Chapter Twenty-Three
Mason
“I’m fine,” I repeat. “You need to stop hovering.”
“I’m your sister,” Olivia snaps. “It’s part of my job to hover.”
I snort, and my hand moves to my ribs, where a tender bruise has been stitched together. “How long have I been out?”
“A few hours,” Olivia replies after a brief pause. “You gave us quite a scare.”
I sit up straighter and frown. “How did you know I was in trouble?”
Olivia pauses, and her eyebrows draw together. “What do you mean?”
“The men who got us here—”
“We didn’t send anyone, Mason.” Olivia shakes her head. “We would have if we had known, but we had no idea anything was wrong until Carlisle and Katia showed up carrying you, all three of you covered in blood and looking like death warmed over.”
I press my lips together and say nothing.
“You were pretty out of it when I saw you. Mathew said you were rambling about another traitor.” Olivia’s voice is hushed. “Do you have any idea who it is?”
“No, but it’s only a matter of time before I find out.”
The fact that it might be someone I share a last name with only makes things worse.
Especially after the ambush that I barely escaped.
Whoever is helping the enemy is out for blood, and they’re not pulling any punches.
Are you really going to pretend it’s not Mathew?
You know he wants to get rid of you, and this is the perfect way to do it.
Lay the blame on Michael and the Fitzpatricks, and give him an excuse to launch a full-scale war.
It’s exactly the kind of he would do. The real question is whether he acted with Father’s support.
I’d seen the look on my father’s face when he’d stepped out a few minutes ago to take a call.
It hadn’t looked like the face of a man who had suffered defeat.
I’d even caught the worried gleam in his eyes seconds before he snuffed it out.
Jack wouldn’t kill you. He’d probably just hide you away somewhere till he smoothed things over.
“London is waiting for the right moment to come and see you,” Olivia adds. “She’s been steering clear of Jack.”
I nod. “Good.”
A heartbeat later, the door swings open, and Jack steps in, not a hair out of place. He keeps one hand in the pocket of his pants, and the other holds the phone to his ear. He hangs up and moves closer to me, and a shiver of unease races through me.
“Since you’ve managed to screw up the alliance with the Thayers, I’ve been on the phone trying to secure another alliance.”
I raise an eyebrow. “You’ve convinced the Harrisons to come to the table.”
The Harrisons haven’t been at the forefront of anything for years, and while the thought of allying myself with an ill-prepared family doesn’t sit well with me, it’s better than the alternative. Now that our understanding with the Thayers has gone up in flames, we don’t have another choice.
Tonight’s ambush is proof of that.
Time is no longer a luxury we have.
Jack’s eyes sweep over me. “I’ve also managed to convince the Fitzpatricks and Everetts to restart negotiations. You should be thankful they’re still willing to come to the table after the shit you pulled.”
“The shit I pulled? They tried to have me killed.”
A shadow settles over Jack’s face. “And they’ll be brought to heel. We’ve already compromised several of their locations.”
I clench my hands into fists. “It’s not enough.”
“I’ll be the judge of that.”
“Like fuck you will. I’m the one who was almost made into roadkill.”
Jack scowls. “A Payne doesn’t let his feelings get in the way of business. This needs to be dealt with—”
“Fuck you.”
Olivia wedges herself between us and throws one hand up on either side of her. “Stop it. Mason almost died. Instead of bickering about that, we should be trying to figure out how the hell they keep flipping people from the inside. You can worry about revenge later.”
“Your sister makes a good point.”
I stare at my father and say nothing.
A short while later, he leaves, the phone pressed to his ear again, and I glance at Olivia.
She nods and leaves the room. I press two fingers to my temples, the bright fluorescent lights making the pounding in the back of my skull worse.
With a frown, I let my eyes dart around the room, taking in the table under the window and the patches of silver light pouring in from outside.
The hospital bed dips and creaks as I sit up, and a sliver of pain races up my side.
Carlisle pokes his head in a short while later. His arm is in a sling, and he’s favoring one leg. There’s an angry red welt on the left side of his face, and it comes into harsh focus when he stops a few feet away.
“What’s the news?”
Carlisle shifts from one foot to the other. “There’s no chatter. It’s too quiet.”
I scowl. “Find me whoever did this, Carlisle. In the meantime, see if you can reach out to any of your contacts to find out about this other traitor.”
I open my mouth to say something, and Olivia comes in with London in tow. Carlisle’s hand darts out to hand me an envelope. in one quick move, I shift to hide it under the pillow. London waits until Olivia’s gone before she approaches me, her red-rimmed eyes drinking me in.
When I pull the cover back, London looks at the white wrapping around my side, and a sob falls from her lips.
I pat the bed and shift. After a brief pause, she kicks off her shoes and carefully perches on the side.
She lets out a low, startled noise when I pull her against me and exhale, some of the knots in my stomach unfurling.
London got me through the fight.
Even in my delirium, she remained clear and focused, a beacon guiding me back home.
London stirs. “I wanted to come sooner.”
I cup her face in my hands and blow out a breath. “I know.”
London shudders and leans into my touch. “You’re not allowed to die on me.”
“Likewise.”
Slowly, London inches back to look at me, and her eyes move steadily over me. “I mean it, Mason. We’ve been through too much for you to be taking risks like that.”
I give her a quick, rough kiss and pull away before she can deepen it. “I’m a survivor, and I’ll always find a way to come back to you.”
London reaches for my hand. “Katia would only give me highlights about what happened, and that was after I wouldn’t stop nagging her.”
I huff a laugh. “She didn’t tell you because you nagged. I think she likes you.”
London makes a face. “I think what you meant to say is she’d like to kill me.”
I tuck London into my side and drape an arm over her shoulders. “Katia doesn’t want to kill you, but there’s no shortage of people who do.”
I have to add one more name to the list.
“Our alliance with the Thayers is no longer at play,” I add, in a low voice. “Thatcher will be staying with us for a while.”
London sits up. “You’re keeping him as prisoner? Is that a smart thing to do?”
“It’s the only thing I can do to make sure the Thayers don’t turn on us.”
If they haven’t heard already.
London blows out a breath. “I’m sure Elise is pissed.”
I wave her comment away. “She’ll get over it. There’s something else.”
“What is it?”
“Those men who ambushed me were hired by someone on the inside, and one of them told me it was a Payne.”
London goes still and swallows. “You believe them?”
“How else do you explain the attack? And how they’ve managed to stay one step ahead this whole time?”
I don’t want to believe it, but there are too many coincidences to brush off.
Too many close calls not to look into it.
London takes my hands in hers. “There’s got to be another explanation. Something that makes sense.”
“He was seen meeting with several associates of the Fitzpatricks and the Everetts,” I reply in a gentler voice. “I know this is a hard pill for you to swallow.”
“Me?” London squeezes my hands. “How are you so calm after… everything?”
I shrug. “I don’t have a choice.”
Dwelling on what it means isn’t going to do me any good.
There will be plenty of time for me to feel the bitter sting of betrayal later.
Now, I need to focus on getting rooting out a name, even if it means having to take them on directly.
London’s frown deepens. “Well, I think it’s Jack. I know you have a complicated relationship, so he is the most obvious choice, but you should’ve seen the look on his face when Katia came to get me.”
“I’m looking into him, too.”
London sucks in a harsh breath and leans in closer. “It’s too dangerous. What if he finds out?”
“I’ll take care of it.”
I’ve gotten myself out of worse messes, and although I don’t relish the idea of confronting Jack, I know I have to cover all of my bases.
“I want to help,” London says. Her eyes flick over the scar on my cheek. “There’s got to be something I can do.”
“If I tell you to stay out of trouble, will you listen?”
London pauses. “Not if I feel like there’s something I can do.”
I grimace. “I’m going to regret this, but I need to know what Noah told his father and his brother. I’ve been in the dark for too long, and if I’m going to come out ahead of this, I need to have the full picture.”
London stares. “You want me to talk to him?”
“You’re not going to like what you see,” I warn, my stomach lurching. “Just remember that I’m keeping us safe, and Noah has threatened that.”
London nods and says nothing.
When I pull her against me again, she doesn’t resist.
For a while, we lay there, her head pressed against my chest, and my arm draped over her shoulders, the smell of her washing over me.
It is a rare moment of peace before the storm.
Eventually, London’s breathing evens out, and she goes slack against me.
Using my good arm, I pull the blanket over us.
Then, I sink further against the bed and squeeze my eyes shut.
Unfortunately, the harder I try to sleep, the more elusive it becomes.
When I finally drift off, my body feels heavy, and everything is tight.
I keep replaying the car crash in my mind, seeing Katia and Carlisle’s faces as they fought to protect me, and the steady stream of people pouring in from the forest.
Only in my dreams, I couldn’t stay on my feet.