Page 113 of My Unhinged Alphas
Which leaves me nowhere to put the blame except where it belongs.
On myself.
Knox clears his throat, dragging the room back to the present. “All right,” he says. “Enough.” His tone is flat, controlled, meant to cut through the tension before Havoc starts smiling too hard or Lena starts pushing back just to prove she can.
I say, “We went to the club. Found the Shepherd. He gave us nothing useful, officially.”
“Officially,” Havoc repeats.
Knox ignores him.
I continue, “We asked about the file. About why Lena was on it. He told us to stay away from anyone listed unless the Brotherhood asks for them directly.”
Lena’s eyes narrow. “Why are you even asking about me? I told you?—”
“You don’t know anything, right, right,” Havoc says. “But we’ve got this itch, little lamb. There’s something about you.” He drags his gaze all over her and I can see her shudder. “Well, something tells me you aren’t here on your own. So, something must have happened.” He looks at Knox who sucks in a breath.
“I lied. I left right after you guys did and I went down to the place where she works.” He glances at me and Havoc. “I went there to talk to her. Kept it quiet. In and out. That was the idea.”
Lena’s arms tighten over herself.
“But before I could get anything out of her, the place got hit.”
I frown. “Hit how?”
Knox keeps his voice flat. “Not random. Not some idiot with a gun. Controlled. Quick. Enough to blow the place open and send everyone running.”
I look at him. “And you think it was about her.”
“I know it was,” he says. “I got her out the back, and we were followed into the alley. She fired at one of them,” he adds.
Havoc’s mouth twitches. “She did?”
Lena’s face hardens. “Glad that’s funny to you.”
“It is a little,” Havoc says.
Knox ignores that. “Point is, they followed us out of the café and into the alley. That was not random.”
Lena is still frowning, still watching him with that guarded, skeptical look. Then she says, “How do I know this isn’t just another one of your manipulative techniques?”
The room stills.
Her eyes move from Knox to me to Havoc. “You could have had someone from the Brotherhood attack us.”
Havoc laughs first.
I do too, quieter but no less real.
Even Knox’s mouth shifts, just slightly.
Lena looks annoyed now. “What?”
I push off the door and look at her. “The Brotherhood isn’t our lapdog.”
She stares at me.
Havoc pushes off the wall, still smiling, but there’s nothing light in it now. “The Brotherhood doesn’t operate like that.”
