Page 17 of Ravage
“It’s black tie formal, and you’ll need a mask,” he calls out once he has Aiden’s invite up on the screen.
“Probably to protect their own identities, but it works out for us too,” Aiden muses, his thumb and forefinger rubbing at the light brown stubble along his jaw. “We’ll do the usual. Dane on overwatch and Kellan on standby outside.”
I nod and move past them toward the hallway that’ll lead to my room now that my message has been delivered. That’s my job, pulling information and then taking out the trash. The other three handle the rest from there.
It’s a process that Aiden put in place once we started working together to take down GE and got the resources to make that happen. Getting this building, a stockpile of money, and different revenue streams allowed us to focus on helping others and trying to work our way up the chain of Gifted Enterprise personnel. Seeing Raegan broke and on her own is a reminder of where we could have been if not for a lucky break and Aiden’s overachiever business sense.
I flex my hands to soothe the building frenetic energy tingling beneath my skin. I need to rest so I can get back to helping her.
“Wait.” I stop just before the hall at Aiden’s voice. “Don’t you have something else to share with us?”
My lips twitch upward. Nosey bastard. Of course, he knows. How he knows and Dane doesn’t is a surprise, though. I turn on my heel to face the room again and shrug, but the smirk stays on my face. “Not particularly.”
It’d be better to give myself more time with Raegan before the others find out about her. But Aiden, being the control freak he is, can’t stand me keeping this secret from the rest of the group.
“Who broke into our safe house the other night, Jack?” he presses on, his forehead furrowed with frustration that I’m not just coming out with it.
“No one broke in.”
Aiden pins me with a look. I’ve known him since childhood, so I’m immune to it. I hold his gaze, my smirk widening as he struggles with maintaining his control beneath the façade he wears. “Fine. Who did you let into our safe house?” He breaks first, and now my smirk is a full-blown, maniacal grin that’s as much mirth as it is a baring of teeth.
“Raegan.”
There’s a crash and the sound of glass shattering, followed by Dane swearing up a storm. Kellan’s back in the room, cigarette dangling from his open mouth in shock. And then there’s Aiden, still sitting in his fancy chair and staring at me as if he’s waiting for me to spill all of my secrets to him.
He should know me better than that.
I start to turn away from them and pause again when Aiden speaks. “Is that it? You’re not even going to share what happened or why she just so happens to be in this city?”
“No.” My gaze alternates between the three of them, then lingers on Dane a bit longer. He’s taking deep breaths, and his hands are clenched in his hair.
“What the fuck, Jackson?” Kellan finally spits out. He throws his cigarette out the open balcony door and storms up to me, fisting my hoodie. I can’t help that the grin is still there, even if I can see that it’s pissing the others off. As much as this news upsets them, it’s what I’ve been waiting five years for, and I’m excited as hell about it. Nothing they say or do will change that.
There hasn’t been a day since getting off the island that I haven’t searched for her.
I know there’s more to the story with Vera, but the staff never gave us a chance to talk again after we found out. And then the island was destroyed and we were forced to escape before I could find her.
“What do you want me to say?”
Dane’s voice cuts in before Kellan can respond. “Get rid of her.” His voice is low and dark but fierce in his resolve.
The darkness in me rears up in defiance at the threat toward her, and my body stiffens. It’s a sign only my brothers recognize as me preparing to strike when I’m angry, and Kellan’s grip on me tightens. “Don’t,” he warns under his breath so only I can hear him. But it doesn’t matter because no one threatens Raegan around me.
The knives under my hoodie are out and in my hands in seconds. Kellan shoves his body against mine until the blades sink into him to keep me from sending them at Dane. He grunts from the pain but doesn’t budge, keeping me pinned against the wall and gripping my wrists, so I can’t pull the knives out or go for more. It’s a painful trick, but effective, as his gift will heal him anyway.
“He's right. She could still be working for GE and may be looking for Dane. We just need her to leave this city without finding out he’s here,” Aiden reasons, like Dane’s comment was merely saying to kick her out of town.
We all know he meant killing her.
I’ll have to keep an eye on him as well now to make sure he doesn’t go rogue in his personal vendetta if he’s already prepared to kill her.
“That’s not—” Dane starts, but Aiden cuts him off.
“No one is killing her, Dane. As long as she’s not in our city, we agreed to leave her alone.”
Dane jumps to his feet. “But she’s in this city now! Why are you still defending her? She’s one of them!”
“Are you telling me you’d have no problem hurting her? Even after everything we’d all been through?” Aiden asks slowly.
