“That’d be great. I just have the rental, and I like to avoid driving it.”
“Perfect. I’ll message you and let you know what time.” I kissed her again, flipping my finger up over my shoulder at Sax. I heard him chuckle while Jude mumbled, “Fourth.”
Pulling back, I smiled at Beautiful before turning and narrowing my eyes at Jude. “Don’t forget what we talked about. I’ll look into some things, but you get none of it unless you’ve talked to Loren, got it?”
“Yeah, thanks, Nicco. I do appreciate it.”
“No problem, kid.” I squeezed his shoulder and turned to head in the other direction, happy my apartment was only a few blocks over. I heard Sax’s motorcycle rev back up a second later and wasn’t surprised when I found him waiting for me when I made it to the front of my condo. I’d been thinking about where to start on Jude’s request and knew I’d need Sax to help me.
“What’s going on?” He was leaning against his bike, arms crossed, his glare sharp. Chuckling to myself, I nodded toward my place.
“Might as well come on up. I have to change and grab some things. I’ll fill you in on the way. I could use your help, actually.”
He looked surprised by that, but nodded and followed me in. Once we were in the elevator, he stared at me, some things never changing with the old man.
“What do you know of Jude’s brother?”
“He’s trouble.”
“Seems Jude thinks the same. His brother approached him today, saying he needed help. It smells fishy to me, and I’m glad Jude reached out.”
“You think something else is going on, like Delgado?”
“I wouldn’t be surprised at this point. Darren seems to know more than we do, and he’s confronted her two times.”
“Three,” growled Sax.
Surprised, I turned, anxiety rising in me. “When?”
“Earlier today. He cornered her in the cemetery and had one of his goons try to chloroform her.”
“What the fuck! And I’m just hearing about this now? Why?”
“Calm yourself, little Nic. I had guards on her. Beau stepped in and sent for us. She, um, she asked the question.”
“What question?”
The elevator dinged, and we walked off, heading to my apartment.
“The question.”
Eyes wide, I turned to him and opened the door, waiting until we were behind it to ask more.
“And?”
“And Mas told her some but said he planned to share more at the benefit and asked if she’d wait. Loren, being Loren, agreed. She didn’t…” he trailed off, stunned.
“She didn’t what?”
He looked up, a foreign emotion emitting from his eyes. “She didn’t run away when she knew. She accepted it, she… accepted me.”
I could tell how much it meant to Sax, and there was a massive part of me that sighed in relief as well. “If we were different people, I’d like, I don’t know, hug you right now. But since we aren’t those people, how about a beer and we figure out what Jude’s brother is up to? It definitely seems too coincidental now, that while Delgado was cornering Loren, someone else was hitting up Jude. Smells like a setup.”
“Beer sounds great. I’ll start running some checks while you shower or whatever you need to do to primp for tonight,” he teased.
“Fuck off, Sax. I’ll just be ten minutes. Make yourself comfortable.” He laughed at me as I made my way into my bedroom. I stopped, gripping the doorjamb. “And thanks for telling me. It feels like we’re a unit now, more than just family, and it feels nice to be included and taken seriously. So, um, thanks.”
He nodded, but I saw the corner of his lip tilt up. Loren was showing me a whole new side of myself and my brothers. She was one in a million, and now that she knew the truth and hadn’t run off, I planned to make it known I was never letting her go.
My course had set off in a direction I would hold onto with everything I had, swiping whatever obstacles sprouted out of the way.
Nothing else mattered other than the life I could build with Loren. Nothing.