Page 31 of Assassin's Game
Remi rubbed his jaw, obviously considering the argument. I opened my mouth to shoot it down, but a buzz in my back pocket distracted me. A quick glance at my cell said Abby was texting me. I slid it back into my pocket, promising I’d check it as soon as I set my little brother straight.
“As much as it might seem self-serving,” Nix said, stepping up beside Eli, “I have to go with your brother here. None of us want the exposure X has threatened.”
“He gave you the deadline, though, not us,” Remi pointed out. His tone made it a question.
Rhys moved to the other side of the conference table and mimicked Eli’s pose, intentionally or not. “Maybe he’s given up on y’all, figures you won’t do the job and wants to make sure we do.”
Which meant the intel X had on us could go live any second.IfRhys was right.
The tall, long-haired blond I knew was Titus Webster joined us, along with Maris, Nix’s sister. I gave the man a once-over, remembering their background and confirming he would be just as deadly as the other two in a fight.
My phone buzzed again. Remi looked at me, but I shook my head.
I locked my gaze on Nix. “Why not just kill him?”
I knew our reasoning, our principles, but not theirs—and I wanted to hear them. When Eli opened his mouth to respond, my warning look shut his mouth.
Nix narrowed her eyes. “Because as far as we’ve been able to gather, the man hasn’t done anything wrong.”
“Aside from some horrible choices in onesies,” Monty added in, one eyebrow quirked. Maris grinned.
“True,” Nix said, the corners of her mouth tipping up the slightest bit. “And even if he had done something wrong, he’s the only lead we have on X. If we don’t cut this off at the head, he’ll use whatever he’s got against us indefinitely, and you know it, Levi.”
She might be lying, just saying what she thought I wanted to hear. But she wasn’t wrong. My brothers and I had already had the same discussion privately.
“So we—”
Another buzz from my phone cut me off, making my heart kick up a notch. Abby knew if I didn’t answer immediately, I was doing something important. She might send a follow-up text, but she wouldn’t send three. I pulled my phone out again. Clicked to open my texts.
And dropped my phone on the conference table after reading them.
“Levi?”
Eli’s voice came from far off. I was vaguely aware of him rounding the table, of Remi picking up my phone, but I was in too much shock to respond. So much shock I actually clutched my stomach, the pain of a gut punch, and turned away from the table, giving my enemy my back for the first time in my adult life.
There had been two calm requests for me to come upstairs. Very calm. Very brief. Then:
I’m pregnant, I’m spotting, and they’re putting me on bed rest. Get the FUCK up here now!
Holy shit.I’m pregnant.“She’s—”
Remi’s hand on my arm stopped the words from escaping. I forced myself to focus, to think, to—
“What is it?” Eli asked.
Rather than saying it out loud, Remi handed over the phone, his expression telling Eli to keep the info to himself. Then Remi turned to me.
“Go now,” he said firmly, that tone a brick wall against any objections I might have. “We’ll handle things here, and I’ll keep you advised, I promise. Go.” He pulled his own phone out. “I’m calling Leah right now.”
Eli was cursing under his breath, pacing with my phone in his hand.
“Is everything all right?” Nix asked. I was in too much shock to tell if her question was genuine, and apparently my brothers weren’t going to make the decision for me, because Remi barked out, “It’s personal,” shutting the door on any further inquiries.
He gave me a shove. “Get the fuck up there.”
I turned without a backward glance, racing for the stairs. Fuck the elevator, I wasn’t waiting. Trusting my brothers to watch my back like they always had, I rushed upstairs to Abby.
Pregnant. Holy shit, she was pregnant.
