84. Deacon
Chapter 84
Deacon
LAST SEPTEMBER
Lena looks so fucking small in that hospital bed. Dinah swears it’s not Finn O’Leary’s fault. But that doesn’t mean I trust him, yet.
But at least, here at her bedside, the ancestors I’m familiar with leave me alone. They’re respectful enough to let me focus on my little sister.
Lena stirs and rolls to face me. She’s not all there. The painkillers they’re giving her to keep her wolf under are leaving her in a hazy state. It’s been two days, and while Dinah says not to worry too much, I’m not sold on giving up my fear for her life.
Dinah’s been wrong. Ansel says things change.
She extends her hand out to me, flopping it over, and I place mine in hers. Lena tries to squeeze, but her fingers barely curl before she’s out again.
Cade comes back from outside and sits in the other chair on the opposite side of the room. He scrubs his hand back through his hair and shakes his head. “Thoughts on Finn?”
Tell him the truth, my wolf demands.
I don’t. I lie through my teeth. “I think he loves her, and that’s all that matters.”
My brother may own equal shares in a security company, and they may be excellent at what they do, mostly. But I’m doing digging of my own before I give any final judgments on Finn O’Leary O’Brien.
The underworld of society is a dark and scary place, but anyone who can learn to thrive in it has a past and a history. I need to know if the shadow is as untouchable as I think he is.
“Fair enough,” Cade concedes. “If you want to go, I’ll stay.”
But Lena wanted to hold my hand, so I’ll stay until it’s unbearable. More than unbearable. As always, I’m staying for her.
I motion to where Lena and I are connected, hand in hand, and Cade understands. He goes back to looking at his phone.
He’s working. He’s always working. And I can’t blame him for it. Shit’s always been on his shoulders. He doesn’t have to be in this alone. Finn is Lena’s mate. He’s an ex-Enforcer for the Irish mob. If Finn can’t help keep Cade’s life together, then I’ll sober up. But the two of them have a lot in common, and you don’t have to like your boss to do a good job.
Thirty minutes pass before Cade whispers, “Thoughts on Henri?”
Hearing her name brings a quickness to the beating of my heart. I force myself to keep my tone indifferent. “What about her?”
“She’s a one-woman army, but I can’t get a read on her. She’s inconsistent. Hyper professional sometimes, and yet a little bit...” Cade searches for a word, pulling his eyes off his phone. “Softer others.”
I think back to what she said at the wedding about her fear of hiring staff. ‘What if they find out I don’t know as much as they do?’ Secrets are meant to be kept .
“She’s young, and let’s be real, putting up with your ass every day and the mood swings? Hardly fair. We can’t all be Thalia, whose biggest personality flaw is getting hangry.”
Cade raises an eyebrow at me.
It wasn’t the most polite observation.
“What I’m saying is, you ask a lot of her. She’s bound to get overwhelmed.” I draw a breath.
“I’ve off—” Cade tries to cut in.
“Offered to let her hire her staff.” I keep talking over him. “I get it. But Henri is young. Has she ever had to hire someone before? You’re doing that thing you do when you expect everyone to have the same life skills as you. I’m just saying. Maybe help her form a team rather than offer her the world.”
Cade waits to be sure I’m done before he speaks. “You’re right. I’ve got to find a way to make her life easier, not harder. And asking her to take a break from what she’s doing to duplicate herself isn’t realistic.”
“See, and everyone thinks you’re just a pretty face.” I laugh thinking about the engagement announcement on social media, where the comments section was hundreds of women devastated by the fact that Cade Alden is off the market.
He runs his hand back through his hair. “Fuck, had that conversation with Thalia this morning. I thought when I got married, we’d see less crazed women trying to throw themselves at me.”
“I know, you’d think her name written on your forearm would be enough for people to get it.” I laugh almost too loudly.
Lena groans.
Cade covers his mouth and tries not to let a sound escape as he laughs. When he has control of himself, he replies, “If only.”
“But seriously, don’t try to get Henri to take herself away from the shit she’s already doing to try and figure out how to hire and form a team. Especially since her boss is literally a tactical team lead, who has built how many teams?” I growl, but Lena’s groan reminds me that she’s there, between us, and vulnerable.
“Too many to count.” Cade nods. “You know, when I can pin you down, you’re a great Second.”
“Thanks,” I answer, not knowing what else to say.
“Oh, look, one of you’s lying around. Get up, lazy bones, we’ve got work to do,” a man I don’t recognize calls from the doorway.
He’s dressed in a very stereotypical 1980s power suit. I look to Cade to see if he’s reacted to the intrusion.
None the wiser, I try to ignore him and go back to looking at Lena’s hand in mine.
She murmurs in her sleep and slowly wakes. “Hey.”
I can tell she’s not all there, the drugs holding on to her brain. She’s in a fog, and she won’t remember, but I take the opportunity to comfort her anyway. “Hey. You’re doing great. How are you feeling?”
Lena blinks and then squints at me. “I’m fine.”
She pulls her hand from me and shuffles in bed. She hisses in pain before drawing a few deep breaths.
“I love you,” she whispers.
“I know, Lena. It’s okay. Get lots of rest, okay?” I curl my fingers, flexing them from their fatigued state.
“Okay,” she grumbles.
It takes a few minutes, but then the deep breathing of sleep returns .
This is the longest Cade and I have spent in the same room in a long time. I haven’t been keeping tabs on his office as well as I normally do, but I’ve been distracted. Henri, Thalia, Lena. It’s one after another, and well, it’s a job I don’t mind, but it doesn’t make it less time consuming.