“What are we going to do with that?” I asked as we stepped into his office, tipping my head to the box he was still clutching.
He considered it. “I don’t think we want it on our property, even if it’s practically unidentifiable. You go for morning runs pretty often. Suit up when it’s not too early, and chuck the phone in one of the trash cans farther down the street when you’re well out of view of the house.”
I glanced at the window. Just the faintest hint of light was touching the sky. “I could probably get away with going in a half hour or so.”
“Perfect.” He dropped into his chair and rubbed his forehead. His face looked unusually drawn, and I didn’t think it was just fatigue.
“Are you okay?” I asked.
“I can’t believe Dad would pull something like this on Mercy—and without even telling me. No, that’s not even right. I can, and it pisses me off that I didn’t see it coming soon enough. It pisses me off that he’s such a piece of shit to begin with.” He sighed. “And this won’t end it. He isn’t going to stop until he’s gotten what he wants.”
Which was Mercy gone.
“We’ll think about that when we get there. At least she’s safe for now.” I paused. I must have been amped up from the precarious mission we’d just completed, because then I dared to say, “One of these days you’re going to have to admit that she’s tough enough to stand her ground.”
Wylder raised his eyes. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Oh, come on. I may not have Gideon’s brains, but the tension between you two is obvious. You’re crazy about her, aren’t you?”
I wasn’t going to tell him Mercy had outright admitted they’d had sex. He wouldn’t have let himself go that far unless either he hadn’t cared about her at all, which obviously wasn’t true… or he was so caught up in her he hadn’t been able to help himself.
He frowned. “Maybe you’re talking about yourself.”
I raised my hands. “Hey, I won’t deny it. She’s fucking amazing. Hell yeah, I’m crazy about her.” I hesitated. “Is that going to be a problem?”
There was a pause before he spoke again. “No,” he said. “Why would it? Mercy doesn’t owe me anything.”
“That’s not what I’m asking. We’re both into her. If she’s going to pursue something with both of us—”
“No need to worry about that. I’m sure she hates me by now.”
Having seen the way they’d interacted over the past week, I wasn’t so sure about that. “I think she’s just pissed off at the way you’re treating her. Because you are being an ass. I get why you’re pushing her away, but she’s nothing like Laurel. She knows what she’s gotten into. She’s tough enough to face it.”
“It doesn’t matter,” Wylder snapped. “The story always ends the same way. Isn’t today proof of that? Dad will keep coming after her.”
“And what good does constantly going off on her do when she’s proven she isn’t leaving no matter what you say? You’re just putting yourself in a position where she won’t even come to you for help if she realizes she needs it.”
Wylder was silent for a long moment. He didn’t appear to have an argument for that. Lowering his head, he pinched the bridge of his nose as if he had a headache. Then he said, quietly, “She protected me, you know. In the warehouse. A guy was coming at me, and she jumped in the way and started fighting him off. That’s how she got shot. I’ve been a total asshole to her, and she still risked her life for mine.”
“She cares about you, you dumbass.” If he’d been anyone else, I might have smacked him across the head to drive the point home. “She’s obviously seen enough of the not-so-asshole parts of you to think your life is worth something. Give her a chance.”
“It has been harder keeping my distance after that.” He sighed and glanced up at me, his eyes narrowing. “Wouldn’t you mind if I went after her?”
I shrugged. “She told me straight to my face that she isn’t currently a one-guy kind of girl. If she’s playing the field, I’d rather she stuck to people I actually respect. And there aren’t a whole lot of those.”
Something strange crossed Wylder’s face. Then he motioned to the door. “You’d better get ready for your run. We don’t want that phone on any of us for any longer than necessary.”
I didn’t feel like the conversation was exactly done, but I wasn’t going to push him any more than I already had. I wasn’t that much of an idiot.
I tucked the phone-blob into the pocket of my sweatpants before I set off, and found a bin near the front of one of the properties at the end of the block. No one else was around that early. With a flick of my wrist, I sent it sailing into a half-open garbage bag.
Mission accomplished. There was nothing left to do but wait.
After breakfast, we purposefully decided to hang out in the sitting room that had a window overlooking the front drive and a doorway that opened to the foyer. Around ten, Jasper showed up. As one of Ezra’s men ushered him to meet the boss, he glanced around with a displeased expression. One look at his porky face and those lips he must have tried to plant on Mercy made me want to kick his ass right back out the door, but I stayed where I was.
It was only a few minutes later that Jasper marched back to the front door, this time in a real huff. Whatever had happened in there had pissed him off.
As the head of the Demon’s Wings drove off, Ezra emerged into the foyer, his face tight and his eyes so dark a shiver ran down my spine. When he sauntered over to our room, we acted busy with our phones, only looking up when he stopped in the doorway.
“Everything all right, Dad?” Wylder asked evenly, a picture of innocence.
Ezra smiled thinly. “I’m determining that.” He scanned the room, his gaze lingering on each of us in turn, and I knew he was wondering about us. We were the only guys in the house who’d shown Mercy any support so far, after all. Of course he’d suspect us.
But if he had no proof we’d been involved, he couldn’t do anything about it… right?