Lincoln Gates
“Shit, I’m exhausted,” my brother admitted, running a hand down his face as we sat in the private airport terminal, the jet in the process of being readied for us.
I grunted in agreement, Dahlia making a soft noise against my neck as I pulled my jacket more securely around her. She’d fallen asleep on me in the car and I hadn’t bothered to wake her, just deciding instead to carry her in here. Her tight little frame against me, though, wasn’t doing anything to help my state of being perpetually turned on around her, plus now I was exhausted. How much sleep had we even managed to get?
Not enough, clearly.
“Once we get on the plane, I’m crashing for a few hours,” I told him.
King, who came to join us, handed a coffee to Sterling. I hadn’t even bothered with that shit; right now, I would take any excuse to go back to bed, and not having coffee was perfect for that. Dahlia murmured something against my neck as I brushed my lips against her forehead, loving the way she was melted against me.
I wouldn’t lie, there was a small part of me that had worried about how things would change once we actually enacted this plan. I worried that her being with one of us would change the dynamic with the others, but I was finding it was the opposite. Instead of backing away from physicality with others, it was almost as if she’d given herself the freedom to act how she had always wanted to. I loved that. I loved that there was no sense of hesitancy when it came to us anymore, not that there had been a ton to begin with.
As I watched Stratton cross the airport next to Dermot, the two of them holding bags from the main terminals, I wondered how it was that Stratton hadn’t insisted on Dahlia eating way more since the other night. I know we hadn’t talked about it yet, but it was fairly easy to piece together the change in her weight and eating habits along with the timing of the bullying. It infuriated me that Abby could fuck with her head that much, and it killed me that Dahlia could ever doubt how fucking gorgeous she was. But I would do my best to reinforce the latter sentiment, even if I had to remind her every single fucking day for the rest of our lives.
“Ms. Lori’s friend just arrived,” Yates offered, removing the headphones he was using to talk to security back at Wildberry. The security team that was in a lot more shit than they even realized.
Although, to be fair, the man that had attacked Dahlia wasn’t anyone they had ever met. He had somehow gotten a hold of a uniform and slipped in, but he’d never been vetted or put on security detail, so the most we could be pissed about was them letting someone into Wildberry that didn’t belong.
Which was the exact fucking opposite of their job description.
It didn’t change the fact that I was jealous Yates had been the one to fucking kill that asshole. I winced slightly, thinking about Dahlia’s reaction on the security cameras. The way she paled, pure shock the only stark expression on her beautiful face. I knew that she had compartmentalized the incident, but I had no doubt it would affect her in time.
I also knew that it was probably better that she had seen that before we arrived in Ardara. King, of course, disagreed, as did my brother and Stratton, but I think they were all forgetting about how violent the interactions got when we were there. How we wouldn’t be able to just hold back if someone was disrespecting everything the Rosses had built, even if Dahlia was in the room. Plus, I had to side with Yates on this one—I think she was strong enough to handle it.
Fuck. I hoped she was, because there was no backing away from this now, and I think that reality freaked King out, which is why he was still trying to fight it. Dahlia had been in a perfectly constructed bubble for so long, and while I preferred that bubble, I also knew that it was delicate. The only way to ensure that she was safe was to surround her with fortified goddamn steel. For that to happen, it would have to be forged with blood, and people would have to die. It was a pretty straightforward fact.
“It feels fucked up that I left,” Stratton grunted, upset about leaving his grandmother.
“First of all, I’m pretty sure she insisted you go,” I pointed out, recalling the conversation this morning when I had gone with him to his house to grab some shit.
“That’s because of Dahlia,” he grunted.
“Something about worrying that if you didn’t go, she wouldn’t get great-grandbabies, right?” Sterling chuckled.
“So don’t worry about it.” I tightened my arms around her. “Ms. Lori doesn’t want you to put your entire life on hold for her, Stratton, I know that for a fucking fact. Taking one trip out of town is perfectly okay.”
Stratton looked like he was on the verge of arguing before his gaze darted down to Dahlia and he offered a nod, running a hand through his hair in stress. I was glad the bastard was back, but I was still pissed at him for not telling us what was going on with his family’s business and financial situation.
Something we were looking into, because it just didn’t ring true to me that he had nothing left. I am positive he believed that, but I also remembered how Mr. Lee was with money, and I found it hard to believe that he didn’t have a separate offshore account. The Lees were older money than we were, so while I fully believed that he had fucked up the family business, I didn’t believe there was nothing left. Stratton would probably be pissed when he realized we were digging up the past, but he could deal with it. We would do the same for any one of us, so he would need to adjust.
“Just have security keep me updated,” Stratton told Yates.
“Will do,” he confirmed. “Honestly, I am looking into new companies as it is, but they are good until we get back. Plus, I know you’re worried about the retaliation from those Denim Moth fuckers.”
Dermot let out a low sound and shook his head, making me nearly smile, something I hid against Dahlia’s silky hair. I knew Dermot losing his shit shouldn’t have been funny because Dahlia in danger is definitely not humorous, but watching King try to calm down his cousin? That had to have been amusing.
“You’re not fighting anymore, right?” King asked.
“Nah,” he admitted and then looked at Dahlia. “I don’t want her involved in that shit, and no matter how much I tell her no, she will still probably show up.”
“Stubborn,” Yates muttered as I smiled, because that was accurate. Dahlia was pretty easygoing until it was something that mattered to her, and then the woman was one hundred percent focused. Extremely stubborn and determined.
Personally, it was one of my favorite qualities about her.
“I just need to figure out what I’m going to do,” Stratton admitted, more to himself, looking out the private terminal window in thought. King leaned forward, looking like he wanted to say something, but then stopped. I already knew what he wanted to say, and I agreed it wasn’t the time.
I had absolutely no doubt that King wanted him to help with the Ross family shit. He was already involved to an extent, but the issue was that Stratton had a lot more moral lines than the rest of us did. He also was stubborn as hell, and the bastard probably wanted to figure out a way to fix his family’s reputation and company on a matter of principle.