Page 65 of Oath
“Spill it,” I snapped, but then held up a hand as I took a deep breath and forced it out. Going for a far more even tone, I focused on them again. “Please. I’m not the girl you need to coddle. Say it straight.”
After cracking his neck, AB reached down to stroke Goblin who’d come over to rest his head on AB’s thigh. “We don’t think he was in deep with them, not like boots-on-the-ground deep. Did he knowsomething?Absolutely. More than he’s told us?Fairly solid bet.” AB leaned back as Legend started setting plates on the table. “He got into bed with these people rather than get left out in the cold. Did he know what all he was getting in to? I don’t really care. But he’s playing that card to get our help.”
The certainty in their voices didn’t offer me a lot of comfort, but I asked for the truth not comfort. I asked to be a part of this and to read me in, not to soften it for me.
“We need your help with him,” Voodoo added and surprise expanded through me.
“Me?” Not even twenty-four hours earlier, they wanted meawayfrom him. Not talking to him and not sticking around when he was out.
Legend slid a plate in front of me. Toast, eggs, bacon. He gave me a soft smile. “Eat first.”
“I’m not?—”
“Grace.” One word, firm and unbending.
So I took a bite. Because I was starving. Because I’d fight better with food in my system. Because I wasn’t going to fall apart now—not when Bones was still out there.
Once I started my meal, Legend turned that scowl on the guys. “You want to explain what it is you need her to do and I want you to be explicit. Because a bullet in his head is still the best option in my opinion.”
AB blew out a breath. “We could terminate him. We have enough reasons to do that.”
“But?” Legend asked as he returned to the stove and I stuffed more food in my mouth in order to hold my questions to myself until they resolved this. I wasn’t entirely sure what I could do to “help” with O’Rourke, but I certainly was on board to try.
“But,” Voodoo said as Legend filled another plate and set it in front of him. “We can’t be one hundred percent certain we won’t need him to get Bones out. That’s the sticking point. With him, we have a fourth man?—”
“Cannon fodder,” AB said, before he took a bite of bacon.
“That too,” Voodoo agreed with a wave of his hand in AB’s direction. “If he’s holding anything back, his presence might be the crucial ingredient in whether we get everything we want or not.”
“By that logic,” Legend countered, “his presence could also be the factor that fucks us over.”
No one disputed that and I sighed. Into the silence, I asked, “So we’re fucked if we do and we’re fucked if we don’t?” Then after washing down another bite with a swallow of coffee, I added, “and not even in a nice way.”
That earned a faint huff of laughter from Legend. He shut off the stove and carried his plate over to where we were eating. “That is why I don’t like the plan. Taking him is a risk that I don’t think offers enough reward to cover the danger he poses.”
“Okay,” I said, then used a napkin to wipe my mouth. I had to pause on the eating because my stomach had gone too taut and soured over the choice we were going to have to make. “What do you need me to do with him?”
AB and Voodoo split another look and I kept my impatience to myself at the silent conversation that seemed to fill the air between them. It was Legend who put down his cup abruptly and scowled.
“No,” he said aloud and earned both of their attention.
“Hear us out,” AB said slowly.
“How about fuck no?” Legend scowled. “We’re not tasking her withhandlinghim. Not when he’s made it clear he wants her.”
“That’s part of why she would be goodathandling him.” Voodoo cut a look to me. “You would be. You handled him in France. I’ve seen you do it with others along the way—including us.”
I wasn’t arguing. Handling men definitely fell within my wheelhouse. “Define handling for me. Bones made it clear if I kissed someone to distract them, he was going to be killing people.”
The summary of his actual words didn’t include the fact that he would spank me, but I didn’t mind that part so much. He had to be here to spank me so that would be worth it.
All three of them stared at me for a long moment and Goblin let out a low whine that snapped first AB out of it and then Voodoo.
“Handle him in that you’ll be distracting him, yes,” Voodoo said slowly, his whole expression darkening. “But not with sex or kissing or touching ofanykind. In fact, I’ll add that I’ll cut his dick off if he tries to touch you.”
“While he’s breathing,” Legend said, spinning a knife between his fingers. “If he passes out, we will wake him up.”
“Then we can cauterize the wound,” AB joined in the threat. “So we can chop up the rest of him.”
