Chapter 29 Conrad
CONRAD
“Oh! Here you go, mate-broth—I mean, Conrad.”
Deslen caught himself midword, flashing a sheepish grin that didn’t fit a man of his size.
He slid a thick contact folder across my desk, the paper whispering against the wood.
Since he didn't know how long it was going to take Nova to officially recognize him as a mate, he wanted to solidify his presence in her life and make himself into an asset for her.
He rubbed the back of his neck, eyes darting anywhere but mine. “My manager’s been on my ass about getting Nova to sign. Just… y’know, make it all legit.”
I flipped open the folder, pretending to study the legalese instead of wondering why I hadn’t thought of something like this first. Zeth, who was her second, had her loyalty.
Deslen was quickly working up the fighter ranks, making it so he was a part of her world.
And me? I was still trying to figure out where I fit.
“All right,” I said, forcing my voice to steady. “I’ll comb through this and flag anything shady.”
“Thanks, man.” His shoulders dropped like he’d been holding them tight for hours. “Just don’t want to pile on more stress for her, ya know?” His arms got tight—probably twisting his fingers underneath the desk. A nervous habit, maybe?
I almost smiled. The big cat looked ready to shred someone one second yet could do nothing but wring his hands the next.
I hadn’t wanted to like him, not after I saw him and her covered in blood, leaning toward her, all easy smiles and familiar touches.
When he’d reached out to shake my hand, calling us mate-brothers, I’d wanted to break that hand.
We didn’t need another rival for her attention, not when every part of me wanted to hoard her like treasure.
But things had shifted. All of us being her mates, Nick’s betrayal, the chaos that followed… it gave even Zeth and me some common ground to bounce our anger off. That night, when he took us to Nova’s place, we both spat out curses, agreeing that he needed to pay for his betrayal.
Deslen, on the other hand, barely looked at us that night. He’d been too focused on tearing through her kitchen then vanishing out the back door.
When Deslen finally came back from the forest, his arms were full of flowers and herbs, and dirt was smudged up his forearms.
“When she comes back from her run, I’ll draw her a bath,” Deslen said quietly, setting the handful of herbs and flowers on the counter. “The scents should help ground her.”
That was the first time I saw him not as competition but as someone trying to keep her safe in his own quiet way.
Before either of us could answer, he was moving up the stairs, footsteps soft for a man his size.
Zeth and I just stood there, still fuming. Rage burned under my skin, raw and directionless. Nick’s name sat on my tongue like acid, every thought circling back to what I wanted to do to him for breaking her heart.
Then I heard water running upstairs, along with the soft thud of movement, and it hit me. He wasn’t thinking about revenge or how angry he was. He was thinking about her.
Why the hell wasn’t I?
In my head, I’d built Nova up like some indestructible legend, our Syndicate boss, the woman who faced down enemies twice her size and walked away without a scratch. I forgot that power didn’t make you immune to suffering. Under all that fire and command, she still felt.
A couple of hours later, the sound of the back door opening snapped me out of my head.
She stepped through, barefoot, dirt streaking her skin.
Blood was splattered on her arms and her hands.
Her moonlit hair clung to her face, wild, tangled, like she’d fought the whole damn world and barely made it back.
Her rose gold eyes found us, their usual spark gone. What was left looked hollow, like something precious had been scooped out and replaced with silence.
Her lips twitched into a ghost of a smile, the kind people made when they were trying to keep you from worrying. It gutted me.
I’d wanted to be her protector, her partner, the one who could match her fire, but, in that moment, I saw how little that mattered. She didn’t need another fighter. She needed someone who could hold her when the fight was over.
Upstairs, I heard the faint slosh of water, and the scent of wild flowers drifted down the hall. Deslen again, making space for her to breathe.
For the first time, I understood why fate had given her more than one mate. She carried worlds on her back, and she needed more than one set of hands to catch her when the weight got too heavy.
And I wanted—no, needed—to be one of them. Not just for me, not for the Syndicate. For her.
Deslen showed up at the top of the stairs, holding his hand out to her, beckoning her to meet him. She walked past Zeth and me without a word, only that hollow smile.
The moment Nova disappeared upstairs, Zeth moved.
“Kitchen,” he said, jerking his chin toward it before looking up the stairs longingly.
We didn’t need to talk about why. The air between us carried the same thought. Comfort her.
He rifled through cabinets, pulling out chips, fruit, chocolate, whatever he could find. I grabbed a tray and started arranging it like it was a damn peace offering. He tossed me a bag of popcorn and grunted, “Movie night.”
“Yeah.” We all needed to take a break for the night.
By the time Nova came back down, hair damp, eyes still swollen from everything she’d held in, the living room glowed a soft golden hue from the fireplace Zeth had turned on. Blankets. Snacks. A stack of movies that had nothing to do with heartbreak. We didn’t mention Nick. None of us did.
That night was quiet. Sweet, even. No heat, no tension, no undercurrent of lust tugging at the bond between us. Just her soft laughter slipping through the silence like a spark in the dark. Every time her lips twitched into a real smile, my chest eased a little.
The golden thread that tied me to her pulsed stronger that night. I could feel it hum in my bones. But still, something inside her kept a wall up.
That was fine. I’d wait—forever if I had to. She was worth it.
The sound of my office door clicking open brought me back to the present, and I looked up to see Zeth stepping in, sunglasses pushed up into his hair. He nodded at me, then his gaze caught the stack of papers on my desk.
“What’s that?”
“Contract,” I said, tapping the folder. “Deslen’s manager put it together. Thought I’d look it over before anyone starts throwing money around.”
Zeth slid into the chair across from me, arms crossed, the hint of a smirk tugging at his mouth. “Good call. Better you than our lawyers. They’ll try to bleed him dry. Plus, you got the head for that kind of shit.”
For a second, I just stared at him. Compliments weren’t exactly Zeth’s language. The guy was all street edges and sarcasm, while I played the polished businessman. Oil and water, most days. Still, the respect in his voice felt real.
Or maybe he was still seething about Nick and was giving me a break. Could’ve gone either way.
He stretched, glancing toward the window. “Nova’s got her boss meeting today. Gotta check in after, make sure things went smoothly.”
Deslen grinned, bright and easy. “Good. Family’s important right now.”
At that, Zeth flinched. It wasn’t much, but enough to notice. His jaw tightened, eyes flicking away like the word family carried too much weight.
“Yeah,” he muttered. “Just… keep in mind, Nova’s the sane one in that bunch. The rest of the bosses? Think ‘genius’ with a touch of homicidal. Or maybe the other way around.”
He tried to make it sound like a joke, but the faint tremor in his voice said otherwise.
His words hung in the air like smoke because, hell, he wasn’t wrong. The Syndicate ran on loyalty, blood, history, and shared violence. My own men? They’d sell me out the second a better deal came along, but that was the difference between running a business and belonging to a family.
Zeth leaned forward, elbows on his knees, eyes hard. “If you’re gonna last in this family, listen close. Don’t cross Ezra. Ever.”
Deslen straightened in his seat, taking his advice to heart.
Zeth didn’t blink. “You can negotiate with most of the bosses. They’ve all got their twisted sense of balance.
Ezra doesn’t. She’ll burn a city to ash if it means protecting what’s theirs.
” He scrubbed a hand through his hair, the movement tight, weary.
“And she won’t lose a wink of sleep over it. ”
Deslen frowned, a crease forming between his brows. “But… we’re her sister’s mates. She wouldn’t—”
Zeth barked a laugh so sharp it cut through the tension. I smothered mine behind a stack of papers, keeping my eyes down to hide the grin tugging at my lips.
Everyone knew Ezra Desmond. Every fucking one. Even the ones who’d never met her had stories—friends who vanished overnight, rivals whose entire legacies were erased. She was a storm in heels, and you either moved with her wind or got torn apart.
“It’s cute,” Zeth said, wiping a tear from his eye. “You thinking that protects you.”
Deslen’s expression shifted from hope to confusion, then the slow, dawning dread of someone realizing he’d just stepped into deep water. He slumped in his chair, silent.
The buzz of three phones broke the moment. I glanced down.
Nova: Can you come over? Found out some information and want to share.
When I looked up, Zeth was already on his feet, jacket halfway on. “Let’s go.”
Who the hell made him alpha of this little pack? I shoved back my chair with a muttered “damn demon thinks he’s Mister Perfect.”
Zeth stopped mid-step, his profile half-lit by the desk lamp. “Perfect?” he echoed. His voice came low, even. “If it wasn't for Nick, I'd be the one who had hurt her the worst.” His eyes pinched in pain, words coming out under his breath. “Didn’t even realize it until too late.”