Page 62 of Breached

“Mm,” I mumbled as I thought, “I have to go make some calls. Are you sure you’re okay?”

“I’m fine.” She forced a smile. “Brandon and Liv took Chase for a walk. I’m just waiting for them to come back.”

“Okay.” I automatically leaned down to kiss her but stopped myself, almost forgetting about the tension between us. She leaned in and gently kissed my cheek then stepped around me and disappeared upstairs.

That was something, at least.

I joined the rest of the guys downstairs in the conference room. There was so much happening my head was spinning. I needed to let Cole know about Hunter’s call. He was talking when I entered, so I had to wait.

“…so, I’m comfortable that we all know the plan,” Cole addressed the men. “General Bruce is onsite and agreed to provide military support. He’ll be standing by with more men if we need them. What we need to do is make sure Trigger and his club and Grim and his men are in place and ready to go. This will be our last check-in with them before we go radio quiet.”

As most of the men left, a core group of us stayed, as we had calls to make. “Mike and Paul,” Cole pulled us to the corner of the room, “if there’s anything you guys can think of that we should know—now’s the time. I know you two are the closest to Trigger and Grim.” I wouldn’t say I was close to Grim. We just happened to run in the same circles in Mexico, and both knew Talya well.

“You know what I know,” Mike assured him.

I didn’t answer. I had kept a huge secret from my brothers for a long time, but since I’d come back to Shadows, I never wanted to hold anything back. I just couldn’t think of anything to say.

Cole gave us a grim look. “Okay, let’s get this done.”

The guys scattered, each with their own assignment. Mike stayed in the room along with Cole and me. I knew Cole was going to touch base with Elio Capri. He might not be joining us in this fight, but he had offered his cousins’ help and had some resources Cole was interested in. Before he made the call, I pulled him aside.

“Heads up,” I said quietly, “Hunter called you at the house while we were at The Peak, and when he couldn’t get you, he asked to speak to Nicole. He had some info—seems a certain FBI agent told Bruno that Nicole was working as a CI.”

His face turned to stone. “Who the hell was it?” I could tell he’d made the connection, despite his words.

“Yup, it was Colin.”

His eyes widened, and I could almost see steam shoot from his ears. “Find out everything you can from Grim.”

“Copy that.” I stepped out of the conference room. As I left, I heard Cole begin to fill in Mike before Mike placed his call to Trigger.

I pulled out my phone and tapped on Grim’s name and waited for him to answer. Like the businessman he was, he answered on the second ring.

“Gates.”

“Hey, it’s Paul. Good time?”

I heard a door closing. “It is. We’re on time, arrived in Playa De Rosarito this morning.”

Letting out a long breath, I nodded as if he were in the room. “No problems?”

“None yet.” He was a man of few words. “I have men in place. We know who we’re targeting and, of course, those we’re not,” he added.

“Appreciate that.” I’d already made it known to Grim that I didn’t want Talya’s parents, Jerry and Elva, killed. I couldn’t do that to my son. There would come a time when he would know the truth of where he came from, and I couldn’t rob him of a connection to his biological mother, even if his grandparents were the fucking Cartel. Talya may have disagreed with her parents’ choices, but she still loved them, and I would not give Chase a reason to hate me. In spite of that, we needed to slow down the Canos family business. Grim’s inside knowledge of the drug trade would help with that.

I rubbed my eyes, feeling the stress of all that was about to happen. “Any word on Talya’s murder?”

“All signs point to Bruno,” Grim grunted. “Not confirmed, though, and something doesn’t sit right.”

“Any idea what?”

“Don’t know yet. When I figure it out, I’ll let you know. For now, just focus on staying alive and preserving your house. You guys do good work. Hate to see it go to shit.”

I smiled, thinking that was the nicest thing I’d ever heard out of Grim’s mouth. “That’s the plan.”

“How’s your son?”

“Better now that he’s here.” I moved on. “Any questions on your part in all of this?”