13. Jorge
When I walk into Mathew’s downstairs library, I find it filled with people, making me smile. I don’t think this room has been this busy in years.
The last time was probably when Mathew was finishing up his master’s thesis while also negotiating some business deal he’d been trying to get for months. That guy has so much willpower.
He never had much of an education growing up, which makes sense with his situation.
But as soon as he took over this organisation, he hired multiple tutors to get him not just up to a ‘normal’ education level for his age, but to get him into a good college which then allowed him to do a master’s degree. All in just a handful of years.
Some admittedly very stressful years, taking more than a normal load of classes while also running this organisation, but he still managed it.
No wonder everyone respects him so much. Even if they have no idea where he started, they respect him for where he ended up.
Mathew spots me and saunters over, grinning. He’s wearing much more than I’ve seen him wear in days, which isn’t hard because he was naked most of the time. Right now, he’s wearing some soft-looking red suit pants and a cream linen button-up.
Basically, this is summer-casual for him.
The guy doesn’t do jeans or t-shirts, all suits all the way. He’s got plenty of options for what types of fabrics they’re made of, but he always looks very stylish. Which is, honestly, very sexy.
“This almost makes me want to get my PhD.”
“What brought this on?” I wrap my arm around his shoulders and pull him against me. His pheromones are nearly gone again now that his heat is almost over, but I can still sense them enough to want to take in as much of them as possible.
“Vera. She wants to go to college. So, Timothy is making her take some tests to see if she needs tutoring before she can start.” His eyes are shining, full of excitement and… is that pride?
Well, that explains Vera at the large table with her hands in her hair and Timothy sitting at her side, walking her through something on the paper in front of her.
They look very focused and as I watch them for a few moments, I notice how serious Vera is taking it, how much she seems to want it.
I guess I understand why Mathew is so excited, her focus and drive are contagious.
It doesn’t explain Caleb and Derrick on the other side of the room, papers piled all around them.
“What about them?” I nod to Caleb and Derrick.
Mathew’s face falls. “Caleb is taking this whole ‘bodyguard’ thing a bit too seriously.”
“And that upsets you, why?” Because it’s good that he takes it seriously. Right?
Mathew’s eyes shoot to Vera, before he turns us so she can’t see his face. “Because he knows about the Suits Syndicate. He knows what my tattoo means, the crowned heart one.”
My stomach drops as I eye Caleb.
There’s knowing about the Suits Syndicate in general terms, and then there’s knowing about the Suits Syndicate and being aware of how they mark their victims. If he knows about the tattoos, he’s already in deep.
“Did he confront you about it?”
Mathew nods, not meeting my eyes. “In a way. He asked me how much danger I was in, and then made it clear he meant from the Suits. The papers around them are everything we have about the syndicate.”
“It’s good that he wants to protect you, right?” I struggle to understand why he’s so upset about it.
Caleb already knows about the Suits, that means he’d be an asset to Mathew and his teams. He could help them out. All of that is good. So, why is he upset?
Mathew sighs, frowning deep, and tugs on one of his lip rings with his teeth.
“Well?”
“I don’t want him to put himself in danger. Not any more than he’s already in because he’s my mate,” he grumbles, glaring at his feet, clearly aware he’s being unreasonable and still saying it anyway.
I can’t hide my smile and run my fingers down his neck, following his blush. “To see you make that face and say those words. That’s fucking cute.”
He glowers at me, swatting my hand away. “Fuck off.”
“I mean it. It’s a nice change to see you worry about someone that much.” I glance in Caleb’s direction, understanding where Mathew’s worry is coming from. “But, if he already knew these things before meeting you, then he isn’t in any more danger now than he’s always been in.”
“Of course, you’d say that.” Mathew shakes his head, somehow getting even more frustrated. “You’re just like him.”
I grin, leaning closer, nipping at his jaw. “I guess that means you’ve got a type.”
“Yeah. My type is bastards who refuse to stay out of danger,” he mutters, shooting me another glare, but not moving out of my grasp.
“Or who care enough about others to want to do the right thing.” I tighten my arm around his shoulders a moment before I let go. “And we’re not letting you fight those fuckers on your own. You know that.”
I saunter over to Caleb and Derrick, eyeing the papers next to them.
“Anything interesting going on here? I heard you’ve got experience with our ‘friends’ over in the syndicate?” I pull a chair closer, sitting next to Caleb.
“Do you want to hear how I know about them? Because it involves someone you told me I wasn’t allowed to talk about.” Caleb grins, leaning back, somehow appearing relaxed, though his pheromones aren’t.
I swallow down the growl in my chest. Great… Just who I wanted to think about right after these last few amazing days, Caleb’s ex…
Also, what is he doing? Why the act?
Caleb grins even more as he watches my face. “I wasn’t involved in anything heinous. I was simply someone who would watch over the people who were rescued from the syndicate. Give them a place to live, get them back on their feet, things like that. Out of everyone, I was probably in the least amount of danger.”
He glances past me and I realise he’s using the glass of the cabinet behind me to keep an eye on Vera and Mathew on the other side of the room. Then he looks at me.
“I mostly dealt with people who escaped from the Diamonds, but I know that this area is under the control of the Hearts. So I asked Derrick to show me everything they’ve got on them. That way I can memorise the faces of the bastards here. Makes things easier when we’re out and about, if Mathew ever lets us leave this place.” His lips are curled in a smirk, but his eyes are stone cold.
“What did you find?” My heart tightens. Caleb is trying not to let Mathew, Vera and Timothy in on something, but it’s clear that something is going on.
His face falls as he slides three pages to where I can see them better. “These three men. Derrick told me that they’re part of one of the organisations under the Hearts? Are you sure?”
I glance at the pages, remembering looking into them about half a year ago. “Yeah. I checked them out. I followed the money, it’s all Hearts money.”
He thinks for a moment, shaking his head slowly as his face twists in disgust. “This makes me extra glad that I took Vera that day.”
His angry pheromones slip out before he manages to reign them in. “They’re part of the pack Vera was supposed to marry into. These are guys she went to school with, who she’s known most of her life. These are the guys who pushed the pack leader to keep coming after us, questioning his leadership if he ever let up.”
What?!
It takes a few moments to piece together the picture, and when I do, it feels like someone has poured a bucket of ice over me.
Oh, fuck, no.
Not only are these guys connected to the Hearts, but they were egging their pack leader on to the point where he got himself killed?
I know that some packs can be ruthless, especially packs that are constructed and not made up of scent matches. But this feels a bit much, even for a constructed pack.
“Do you think they knew about Mathew’s connection to the Hearts before their pack leader hired him?” I keep my voice as quiet as possible, my pheromones in control. This is bad.
Caleb eyes the pages. “I don’t know. But they were the ones right under him in the leadership, always looking for an opportunity to rise in the ranks.”
Derrick frowns. “For people that high up, it’s strange that they weren’t here when their leader negotiated the original deal with Mathew.”
There could be an innocent explanation. “They could have fallen out of favour? Maybe he didn’t agree with what they were doing?”
Caleb lets out a dissatisfied sigh. “They would have had to fall out of favour within the last few weeks. As far as I know, they’ve always been at negotiations.”
Since it’s not really that important, I’m not going to ask how he knows that.
If Caleb and Vera managed to stay ahead of their pursuers for years and apparently barely blinked when Mathew killed the pack leader, they probably have their ways to get information out of people.
Derrick’s angry clove pheromones slip out. “Which means they stayed away on purpose because they knew Mathew doesn’t deal with Hearts and they probably guessed we would recognise them.”
He lets out a low growl, putting the hairs on the back of my head on end. “And we made it extra easy because we told him he had to come here on his own the second time. Fuck.” He stands up, his eyes hard. “We have to check the security footage again, especially from the perimeter cameras.”
Timothy is on his feet immediately. “What’s going on?”
Derrick eyes his mate and then Mathew and Vera. “We’ve got a problem. I need all the security footage from the time that Mr Russell came here to hire us and when he came here the second time. Also, anything we have from his other communications.”
Mathew stands up, frowning. “Why? What did you find out?”
Caleb turns to them too, keeping his whole body controlled though the fury in him is clear. “It likely wasn’t a coincidence that Russell hired you. I think the Hearts are behind it. They probably thought they could take a shortcut, two birds with one stone. Gain the loyalty of a whole pack by helping them bring home a runaway Omega?—”
“And check out my security and my team.” Mathew curses. “And by killing Russell, I played right into their hands. Now they don’t even have to bother coming after me themselves, they can just let the pack do the job for them.”
I nod to Derrick and Timothy. “Go check the footage. Comb over every last pixel. Find them.”
The two leave the library without another word, leaving the four of us behind on our own.
Vera glances between us, looking lost. “Who are the Hearts?”
Mathew’s voice is quiet, though tense. “The people I escaped from. They’re part of the Suits Syndicate, a collection of organisations split into four groups based on the four suits in a deck of cards. They’re the Hearts, the Clubs, the Diamonds and the Spades.”
He looks at the papers on our end of the table, disgusted. “They’re all in the same types of work, human trafficking, illegal porn, prostitution, those things. The four groups each have their own regions that they work in. This area is overseen by the Hearts.”
Caleb goes over to Vera, wrapping his arm around her waist, keeping her close. “Three of the guys from Hubert’s pack work for them.”
“Gross.” Vera’s voice is quiet. “I never liked the pack, but that was a personal thing. They were well respected in our community. To think that they would work with people who do things like that…” She shudders.
“Jorge?” Caleb eyes me. “Do you think you can check the finances of the whole pack? Maybe they have more connections to them than just those three.”
“And my parents’ pack too? I can give you names and numbers.” Vera’s eyes are hard and she looks ready to murder people.
Fuck. That girl is angry. Very angry.
“I’ll see what I can do.” I look at Mathew, who’s way too quiet. Then I notice the calculating look in his eyes. Oh, no. “Don’t go rushing in there without us. Promise me.”
He looks away, his jaw set.
“Mathew!” I drop my voice, using my Alpha status to try to make him listen. I’ve marked him now, he no longer has an excuse to wave away my objections.
Before, he would tell me that I had no power over him as long as I hadn’t marked him, but he no longer has that excuse. If I worry about him now, I’m well within my rights to do something about it, no matter how annoying he might find it.
“ Fine. I won’t go in alone.” Yeah, I don’t believe that for a moment.
“No.” Vera grabs his arm, her voice alarmed. “Promise me. If we go in, it’ll be the four of us together. The four of us, or nobody. Promise me!” It almost breaks on the last words, her distress over his safety somehow managing to get through to him.
He meets her gaze, his resolve slowly fading as he nods. “I promise. The four of us, or nobody.” He takes her in his arms, holding her close, his body filled with tension.
It’s clear how much he needs her, how much having her with him makes him less reckless, more grounded in the real world. But it also means that he has another person to protect, another person to worry about in this dark world of ours.
Fuck.
And here I was, thinking that things were going so well lately. But the Hearts have been able to get way too close to us for comfort and without Caleb we might not have noticed it until it was too late.
Fucking hell…