Chapter 27
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
SINCLAIR
Elenna winced. "You know I have to tell Aidan. Or you do."
"I know, I know," I said. "I just… Of all the people I thought she might say, Phoenix wasn't even on my list. He and Coast are tight. Friends," I added quickly.
"I can't believe he'd work with people who'd go after Coast. Not to mention that he was in that car right along with us." I leaned against the wall of the equipment manager's office and rubbed my forehead with my fingertips.
Finley had taken one look at the expression on my face and left Elenna and I alone to talk. It was probably just as well. If he heard, he'd be on the phone to Aidan already. Or with his head out the door, shouting for the head coach.
Neither of which I'd blame him for, but I needed to reason this out with someone else before it went that far. Especially given that Aidan or Finley might shoot Phoenix first and ask questions later.
Okay, neither of them were that rash, but I wouldn't rule out them taking him to Ice's workroom to torture the truth out of him. I wasn't ready to inflict that on a guy I cared about.
"Maybe he isn't," Elenna said. "Kylie might have pulled the name out of thin air. You know what people are like when they're under pressure. She could as easily have said Orion or Finley. Or Tiger, or me. Or anyone."
"I know," I said again. "She seemed genuinely sincere. And reluctant to tell me anything."
I rubbed my forehead harder. "Or she's a really good actor. She might have said that to put me off the scent. For all we know, she's plotting some shit as we speak."
Elenna leaned her hip against the desk. "I know you don't want to consider the possibility, but is there any chance he was working with them then?
I mean, he might have been loyal to Geneva until she died.
When he realised she wasn't going to win, he turned on her and helped take her down.
If she was working against Nicholas and Celine, there's good reason for Phoenix to want to go after them and vice versa.
There may be no one left who knows he was loyal to her. "
I grimaced. "I guess it's possible. But wouldn't Sawyer have known?" I hated the fact that what she said made any kind of sense. The last thing in the world I wanted to believe was that he was working against us, even if that was in the past tense.
"It's possible he didn't," she said slowly.
"It's also possible he didn't intend for the driver to kill you.
He said he was taking you somewhere, didn't he?
Maybe they didn't want to kill Phoenix, they wanted to make it look like he was still on our side.
Then when you got to wherever you were going… "
I frowned. "He seemed just as angry as Coast about getting into a car that was hijacked."
"Or their plans went wrong." Elenna stepped closer to me and put a hand on my arm.
"I know you don't want to think any of that is possible.
I don't want to either. But we have to consider the possibility it's true.
And if it is, we have to deal with it. And we will.
Together. You know, no matter what happens, I've got your back. "
"I know, I've got yours too," I said weakly.
I shook my head. "I don't know what to believe anymore. If Phoenix was tight with Geneva, then maybe Coast isn't who I thought he was either. Or Javey for that matter."
Hadn't Javey and Phoenix been bailed up together? Coast might have killed Jamison and Geneva to keep them quiet.
Elenna ran a hand up the back of her hair and clasped her ponytail. "That wouldn't explain why someone broke into Coast's apartment and tried to kill him."
"Allegedly tried to kill him," I said in a small voice. "The only ones who saw anything were…"
"Coast and Phoenix," Elenna finished for me. She dropped her hand to her thigh with a slap. "You really think they made the whole thing up?"
"No? Yes? No? Fuck, I don't know anymore. I don't know what to think or who to trust. Javey said Tank and BJ were suspicious, but maybe they aren't. Maybe he is. Maybe they all are." I threw my hands up in the air and let them fall to my sides. "I might be going crazy here. I'm just so confused."
"What do you want to do?" Elenna asked.
"I want to talk to them," I admitted. "But we know what they're going to say.
Either way, they'll deny all of it. They'll probably be pissed off I suggested they could be involved.
I think maybe we have to talk to Aidan. He knows the guys well enough he should be able to rule out at least some of this. "
Or I was clutching at straws? If they fooled me, they would also have fooled Aidan. Wouldn't they? If there was anyone who distrusted most of the people around him, it was the head coach. People wouldn't pull the wool over his eyes easily.
"They weren't on his list," Elenna said.
"Which either means he doesn't think they're working against us, or he's trying to put them off guard. Oh, fuck. What if Tank and BJ are completely innocent in all of this? Or Kylie and Charlotte?"
I frowned. "Wait a minute. Aidan gave the guys the list and he gave one to me. If he thinks they're up to something, then maybe he thinks I am too." Anxiety was quickly turning to full-blown panic.
"Are you?" Elenna asked lightly.
"Absolutely not," I said as firmly as I could possibly manage.
I cocked my head at her. "You don't really think I'd be—"
My heart raced. Sweat broke out on my palms.
If she really thought that, I could be in serious trouble. I had no doubt Finley had weapons hidden around his office somewhere. Not to mention the not so hidden kind, like a couple of hockey sticks leaning up against the wall and a broken ice skate on his desk.
Was it broken? Maybe people were supposed to think it was, but if they tried to attack him, they'd find out he could use one the same way Coast had.
I eyed it doubtfully, but didn't inch away in spite of my instincts suggesting maybe I should.
This was Elenna, she wasn't going to hurt me.
"Of course not," she said quickly.
I exhaled in relief at her words and how fast she was to say them. There was absolutely no doubt or hesitation. Of course there wasn't. It was only my paranoia suspecting she'd respond in any other way.
Idiot, I told myself.
She went on as though I wasn't sweating like crazy and calling myself names. I knew she noticed, she was way too perceptive to miss me freaking out.
"I know you and Wren better than to think you'd be involved with people like Nicholas, Celine or Sawyer.
You're a good person. You have a big heart and you're loyal to the people you care about.
You'd never do anything to put any of us in harm's way.
Not on purpose anyway." She smiled slightly to show she was teasing.
"Accidents happen," I agreed.
Not if I could help it. If anything happened to her or Wren, it would be accompanied with butt loads of guilt. Even if it only resulted in one of them breaking a nail.
They were like sisters to me, family. Found family. The people you choose to spend time with because you love them, not because you share blood.
I'd rather be with them than anyone I shared a last name with.
Which was saying something, because I was close to my biological family.
There was just something different between the two kinds of bonds.
Something I couldn't explain, but I was grateful for every single day.
Especially on days like this when I hardly knew if I was coming or going.
I could always talk to Elenna and she'd be the voice of reason. I could have come to her with just about anything and she'd hear me out and help me make sense of it.
Wren would do the exact same and I'd do it for both of them. Even though we teased each other, we were always there for each other. I hoped that didn't change. I didn't know what I'd do without them.
I leaned my head back against the wall and closed my eyes. "Let's talk to Aidan and see what he has to say. I'm almost certain he'll tell us we have nothing to worry about."
"And if he doesn't?" Elenna asked.
"Then we'll deal with it," I said. Even if I got my heart broken in the process. Right now, that seemed like all too real a possibility.
"Now I remember why I don't put myself out there." I sighed. "Because shit like this happens. I risk getting my heart stomped on, and shredded into a thousand pieces. Fuck that." Tears prickled at the corners of my eyes.
"This could all be nothing," she reminded me. "Didn't you just say you were sure Aidan was going to tell you there was nothing to what Kylie said?"
"Yeah, I did. It's the doubt that fucks with my brain. If it's not this, it might be something else."
I opened my eyes and looked back at her. "How did you deal with looking over your shoulder, waiting for the Fiorellis to get revenge for Oscar's death?"
"One day at a time," she said. "It wasn't easy, but in the end, trusted my guys," she said.
"I love them and I had to put my faith in them and in myself.
I had to learn how to communicate and not be scared anymore.
And I know, no matter what happens, they would never do anything to hurt me.
You don't think any of them would hurt you, do you?
Because if you do, I will personally deal with them. "
She reminded me of a mother tiger protecting her cubs, or her fellow tigress.
"Knowing you'd have nightmares after doing that, it means a lot," I told her. "You're sweet and I'm lucky to have you." I put my arms around her and gave her a squeeze.
"I'd do anything for you," she said. "Even if it means having nightmares."
"I believe you," I said.
Although, I had a hard time imagining her getting enough of an upper hand on all three of the guys before they disarmed her. I knew better than to think she wouldn't try though.
The thought of them doing anything to her cemented my resolve to speak to Aidan.
This wasn't just about me and the guys, this was about the possibility of Elenna or Wren becoming collateral damage. I wasn't going to let that happen, no matter what I had to do to prevent it. Even if I had to tear out my own heart and put a bullet in the middle of it.
"Let's go and talk to him now." She curled a hand around one of mine. "I have a feeling you won't sleep either until we get this sorted out."
"Probably not," I agreed. I let her pull me from the room, my senses on high alert for anything anyone out of place. Paranoia was alive and well.
I had a feeling it would be for a while.