6 #3
“Of course not,” she snapped, already on her phone though, but then it was gone, in Wyatt’s hand.
“She was looking up the value,” I told him quietly. “She will never do anything to hurt me. Never.”
Wyatt froze in what he was probably going to say next, noting the way Taylor had already moved in front of Tracey and then slowly brought her phone up to his face so he could see it. He let out a slow breath and then showed it to me so I knew too.
I smiled at him. “I knew. I always know when it’s her.”
His eyes flashed shock. “You’re amazing.
” He nodded when all of us were surprised.
“I still can’t trust anyone the way you trust her after everything they did to me and you went through so much worse, Bev.
Honestly, please see how amazing you are.
I have had close friends for years and years like you have had Tracey and I still would never trust them as much as you trust her. ”
Tracey accepted her phone back when he offered it, understanding that explanation was for her too. “I’m not mad, and I’m glad you’ll always protect her.” She cleared her throat. “Especially when you and I have had issues.” Then she glanced at Taylor. “Thank you, handsome.”
He gave a slight nod and backed off, mumbling we needed to focus back on the damn diamonds.
“Yes, because Bevin just gave you millions of dollars in rare red diamonds, assuming they’re real, which I would guess they are,” she muttered and then rubbed her forehead.
“Okay, so skipping how you got them, and I would assume from the gods somehow given you can’t tell us anything, that leaves us with one question. ”
Why?
Taylor put the diamonds away and then grabbed the main sack from Tracey before squatting down and opening the other five sacks inside to reveal more gems. Each time he swore, put them back, set them on the ground, and opened a new one.
Then he seemed to think for a bit and then stared up at me in awe.
“I didn’t do it,” I muttered, looking really uncomfortable.
“What can you tell me?” he whispered, seeming like he was trying to process too much with missing pieces.
I shared a look with Wyatt, and he looked as frustrated as I was, but then he nodded, which I took as the signal to trust myself.
“I don’t have an answer, only an impression and sort of an idea of what I think I’m piecing together.
” I waited until he nodded, squatting down so I was eye level with him.
“It’s a reward and a test.” I studied him. “What have you been wanting, Taylor?”
He closed his eyes and plopped down on his butt, shocking all of us.
Then the normally completely composed man lowered his head and scrubbed his hair so hard Tracey moved closer.
“The overhead is getting rough. Recruiting and getting people trained takes time.
Building safe housing. Paying them so they can help their families.
“We’re fighting a war now, and that comes with targets.
I don’t want my people to become the Roses.
” He winced and shot me an apologetic look, but then something more filled his eyes.
“I looked into what Winter told me and it’s bad.
Really bad.” He swallowed loudly. “To go into that battle, I don’t have the money to hire them and… ”
“And I bet you know a guy who can quietly sell all of that, but the test is what you’ll do with that money and if you’ll really help the people,” Wyatt muttered.
He shrugged when we looked at him. “He’s been helping people all over the place.
Literally. Protects them.” He gestured to all the sacks.
“His reward. He’s not hurting his bank accounts anymore. ”
“The test is if he keeps doing it,” Tracey agreed before looking at me. “Just like you. You keep getting more powerful and more help and more money because of all you’re doing.” She looked at the other sack. “Who is that for?”
“Nina.”
“I’m so fucking curious,” she whispered, waving me off when I opened my mouth. “I know, I know, I would never.” She rubbed Taylor’s back. “What are you going to do?”
“Lots,” he admitted, letting out a shaky breath. “If you are sure this is the direction you both want and you seriously won’t cancel the contract on me, then I can hire all the orphans Winter was talking about and get more housing in place without just asking my parents to foot the bill.”
“I can make more money,” I mumbled.
“You have enough going on,” Tracey reminded me.
“Yeah, well, charge the council more instead of giving Taylor an ulcer for giving us discounts,” I countered.
“I think he’s more in shock that the gods answered his prayers,” Wyatt muttered under his breath.
It was hard not to laugh when Taylor pointed at him like he had hit the nail on the head.
Okay then, glad Taylor wasn’t like broke because he’d taken a contract with us at least. And now he could hire more people and help keep witches and warlocks from being trapped by top-tier families.
So even if it was confusing and frustrating, I was still counting it as a win… Right?