30
Mercy
The gathering consisted solelyof Ezra, three men from his inner circle, Wylder and his closest associates, Anthea, and me. I had to assume the only reason the head Noble was holding it in his audience room instead of his office was my presence. Apparently I still hadn’t earned enough clout with him to be trusted in that space, which I suspected meant he was also still plotting my doom.
I didn’t let that vague threat dim too much of my enjoyment of the wine and hors d’oeuvres he’d offered up, though. There was a celebratory vibe in the air. Colt was six feet under, along with a substantial number of the Steel Knights. His other lackeys had backed off from the corners they’d previously claimed. And after a week to recover from their wounds, Wylder and Rowan were both on their feet, standing near me.
Ezra held up his wine glass. “To my son, for eliminating the greatest threat we’ve faced in years on his own initiative and with no lives lost on our side. And to a Paradise free from any challenges to our authority!”
“To Mercy too,” Kaige piped up with a rebellious glint in his eyes, “for being the one to put that bastard Colt Bryant in the ground.”
Ezra’s lips thinned slightly, but he still drank with the rest of us. His gaze slid over me, pausing to offer only the palest of smiles.
Yeah, the guy definitely wasn’t ready to exchange friendship bracelets just yet.
Axel brushed past me to the side table, not quite touching me but making my body tense at how close he’d come. I hadn’t forgotten the role he’d played in framing me. The less time I spent in his presence, the better.
“Now that the Steel Knights have been crushed, we have new questions to consider,” Ezra said. “I hope we can all put our minds together. While we rule over all of Paradise Bend, we’ve always managed the areas outside the city proper through our associations with and dominance over the lesser gangs there. The destruction of both the Claws and the Steel Knights will create a power vacuum there.”
Anthea nodded. “Which means we need to keep an eye on who steps in to fill it.”
I kept my mouth carefully shut. The guys and I had decided not to mention the assistance we’d gotten from Jenner and the other former Claws members during the last fight. Knowing there were men loyal to me in the Bend, even if it was only a handful, would only increase any worries Ezra had about me. And understandably, Wylder had also preferred not to mention that we’d have been slaughtered without the sudden arrival of help we couldn’t have counted on.
There were all the smaller gangs that Colt had caught up in his push for power… and the mysterious group we’d never been able to find out any details about. The memory of the strange, silent men standing behind Colt that one time sent a prickle down my spine.
Maybe they’d gone back to wherever they’d come from now that he was gone, and that was that. But I’d have liked to know for sure.
“Exactly,” Ezra said, picking up from Anthea’s remark. “Over the next few days, we’ll reach out to the small bases of power in the Bend and feel out what their intentions are and how much loyalty we can count on from them. We may need to dole out some… consequences to those who aligned themselves with Bryant. But the greatest challenge is behind us.”
His men drew closer to him, and they fell into a quieter conversation between sips of their wine. I watched them from the corner of my eye, wishing I could step close enough to listen in without Ezra taking me for a spy.
A hand squeezed my shoulder—gently, still careful of the gunshot wound that now barely twinged even during my push-ups. I looked up to see Kaige beaming down at me. “What are you thinking?” he asked. “You shouldn’t look so serious right now.”
I tucked a strand of hair behind my ear. “Oh, it’s nothing much,” I said, and then decided to just be honest. Kaige would understand. “I can’t shake the feeling that I’m missing something.”
“Maybe you’re missing six-foot three inches of pure muscle,” he said, pointing a thumb at himself.
I laughed and swatted at him with my hand. When his eyes heated, I immediately found myself thinking back to the last time his cock had been inside me.
On the other side of the room, Wylder was watching us. When I swallowed, I could still feel his cock filling my mouth. We’d definitely have to do that again sometime.
“But really, what is it?” Kaige prodded.
“What is what?” Gideon asked. He’d ambled over to us, nibbling on a crab cake.
“Nothing specific,” I said. “You still haven’t turned up anything about where Colt was getting the drugs, have you?”
Gideon shook his head. “Unfortunately, no. And there’s no sign of his mysterious associates either. They seem to have disappeared off the face of the Earth.”
“That’s good, right?” Kaige said.
I frowned. “I’d like to think it is, but nothing about this has been that simple before.”
“It’s possible they wanted something from him and he was unable to deliver,” Gideon said. “I wouldn’t let it worry you.”
He was right. We were supposed to be celebrating. I shook off my uneasiness as well as I could. It was second nature after all those years under Dad’s thumb, but he was gone too. I could make a fresh start for real now.
Anthea walked up to us carrying a plate full of pastries, and we each took one. As the sweetness exploded in my mouth, my worries seemed even farther away.