Page 11 of Fired at the Heart

I take in their unhappy faces and stride into the kitchen to pull out a bottle of rum. “To what do I owe this invasion of privacy?”

“What the fuck, Avery?” Rico throws his hands up in the air. “Did you seriously go meet with the Devil?”

“We’re fleecing the Rockfords.” I splash golden liquid into a crystal glass. “So what?”

Concern flickers across Jace’s passive features, while Lena’s lips press into a thin line, her fingers twitching toward the knives strapped to her thigh.

Rico barks out a harsh laugh, the sound grating on my nerves. “Oh, that’s rich. After everything Raphael did, after he left us high and dry, you want to crawl back to him? Have you lost your damn mind?”

I slam the bottle back down on the quartz countertop. “I don’t remember this being a democracy. They have money. We like money. The. End.”

Cassian snorts and crosses his arms over his chest. “Was it money you were discussing with that asshole?”

My spine stiffens, but I ignore the comment.

Rico bursts up from the couch. “What the fuck does that mean?”

Lena pulls out one of her knives. “If he sinks his claws into you again, I’ll cut them off.”

When Raphael first walked out, Lena had been the one to pull me back from the edge more than once. Everyone always talks about the wonder of being mated, but they never discuss the debilitating pain of being abandoned.

Raphael thought I’d give in to his demands because I wouldn’t be able to survive without him. He should have remembered what a stubborn asshole I could be when backed into a corner.

“Enough,” I snap, done with their input on this matter. “This isn’t up for debate. We’re working with the Rockfords, and that’s final. If you have a problem with doing the job, there’s the door.”

Deafening silence fills my suite, broken only by the distant hum of the city beyond the walls.

Lena’s stare cuts through me, the knife tapping against her thigh. “You sure about this, Avery? Raphael’s betrayed us once already. What’s to say he won’t do it again?”

I refuse to flinch under her intense scrutiny. “I’m sure. This is how I take back my freedom.”

Silence stretches between us, taut as a garrote, before she dips her chin in acceptance. “I hope you’ve thought this through.”

With a slow exhale, the tension in my shoulders eases. Lena’s support means more than she knows. She’s been with me since the beginning, and I trust her like family. Because that’s what she is to me. Not by birth, but by the blood, sweat, and tears we’ve shed together.

Jace stands in the corner, his broad frame casting a long shadow across the floor. He hasn’t said a word since I entered, but the weight of his silence speaks volumes.

“You have something to say, Jace?”

His head lifts. “It’s a risk. But if it’s what you need, I won’t argue. Just be careful. Raphael’s not the same man he was before.”

“I know.” I take a sip of rum and relish the burn. “Neither am I.”

“Careful? With Raphael? That’s a fucking joke.” Rico stomps around, his hands flying through the air to punctuate his points. “He didn’t give a damn about being careful when he abandoned us! Left us high and dry without a second thought. Two-thirds of our crew died because of him!”

After Raphael left, some of our people didn’t like taking orders from an Omega. Alphas challenged me for control, and we answered with swift, bloody efficiency.

The betrayal of learning what they really thought of me cut almost as deep as Raphael walking away.

But we survived and rebuilt in a different location. Cassian was one of the first to join our new crew. I was wary of bringing on another Alpha, but he didn’t flinch at taking orders. Over time, others from our original team fell in combat or deals gone wrong.

Now only Lena, Jace, and Rico remain, the last ties to what we were before everything broke. Before Raphael broke it. And they’re right to question me. I’m not the only one with a grudge against my former Alpha.

“I understand you’re angry, Rico. We all are.” I take a steadying breath. “We’re also professionals, so rein it in.”

“Are we just supposed to forget? Pretend like it never happened?” Rico’s voice rises, his whole body snapping taut with rage. “He was our brother! Our family! And he turned his back on us without a second thought!”

“Don’t you think I know that?” My hand tightens around my glass. “I’m not asking you to forget. I’m asking you to trust my judgment.”

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