Page 190 of Innocent Intentions

“Who the fuck is Benny?”

“My dog. Dotty will bring you to him.”

“Fuck. Fine. I’m not holding this meeting in your bedroom with Margot in there. She doesn’t get to hear Syndicate issues.”

“You bet your ass you’re not coming into our bedroom,” I growl. “Especially not while she’s sleeping.”

“Fine. We’ll grab the dog and meet you upstairs,” he mutters, then hangs up.

We.Of course they’re all here.

I should be more grateful. They spent the past week doing everything they could to get her back. But I’m not. I don’t want anything Syndicate-related near her ever again.

I hear Benny’s footsteps approaching and sigh as I slip from bed, careful not to wake her.

I open the door to see Benny alert and ready, and Dom holding his bed with a scowl.

“When the fuck did you get this monster? I didn’t even know you liked dogs.”

“Who doesn’t like dogs? And don’t call him a monster. He’s just a puppy.”

Dom snorts while I take Benny’s bed and set it up beside Margot.

“Watch her,” I tell him. Benny sits like a sentry, eyes locked on the door.

I leave the room but crack the door just enough to keep her in view. I turn to face my three brothers.

“Alright. What’s going on?”

“You’re kidding, right?” Dom snaps. “We’re not doing this in a hallway.”

He wouldn’t get it. Dom doesn’t have a heart to give someone. He’s a frigid bastard with no emotions.

“Leave him alone,” Roman says, surprisingly the voice of reason. “They’ve been through hell. Let’s just get started.”

I blink. Empathy is a strange look on Roman.

Dom rolls his eyes but starts, “I’m meeting with Viktor to explain that today’s break-in was a rescue mission. That Margot is a Montclair woman and therefore off limits. We’re not escalating this to a war. Viktor didn’t know. But I need to know what she told him. How much he knows. We’ll be backing off tracking shipments for now. Peace takes priority.”

I glance through the crack in the door again. Margot’s still sleeping. I exhale and close it a bit more.

“I’ll keep looking,” Bash chimes in. “But nothing that can be traced.”

Dom nods. “Roman?”

“I’ll only touch Bratva men who cross into our territory. It’s still Syndicate law, even during peace.”

Dom turns to me.

“No,” I say immediately. “I’m not forcing her to relive what happened. We know what we need to know. They took her. They hurt her. Now she’s home.”

“Matthias, be sensible. They lost four of their men in this raid. Two of ours were injured. I need the full context for negotiations and to get the bounty off Margot.”

I curse under my breath. He’s right. And that pisses me off even more.

“Fine. I’ll talk to her when she’s ready and get back to you.”

“Tomorrow.”

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