Page 40 of Basilisk

“They talk about honor, commitment, and loyalty, but Alexander hasn’t done shit about August, even after seeing his behavior with his own eyes,” Ross pointed out.

“Yeah, considering the Hera contract stipulations, August should have been out the night of our initiation when he interfered,” Fox added. “We don’t owe those motherfuckers shit, Saxton.”

“So, you guys are all really okay with me telling Hastings what’s going on? Telling her all about The Order and who we are?” I asked.

“Do you really think she’s going to say something?” Stone asked.

“No,” I quickly replied. “I trust her completely.”

“Then I don’t see the problem,” he said. “I don’t care if you tell her. As far as I’m concerned, the more people that are looking out for my wife, the better.”

My chest shook at that a little. I couldn’t imagine if someone were after Hastings, much less if she were my wife. I could understand how Stone wouldn’t care about contracts or NDAs.

“Did you talk to your PI?” I asked.

Stone nodded. “Yeah, he’s got someone already. The guy will be flying in this weekend.”

“Why this weekend?” Ross asked. “Why not sooner?”

“Commitments,” Stone replied. “I told Chicago that I wanted his best, and his best was in the middle of another job. If I want him, I have no choice but to give Chicago time to replace him on his current job. His name is Elias Soriano, by the way.”

“If The Order were to do a background check on him, who will it say is signing his checks?” I asked. We needed to think of everything. In our bid to protect ourselves and the girls, we needed to make sure it didn’t look as if we were attacking August.

“Not me,” Stone assured me. “According to any paper trail on record, I don’t even pay Chicago.”

I nodded. “Good.”

“So, with Elias arriving this weekend, we just need to watch Rylee for a few more days,” Ross said, wrapping up the meeting. “We can do that.”

“Also, I’m still working on finding out more about Alexander’s relationship with August and his dad,” Stone reminded us. “I haven’t forgotten about that angle.”

I let out a deep breath. “Okay, then I guess I’ll let Hastings in on this mess,” I said. “I think you guys are right about loyalties. August shouldn’t still be a part of our class. If Alexander or The Order aren’t going to handle him the way they should, then we don’t own them shit.”

Ross slapped a hand on the back of my shoulder. “Glad to hear it,” he said. “The way things are going, I think we’re past needing a conscience.”

He was right, of course. Having made the decision to kill August already, a conscience wouldn’t do any of us any good, not that I had any qualms about killing August Remington. The sonofabitch needed killing in my opinion. He was a predator.

As everyone made their way out of the deserted diner, I called out to Fox as Stone and Ross were already getting in their cars.

He stopped, then walked back, meeting me halfway. “What’s up?”

“Look, I’ll be the first to admit that Kincaid’s love life is none of my business, but…I think we have enough bullshit to deal with, don’t you think? Do we really need to add the weight of you and Kincaid onto this clusterfuck?”

Fox smirked. “Trying to protect your best friend?”

I laughed at that. “The last thing Kincaid Black needs is someone to protect her,” I reminded him. “However, yeah, I got her back always.”

He eyed me a bit before asking, “Why didn’t she tell me about you?”

I let out a deep breath. “I already told you, Fox. You’ll have to ask her about that.”

“I should have known about you, Voss,” he replied. “I should have known everything.”

“Maybe,” I conceded. “However, that was then, and this is now. What’s the plan? What are you hoping to accomplish here? Do you honestly think The Order is going to be okay with you and Kincaid dating, even if it were to come to that? They would view her loyalties as being divided between me and you, and they are not going to appreciate that development.”

“Would her loyalties be divided, though?” he asked. “I can’t see a scenario where we will ever not be on Kincaid’s side.”

“We know that,” I said. “But they don’t.”

“Let me worry about that,” he replied. “I have it handled, Voss.”

I laughed. “Good luck, Harrington.”

The guy was going to need it.

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