Page 99 of Wretched Soul
Mace beams a smile at me as he pulls my barstool closer to him. An arm ropes around my waist. “Exactly,” he says as if we’re on the same damn page.
I shake my head as I slide his coffee cup closer to him. “You’re so infuriating.”
“And you two are so perfect for each other,” Maddie says. “Now you’ll have to come and work with us. Hunter’s the number cruncher, so he’d love your help.”
“Jesus, Maddie. Seriously?” her husband asks. Noticing me startle, he adds quickly, “I mean, yes, Lily, I can definitely put your skills to good use. But Maddie? Is that how you describe me to people? A number cruncher?”
Maddie rolls her eyes at him before attempting a better description. Lowering her voice as if only I’m meant to hear, she says, “He’s the one who won’t give up if he sees potential in the things other people are ready to discard. It’s how he got me.”
“She means he’s stubborn,” Mace interjects, referring to how he’d described his brother.
“Mace, on the other hand,” Maddie continues, “is the one who isn’t afraid to look into the darkest of places. He oversteps sometimes, but he does it with the best intentions.”
“A protector,” I agree, feeling Mace’s arm tighten around me.
Maddie turns to Reid, because it’s obvious they’re all waiting for her assessment. Her eyes narrow in concentration. “Reid is the buffer. He absorbs all the bad that gets thrown our way, and he finds some way of making it bearable.”
“Usually by shooting his mouth off when he should shut the fuck up,” Hunter says.
Reid shrugs. “Can’t disagree. And if you and Mace ever need a buffer, Lily, I don’t mind–” He wheezes out a gasp as Mace jabs him with an elbow.
“And as for Ash,” Maddie says, not daring to even glance at the eldest Griffin brother. “He’s the one who shoulders the burden so his brothers can be their idiot selves. He probably has a heart, but that’s just a working theory at the moment.” She’s smirking as she turns her head to catch him staring at her intently.
“It’s a fair comment,” says Ash. “Now, can we move on to business?”
“So, this isn’t a social visit?” asks Mace.
“I can multitask,” Ash retorts. “Are we OK to talk openly?”
Mace strokes my back when he says, “I don’t think there’s anything I do that would shock Lily now.”
“I can believe that,” Ash says, and his gaze flickers to me for a fraction of a second. There’s a twinkle in his eye, but his focus is back on Mace before I can register it fully. “We may need to tighten security. According to John McConkey, our Russian friends are getting restless. They know the delays at Poulton Springs were sabotage, and they’re out for retribution.”
“We knew this could happen,” says Hunter.
“If they want to come after us, let them try,” Mace adds.
I’d worked out that Mace inhabits a world that isn’t as legitimate as it looks on paper, but he was wrong about nothing being able to shock me. Talk of attacks and retaliations has my knuckles whitening as I grip my coffee mug, and I will my jaw not to drop.
“We need to be careful,” Ash warns. “It’s likely they’ll target one of our investments rather than us directly, but we should prepare for every possibility.”
Maddie’s face pales, and it’s weirdly reassuring to know that I’m not the only one struggling to remain calm. “Could they attack the paper mill?”
“We can’t rule it out,” Ash confirms.
Sensing my unease, Mace rests his chin on my shoulder. His nose caresses my ear as if to soften the discussion I’m listening to. “Your protector,” he reminds me.
“We’ll have to step up security,” Ash continues. He’s looking at Mace when he adds, “You and Reid have to move back into the house.”
“This place is secure,” Mace replies. “I can lock it down.”
“You’re still an easy target every time you leave the building,” Ash argues. “And right now, I don’t want to spread resources across two sites. If we have to respond to a threat, I’d rather we were all living under the same roof.”
“It does make sense,” Reid says, looking to Mace.
He rolls his neck. “Fine, but Lily’s coming too.”
Ash quirks his mouth, almost a smile. “That would have been my next suggestion. Is that OK with you, Lily?”
