Page 61 of Piece You Saved

“It doesn’t involve him. Kade and Aden are okay. Is Sam coming to help with the cleanup today or tomorrow?”

Greg shakes his head. “I told her she’d done enough. Why?”

“Good.”

Sam, the waitress who’s been with us as long as Greg, is practically family now. She doesn’t know what we are, and she can never learn about it, but the thought of Rylan Trevailer getting his hands on her makes me very nervous.

Greg’s stare burns through my profile. “And you? You seem a little… tense.”

That’s because I have too many balls in the air and no idea how I intend to juggle them without dropping one.

“Just have a lot on my mind.” Reaching into my pants pocket, I withdraw a bulging white envelope from it and hand it over. “Here. Vacation is on me.”

When Greg doesn’t take it, I have a flashback to the last time I handed over a white envelope filled with cash and had it—deservedly—thrown back in my face.

“You want me gone that badly, huh?”

I accused Saige of inviting Rylan’s evil into her life. I deserved more than her flinging cash at me. No fucking wonder she can’t forgive me.

I clap him on the arm with the thick envelope. “I want yousafe. Start packing. We’ll leave together.”

Because this place isn’t safe for anyone. Rylan sent one of his wolves here hunting for Saige. Kade launched a table at his head and nearly destroyed our livelihood protecting her.

If I were Rylan, and I couldn’t get to Saige, I’d go looking for another weakness to exploit. I can’t let him do that to our staff. They aren’t pack, aren’t family, but they’re still mine to protect.

After giving me a long look, Greg takes the envelope. “I’ll call the rest of the staff and let them know to stay away.”

I nod approvingly. “I knew you would do something to deserve that generous pay rise.”

“You mean other than run your bar for you?” He snorts as he heads for the door that leads to the upstairs apartment he calls home.

“Let them know if they need an advance. I can have Kade transfer cash to them. The Cerberus stays closed for the foreseeable future, and none of them should stop by here, foranyreason.”

As Greg disappears through the doorway, I return my focus to the bar.

If I ignored the mess, we’d be getting ready to open up. Aden would be helping Greg set up the bar or chatting with the DJ. Kade would be fucking or drinking at his apartment before he turned up later on a mission to provoke me into a fight to liven up his night. I’d be standing as I am, probably at the bar or, more likely, in my office watching the cameras.

I’m back in my smart shirt and dress pants—business attire. Not just a reminder to anyone who came to the Cerberus and saw me that this was a business I took pride in. But also a reminder to myself to stay in control.

It didn’t always work, but sometimes it did.

The wolf snarling in my head is a sign this day isn’t going to be one where control is within easy reach. This time, I know why. Saige. I need her to forgive me. I can formulate a plan for most things, but this? Convincing Saige I’m nothing like Rylan? It feels like a battle I’ve already lost.

Once we’ve dealt with Rylan, then what? Will Saige stay at the house with the rest of us, or will she decide she can’t bear to look at my face, want to leave, and take Kade and Aden with her?

Will I lose them all?

My wolf snarls again, the sound almost enough to distract me from the despair and the… panic in my gut because I fucked up. Not once. Not twice. Enough to make me wonder if I even deserve to keep them.

Kade should have told me he was defending Saige, but I should’ve known he wouldn’t lose it like this unless it was over something serious.

“I should have trusted him,” I murmur under my breath.

Why the fuck didn’t I?

Somewhere along the way, we lost our trust. Whether it was happening before Monica started playing us off against each other or after doesn’t matter. Kade is family, and I should have trusted he had a good reason for going at the shifter the way he did.

Aden trusted him. But I didn’t.

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