Chapter 20 Aniyah
ANIYAH
“You better have a fucking amazing excuse for not calling me.”
Ezra’s voice was tight with controlled rage. I bolted to the one place I could get away from these men and felt the safest, the closet. Shutting the door on them, I locked them out and prepared myself for Ezra’s fury.
“I’m sorry. I was handling things I didn’t expect to,” I muttered. Like fucking mates I shouldn’t have.
I could picture her in her office, probably elbows-deep in spreadsheets and operational briefings, and the guilt hit me hard. I was supposed to help ease her load, not add to it. Not make her worry.
As I dug my toe into the carpet, mouth opening to apologize again, her voice cracked, something I’d never heard from Ezra in my life.
“Are you okay? Are you hurt? Do… you need anything?”
That broke something in me. Maybe it was the overload from the last twenty-four hours or the fact that five angry men were pacing outside this door, waiting for answers.
Or maybe it was just hearing my cold, ruthless sister’s genuine concern for me that pushed me over the edge.
My eyes stung, and I felt everything in me reach out for her, for someone familiar, someone who knew why I’d done what I had without needing an explanation.
“Yeah,” I croaked, then I took a second to clear my throat and force more confidence into my voice. “I’m not hurt. The club’s still standing after a bomb attempt, and the assailants who stormed in are… taken care of. Everything’s fine.”
A pause. Then she snapped back into usual form.
“Do we know who did this?”
I shook my head even though she couldn’t see me. “Not yet. We’re working on it. We’ll go through the tapes, trace the entry points, and examine the room they tried to bomb. Someone had to have helped them. It was too clean to be an outside job.”
“Understood. Nova’s heading your way,” she said, flat and final.
“I got it. I don’t need—”
“She’s worried.” Her tone cut through mine like ice. “She wants to see you with her own eyes. You know how she is.”
Yeah, I did, but it wasn’t just Nova. I had a strong feeling Ezra pushed her to leave her Canada scouting trip. Classic Ezra, always two moves ahead.
I opened my mouth to argue again, but she rolled right over me.
“Calix is also breathing down my neck. Wants to know about structural damage, security triggers, whether you need more weapons. The security alert pinged him directly.”
Of course it did. I should’ve known Calix would have a failsafe in place. Honestly, I wouldn’t be surprised if Ezra had someone planted in my building feeding her real-time reports. I bet she did that to all of us. It was her psycho way of caring for us the best she could.
“Riot also wanted to know if you had anyone to send her way for interrogation. The second she heard you were attacked, she nearly walked off a job.”
I blinked. “Riot almost abandoned a job?” That was fucking monumental.
“She only held off because I convinced her to wait until you called… like you said you would.”
Aaaaaand there it was. The guilt trip. Again.
I fingered the pink diamond accents sewn into my navy silk slip dress, like tiny pink stars on the midnight fabric, and mumbled, “It’s not like you didn’t have a general idea.”
That earned me a teeth-clenching response, her voice sharp enough to draw blood. “And this is why I keep tabs on you. Don’t complain about me tracking you when you’re the one breaking your word—”
“I didn’t promise anything,” I cut in quickly, trying to shut it down.
A pause. Then the crunch of paper crumpling in someone's hand. Damn. That was worse.
“A verbal or written confirmation of a time is a commitment, Aniyah. You broke it. End of story.”
I knew that tone. There was no way out of that, so I pivoted.
“You’re right. I’m sorry. I’ll communicate better. When Nova gets here—”
“And Calix.”
I blinked hard. “What?! No. I can send him a report. Why are you sending him?”
I loved Calix, really, but now I had to manage two other Syndicate bosses in my city?
“He’s assessing and resetting any compromised security. Nova’s reevaluating personnel. It’s all standard protocol, Aniyah, and they are the best of the best in their fields. It would be foolish not to take the help.”
“I can handle that myself!” I bit out. I wanted her to see me. Not as a little sister but as a boss in my own right. That had to start here with me handling my own shit as it came.
“I assumed you’d be too busy finding out who came after you. Unless I was wrong?” Her tone softened, but it was a calculated move. “This is your territory. Your name. I thought you'd want to be the one to send the message.”
Oh, she was good. My cold-blooded sister knew exactly how to twist the knife and make it feel like motivation.
“I mean, unless you’d rather Riot and the Devil Clan take care of it?”
“No,” I snapped. That was mine to handle, and she knew it.
“I figured.” Her voice dripped with satisfaction. “They’ll be in touch soon.” Click. Conversation over.
Yay. Family reunion. I rolled my eyes, knowing this was going to be a lot more work than play.
My mind spun with the logistics of what I needed to prep for Nova and what tech Calix would want access to. My fingers hovered over the closet handle, and I groaned. Out there were men with questions. Confessions. Feelings.
I didn’t have time for any of that.
Taking a long breath, I braced myself the way Ezra would. I needed to be cold, focused. efficient.
Right now, my only priority was finding whoever did this and making them regret they ever heard the name Aniyah Glovefox.
Throwing the closet door open, I was met with five sets of eyes, each one heavy with expectation and practically vibrating with unspoken questions.
Lucus stepped forward first, his voice low and loaded. “We need—”
I held up my hand, slicing the air with a sharp gesture that cut him off instantly.
“No.”
His mouth snapped shut, and I let the silence stretch before I spoke.
“Listen. I’ve got my brother and sister coming into town, a building that was just bombed, and a target on my back that I will remove with fire and fury. I don’t have the time or, frankly, the mental real estate to deal with…” I waved vaguely around the room. “All this. Whatever this is.”
I pointed at the door, my voice steady even though I wasn’t. “If that’s a dealbreaker for anyone, truly, thank you for everything you’ve done. But also,” I gave a sharp nod toward the exit, “there’s the door.”
No one moved. Not even a twitch.
I exhaled through my nose. Feeling like a big bitch, I slowly admitted, “I’m not saying we can’t talk eventually, but right now, my focus is on finding whoever did this and making them pay. Brutally and completely.”
My throat tightened around the next part, but I said it anyway because I needed them. “If you’re on board with that…” I winced slightly, half-wishing I could swallow the word back up. “I’d appreciate the help.”
Van crossed his arms with a lazy grin. “Wow. You asking for help? That’s huge.”
I rolled my eyes, some of the tension bleeding out. “After Ezra’s verbal firing squad? Yeah. I just want revenge and maybe a little firebombing. After that,” I shrugged, “we can figure out what the hell all this,” I gestured between us, “means.”
Ras raised his hand like we were in school, and the gesture was so damn cute I almost cried.
I pointed at him. “Yes, Ras?”
He looked around, unsure. “I know you want to table it, but… you said your tattoo was supposed to be invisible, right?”
My eyes narrowed. “Yeah?”
He rushed to finish, probably sensing the thin line of patience he was standing on. “Well, when you went to take that call, I saw it. Five roses on your lower back.”
The color drained from my face.
Spinning on my heel, I rushed to the bathroom, with all five of them following behind me, their footsteps echoing right after mine. I yanked my cropped sweater up at the back and twisted in front of the mirror. My breath caught.
“Shit.”
There it was. Plain as day. The mark that was supposed to be hidden was now a fine-line tattoo, and it was glowing faintly like the damn thing wanted to be noticed.
I turned and shoved past them, pacing the living room. My limbs needed to move just to give me something to do as my thoughts frantically bounced around in my head, trying to escape.
“No. Nope.” I sliced my hands in front of me as if I could physically cut the thought from the air. “Absolutely not.”
They watched me silently, but the questions were building in their eyes, thick, unavoidable.
I spun to face them, finger raised. “New rule. No one talks about the tattoo or possibly being mates.” I nodded firmly. “That’s the rule. Breaking it will come with… consequences.”
What consequences? No idea, but they didn’t need to know that.
I gathered myself, channeling what little control I had left. “Okay. Van, Ras, Alic, since I’m your boss, I assume you’re with me on the whole take-down-the-bastards-who-attacked-us train?”
All three of them straightened up, their faces now holding nothing but certainty.
“I was hired by Nova to protect you,” Maso said smoothly, “so consider me part of the staff.”
I blinked. “Nova did what?”
His smug grin told me he enjoyed dropping that little bombshell.
Alic’s voice boomed, “Nova did what?!”
Maso turned to him with a single raised brow, all cool indifference, but I knew exactly what this meant. After mine and Alic’s little fallout, Nova probably wanted insurance—a failsafe—just in case.
I pulled out my phone and fired off a text.
Niya: Found your mole.
Nova: Didn’t hide him.
Nova: And look what still happened.
Niya: Shut up
I let out a small sigh, accepting the situation faster than I usually would.
“Fine. You’re on the hook too, per Nova,” I muttered to Maso.
He just leaned against the wall, arms crossed, clearly unbothered. He wasn’t going anywhere, even if I wanted him to, and that made butterflies fly free in my stomach.