Chapter 8 Shep
SHEP
THE FAMILIAR SOUND of our brothers’ voices drifted through the hallways of the underground rooms of Libertine, as Theo and I came to a stop at the bottom of the large stone stairwell that wound down to the tunnels below.
It’d been a couple of days since we’d landed back in New York City, and tonight was the decided-upon time that we would finally meet up with the rest of the Kings to discuss what had gone down.
If it were up to me, Theo would’ve been resting another week, at least, before venturing across town to relive the nightmare that had happened back in the jungle. But with the threat still at large, and a new piece of intel in our possession, we couldn’t sit on this much longer.
Our brothers deserved answers, and to more than just what happened in Brazil. We owed them the truth about us. It was going to come out one way or another, and after the shitshow that happened with King, I wanted it to come from us.
Whoever was behind this threat had no compunction about using our relationship against us, and the only reason that worked right now was because no one knew. So it was time to take that piece off the table.
I’d be damned if I let anyone use what Theo and I had as a weapon, and the best way to take control was to own it. Theo was mine and I was his, and if anyone had a problem with that—including our brothers—then they could fuck the hell off.
“You okay?” Theo’s voice filtered through my irritable mood and landed right at the heart of my main concern.
Was I okay? I wasn’t sure. Every time I closed my eyes, the image of Theo on his knees, a second away from death, flashed to the forefront of my mind, and the red haze of anger that always followed made me feel on edge, seconds from exploding.
But as we stood at the base of the stairs about to go and meet up with our brothers, I knew I needed to get my shit under control.
“I’m good.” I tried for a smile, but when Theo snorted, I knew I’d failed.
“Relax,” he said, reaching for my hand and squeezing it tight. “You look like you’re about to burn the world down. And while that’s super hot, these are the good guys, remember?”
“I know, I’m just—”
“Wound tighter than a drum? Oui, I know. Really, Shep, you act like we just met. You’re always wound tight when you’re here. The good thing now is that you have me. If you like, I could take you into one of these rooms and help you relax before we go in there?”
I arched a brow in his direction. “Not helping.”
“I’m trying to,” he said, his swollen lip quirking to the side and reminding me all over again what that motherfucker had done to him.
I reached for his face and brushed my thumb over the cut in his lip. “I’m good, really. Just not looking forward to reliving this. That’s all.”
“Okay.” Theo started down the hall, his hand still in mine. “So it’s not because you’re about to admit that you’re head over heels for me to a bunch of guys who think I’m a lunatic?”
I drew him to a halt and locked eyes with him, and while he might be joking, I was not something I ever wanted him to doubt.
“There is not one person’s opinion on this earth that I give a fuck about when it comes to you and me.
Do you understand that? It doesn’t matter if it’s old man Francisco in the bodega at the corner or the men waiting for us in the conference room down the hall.
” I took Theo’s chin and angled his head up toward mine.
“When it comes to you and me, I’m not hiding anymore. Not from anyone.”
Theo closed the couple of inches between us and ghosted his lips over mine. “So fucking sexy, Mr. Winchester.”
I hummed against his mouth. “We need to get in there.”
“Are you sure? I’d really rather you get in me—”
“Theo.” I pulled away, knowing that if I didn’t, we’d never do what we came here to. I tugged him down the hall. “Let’s get this over with.”
“You’re the boss,” he said, then chuckled. “Literally.”
We reached the door to the conference room, and it wasn’t lost on me that Theo’s steps slowed a little too. But just when I thought he might drop my hand to enter, he entwined his fingers through mine and walked inside, head held high like the prince he was—and I’d never been prouder of him.
He wasn’t about to let a few bruises and cuts define who he was, and he wasn’t about to run from the questions he was about to be faced with. But when the five men sitting at the enormous granite table spotted him, all talking ceased and wide smiles of relief crossed their mugs.
“Theo. Damn, but you’re a sight for sore eyes.” Lucien was the first to get to his feet, and Benoit followed, giving a mock bow.
“Bon retour parmi nous, Your Serene Highness.”
Lachlan shook his head, his eyes tracking over and cataloguing every bruise and cut he could see on his brother. Then he growled, “The motherfucker who did that to your face better be dead.”
“He is,” I said, straightening my shoulders with pride.
“Limb from limb?”
Before I could say I’d planned on just that, Theo interjected. “He was left for the vultures in the jungle. I doubt there’s anything left of him.”
Lachlan clapped me on the shoulder. “Goddamn right.”
With Lachlan being the most savage of our crew, I supposed that was a compliment, but I didn’t get a chance to answer him because King finally stepped forward, and the guys parted to let him through.
All joking ceased as King’s gaze fell to mine and Theo’s clasped hands, and just like that, our brothers finally noticed the elephant in the room. Their relief at seeing Theo alive had overtaken anything else, but now the surprise had them looking between us and King to gauge our leader’s reaction.
Theo squeezed my hand then, his reassurance all I needed as King came to a stop in front of us.
I could feel the tension creeping into the room as we watched and waited for what came next.
King had made it clear to me he didn’t approve of my relationship with Theo, had even dared say he wasn’t right for me, and remembering that only pissed me off.
King met my eyes, those dark depths unreadable, but when they cut to Theo, I saw it. A spark of emotion, regret and relief, the two battling it out as King rested his hands on Theo’s shoulders.
“Glad to see Shep brought you back safe to us.”
Theo’s eyes narrowed slightly.
Oh shit.
“Yeah, he did,” Theo said. “No thanks to y—”
“I’m just glad I heard the gunshot that alerted me to where he was,” I interjected, giving Theo’s hand a squeeze. “If I’d gotten there a few seconds later then he wouldn’t be standing here right now.”
King’s eyes met mine. “You were right to stay.”
I heard the rest of that sentence, what he didn’t say. And I was wrong.
Would it come eventually? King wasn’t the apologizing type, but there definitely needed to be a conversation about the shit that went down—just not right now, in front of everyone.
“Will you tell us what happened?” The question came from the man standing apart from the rest of us, his arms crossed over his t-shirt and his long, dark hair hanging down to shade his face.
The look of him took me by surprise, because this wasn’t the sarcastic, animated Alessio I was used to.
His face was more drawn, dark circles beneath eyes that looked…
defeated. I’d never seen him as anything less than confident to the extreme, but it was obvious he’d been through it the last few weeks.
King stepped back and gestured for us all to take a seat at the table. I took my spot to the left of him, only this time instead of sitting on King’s right as he usually did, Theo moved to the chair on the other side of me.
I watched as Lucien raised his brows before he took Theo’s empty spot, shifting the dynamics of our group with a simple move. Simple, yet significant, and my chest grew warm as Theo lounged back and shot me a wink.
When everyone was settled, I looked over at King. “Where should we start?”
“At the beginning.”
“Oh boy,” Theo muttered, taking out a kretek and lighting up.
Hell, I didn’t smoke, but it would’ve probably been smart to, considering the direction the conversation was about to head.
Before we’d arrived, Theo told me he wanted me to take the lead on recounting the last few weeks, and remembering how hard it’d been to get information out of him in the first place, I figured it was the best way to go. Otherwise we’d be here all night.
I started at the beginning, from the very first threat we’d received, and laid it all out there.
From the fake videos of Theo supposedly causing an explosion in Istanbul, to the intimate photos taken of us in Osaka, and what happened with Theo’s attempted assassination in Cardiff, I told and showed them everything.
We didn’t have anything to hide, not anymore, and it was past time we all got on the same page.
“The explosion was fake?” Benoit asked, confusion marring his brow as he glanced at Alessio for confirmation. I answered instead.
“The explosion in Istanbul happened. It just wasn’t because of Theo. Someone doctored the video.”
“But—”
“I said it wasn’t fake,” Alessio said, staring down at the table. “I was wrong.”
The entire group went silent, and Lachlan looked like his jaw had just become unhinged. Those three words had never come out of Alessio’s mouth before, and the fact that he was so obviously down on himself rattled me in a way I hadn’t expected.
“The photos of you in Osaka are real, though?” Lucien asked carefully.
I nodded.
“And the man who set the car explosion, the one you took out in Cardiff,” Lucien said to Theo. “He and the man who kidnapped you, you think both are working for the same person?”
Theo blew out a stream of smoke and tapped his kretek against the crystal ashtray. “Looks like it.”
“Looks like it? You didn’t question them?”
“It was a little life-or-death, so no, I didn’t tie them up and interrogate them. My bad.”
Lachlan shrugged. “I wouldn’t have either.”
“No one blames you, mon ami,” Benoit said. “But it’s not exactly helpful in discovering who is accountable for the attacks on you.”
“We believe it’s in-house,” King said. “A Libertine member who’s been flying under the radar. Perhaps playing a long game.”
“So we interrogate them all, one by one.” Lachlan sat up and cracked his knuckles. “I’ve got a few methods that’ll have them coming clean in no time.”
“We’re not torturing our members.”
“You just said we have a traitor in our midst.”
“So you think the best way to draw them out is clue them in by torturing everyone else?” Lucien asked. “What if he’s not one of the first? You don’t think people will talk? Leave? Retaliate?”
“We’re not. Torturing. Our members.” King’s booming proclamation was final.
Again, silence descended, until Lachlan threw up his hands.
“Then who has a better idea how to catch this motherfucker?”
Benoit rubbed his forehead. “I’m still confused why they went to the trouble of creating the fake video of Theo if they just wanted to kill him.”
“I wondered that too,” I said. “But what better way to sow distrust between us? To have us all wondering if Theo had gone rogue? To try to blackmail Theo and me with photos, threatening to go to King? It’s clear to me that whoever this is, they want to break the seven of us apart.
They want us fighting and they don’t want us to trust each other.
If they’d killed Theo, they knew we’d end up blaming each other for what we did or didn’t do. ”
“We can’t let them break us,” Lucien said, nodding in agreement. “No matter what. This fucker is smart, but he’s not the only one who can fight dirty.”
“There’s another thing.” Theo set his cigarette in the ashtray and pulled up his sleeve, where an ugly red line ran down the length of his forearm. “He knows about our trackers. Pulled mine the fuck out.”
Curses rang out, but I raised my voice over them. “It’s not like members wouldn’t have seen us scan our chips to get down here.”
“But to know they’re trackers…” Benoit mused, tapping his lips before he shot up in his seat. “Holy shit. What if he’s gained access to our trackers. Is that how he found Shep and Theo at the safe house?”
Instantly, I felt King tense beside me.
That was exactly the question he’d been hoping wouldn’t be brought up, and there it was, laid out for everyone to hear.
King had fucked up.
He had brought danger right to our goddamn door.
And then he’d left Theo in the jungle.
I clenched my teeth, trying not to let accusations fly out of my mouth. It wouldn’t solve anything to fight with him now, not when we were all trying to come back together.
But I was pissed, so fucking pissed, and trying my damndest to bite my tongue and see if our leader had anything to say.
All I could hear was the jackhammering of my heart as the room remained dead silent. I didn’t dare look at King, not right now, because there was no way I could keep a poker face if he didn’t come clean.
Theo, on the other hand, clearly didn’t give a fuck about the question hanging in the air, or the repercussions.
He picked up his cigarette, tapped the ashes, and looked straight at the man to my left.
“Great question, Benoit. Why don’t we ask King?”