into my family on a hunch.”

“Davey,” Rowan said softly, voice laced with concern as she stood and crossed to him. She laid a hand on his chest, over his heart, and lifted her gaze to his. “You can’t face him alone. I know you don’t want to think it, but if Cadeisinvolved in all this?—”

“I know.” He sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. “But if I appear weak or panicked, it’ll only give him more power over me. I don’t want to be at war with him, and finding out we have a common enemy, attacking the company he wants, might be the catalyst we need for a truce.”

“Assuming he’s even willing to cooperate,” Sabin added, his skepticism evident.

“That’s my problem to figure out.” He met each of their gazes in turn, willing them to see his perspective. Cade had made himself an adversary, yes, but the last thing any of them wanted was him as an enemy.

Brody’s anger still simmered, but he finally nodded in agreement, as did Sullivan.

Sabin threw up his arms. “If you think you can talk Cade Wilde down, be my guest,mon ami. But it’ll be a first.”

“You know I’m always with you, brother,” Dom said after a beat of silence.

Liam exhaled hard, but he also nodded. “Dad chose you over the rest of us for a reason, so I’m with you. I’ll back your play no matter what.”

Davey met Liam’s gaze, and, for the first time, he wondered what all of his other cousins thought about him getting the company. He knew his brothers hadn’t wanted it, and Cade had made his feelings about it damn clear at the family Christmas party. But what about Liam or Bridger? They were Greer’s sons, and although all five of the original Wilde brothers had an equal share in the company, everyone knew it was really Greer’s baby. He’d created Wilde Security thirty-five years ago, setting up an office in a rundown strip mall in D.C. to protect his younger brothers and make sure they all had a safe place to land when they left the military.

Davey faced his cousin and switched to sign language:“Did you ever want it?”

Liam’s eyes widened in surprise, then the first genuine smile Davey had seen from him in a long time spread across his face. He signed back,“Hell no. I love this company, but running it? That’s all you, cuz. Dad made the right call, giving it to you.”

“What about your brother?”

“Same deal. Bridger is happy working undercover.”He dropped his hands and said out loud, “We have your back.”

Some of the tension eased out of Davey’s shoulders. “All right, so we’re agreed,” he said out loud and turned his attention back to the group. “I’ll reach out to Cade, see if I can get him to come in tomorrow for a talk. In the meantime, we need to keep digging into Frost.”

“Speaking of which,” Sullivan cut in, ever pragmatic. “Without Benji and with Elliot out of commission, we need someone to handle the tech side of things.”

“We’ll figure it out.”

Liam arched a brow. “Wehavesomeone. Daphne.”

“No. After what happened to Elliot, I don’t want to bring any more cousins into this. Especially ones without combat training.”

“You think she’s not already in this? I bet my next paycheck she’s already poking around, probably hacking into things as we speak. If we don’t bring her in, she’ll justinsert herself—and we both know she’s capable.”

Davey glanced at Rowan to get her take, and she shrugged. “Gotta admit, Daphne is scary good. We could use her help.”

Fuck, they were right. Daphne would’ve taken the attack personally, and she’d fight back the best way she knew how—with her computers. Knowing her, she probably already had information for them. “All right, yeah. Liam, Sabin, go talk to Daphne. Tomorrow,” he added after a glance at the clock on the wall. It was late, and they were all exhausted. “Take the rest of tonight to recharge. Brody and Sullivan, I want you to dig around in the mud and see if anything pops on Frost or the contract on me.”

Sullivan gave a smile that was more than a little mean. “I do love getting dirty.”

“Which is why I’m sending you. Check all the usual haunts, see if anyone’s talking.”

“On it, boss,” Sullivan replied, already heading for the door with Brody close behind.

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