Page 47 of Fighting Conviction
Chapter Seventeen
Devil tucked his phone back into his pocket, thankful he’d seen the text in time to get back to BlackStone. He hopped the steps two at a time to the top floor and shouldered open the door to their war room.
Hands grabbed him by his coat lapels and slammed him up against the wall beside the entrance. He grabbed above his attacker’s elbow with one hand and pushed the man’s wrist upward.
“Mother-!”
A harsh slap landed on Devil’s shoulder and he instantly released the pressure, realizing with his opponent’s tap out he had his teammate in his grasp. He glanced past his attacker and saw Hawk, Snake, and Phoenix looking on, their expressions various shades of surprise and shit-eating laughter. That left—
“Fuck, man. I wasn’t expecting that.” Jaybird rubbed his wrist and shook it out.
“You should’ve.” Devil shrugged, the attack and defense had been so quick he hadn’t even had time for his adrenaline to spike. “You came at me, fucker. What the hell else did you expect me to do? At least grab my collar, instead. I know Draco taught you better.” He and the rest of his teammates had been fighting each other for years and they’d all been taught their best moves by their teammate, Draco. “Rookie move.”
Jaybird shook his head before wiping his face with both hands. “You’re right. I’m just pissed.”
Devil raised his eyebrows, expecting more.
Jaybird threw up his other hand. “About Ellie, goddamnit! She was in trouble last night and she fucking called you,of all people! Why the fuck would she callyourcoldhearted ass, for Christ’s sake?”
The ‘coldhearted’ attack stung for some reason, but Devil would never reveal that wound. To be honest, he’d been surprised by that revelation as well, but he hadn’t wanted to dwell on why Ellie would reach out to him above anyone else. Best not to dream when reality could slam you into a wall.
“She called you!” Their war room was virtually nothing but concrete and electronics, so Jaybird’s yell reverberated around the room just as it did in Devil’s chest. “And she didn’t call me.” Jaybird tugged his hair, making it wild. “I thought I’d been a good brother lately. I don’t know, I guess I’ve been preoccupied with Jules. I never want Ellie to feel like I won’t be there for her, again. To count on me being unaccountable. Like last time.” Jaybird shook his head while mumbling the last, and Devil realized the problem.
When Ellie was kidnapped at the party she went to nearly a year ago, she’d used Jaybird as a ruse so no one would know she’d gotten a secret invite. She’d called her brother, banking on him to cancel a dinner they planned, and sure enough he did. Leaving Ellie free and clear to attend a party she had no business going to.
“It’s not like that, man. I’ve been her trainer for weeks now. It was late, and I’m sure she didn’t want to bother you with Jules. You’ve got a whole other family to think about. Ellie needs to grow up at some point and relying on someone outside her family would be good for her, you know?”
Jaybird nodded slowly, like Devil had said something wise instead of pulling it out of his ass. “Yeah, yeah. I guess you’re right. It’s probably because you’re my friend, too. Sorry, man. I should’ve known it was something like that when she resorted to calling you. I guess I let myself get carried away.”
The hidden barb in Jaybird’s words was unexpected and the pain was sharp in his chest. He clenched his fists until his blunt fingernails stabbed into the palms of his hands and he lost feeling in the tips of his fingers.
“Letting your emotions get in the way will get you killed.” Devil nodded to Jaybird’s hand for emphasis before pulling a chair for him to sit. “Or at least a broken wrist.”
Jaybird shook his head before huffing out a breath. “You’ll understand when you have someone you care about.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Devil’s voice grated up his chest and into his throat.
“He already has someone he cares about, dontcha beautiful? Lil’ golden angel, right?” Phoenix looked up from his texting and smirked before sliding his phone back into his pocket.
“What’sthatsupposed to mean?” Jaybird demanded, his glare oscillating between Devil and the smart-ass with the backward ball cap and shit-eating grin.
Phoenix barked out a laugh. “If you don’t know by now, dude, you’re in for one hell of a surprise.”
Jaybird’s brow furrowed as he stepped toward Phoenix, but Hawk pushed himself between them and indicated a chair at the round table.
“Enough.” Hawk’s deep voice echoed in the concrete-walled room. “Ellie’s safe now, right?”
Devil nodded. “Yeah she’s safe. Once I found her, everything was fine.”
“That’s another thing…” Jaybird began before turning to their communications sergeant by his wall of screens. “Snake, you can hack into phones and do that thing where you follow people’s location, right?”
Snake gave a slow nod. “Yeah… whatcha getting at?”
“I want every one of us to have her location. That way if she calls any of us we can find her. Or her roommate… they’re friends, right? Do her too.”
“Dude, that’s a serious invasion of privacy.” Snake argued.
“I don’t give a flying fuck. We’ll only use it when we need to. Can you do it or not?”
