“Dad,” Wylder said, his jaw clenching. “She’s the one who took down Colt in the end. She was instrumental in our plans every step of the way.”
“Do you think I haven’t considered that?” Ezra said sharply. He pointed at me. “I’m not being unreasonable. I won’t bargain with a terrorist, so I have no intention of handing you over to him. But you can’t expect me to harbor you and offer my protection any longer. Consider all ties between us severed. I want you out of the mansion within the hour.”
My heart lurched. Shit. I should have seen this coming.
“It isn’t just me he’s after,” I had to say. “His message was mostly aimed at you. I don’t think me leaving will actually solve your problems. And I’ve been nothing but loyal to the Nobles the entire time I’ve been here.”
“She’s right,” Kaige jumped in. He pushed forward and might have barged right in front of me if Rowan hadn’t grabbed his arm. “You can’t just throw Mercy away after everything she’s done for us. She could be the key to taking this bastard down.”
“When she may be the entire reason he’s set his sights on us in the first place, that’s hardly reassuring,” Ezra said in an acidic tone. “And loyalty means very little when it comes with so much chaos. We hadn’t had any problems with Bryant until you turned up here, and now yet another menace has come at his heels. I can’t consider that a coincidence.”
“Dad,” Wylder started, his voice rough. I knew how hard he was trying not to show that I mattered to him for any reason other than business—because the last time he’d cared about a girl for other reasons, his father had murdered her in front of him—but it was obviously taking all of his self-control to hold back.
Ezra didn’t even let him get out his protest. “I’ve made my decision. It’s not open for negotiation. Miss Katz, go pack whatever things you have here and be out the front door before noon—that’s an order.”
“This is ridiculous!” Kaige said. “Mercy’s one of us now.”
Wylder’s hands balled at his side. I could sense the tension in him pulling tight like a bow about to let loose an arrow. How much would he damage his own standing with his father if he spoke up too much for me?
I pushed myself to my feet even though my insides felt like lead. I didn’t know where I was going to go or who I’d be able to turn to outside these walls, but I couldn’t stand here and watch the Nobles tear into each other when they needed to be focused on the problem that threatened us all.
Ezra wasn’t going to change his mind. As touching as it was to hear the guys speaking up for me, I knew that. What happened to me didn’t really matter as long as this psycho didn’t lay claim to the streets where I’d grown up.
“Fine,” I said, the single syllable making my stomach turn. “Fine, I’ll leave.”