Ready or not.
“Motherfuckers,” Maverick hisses as he slams a fist on the table.
“Keep your fucking voice down. Do you have any idea how long it took for her to fall asleep?” Linc glares at him, that commanding tone of his biting. It’s rare that we bicker between us, but when we do, it’s usually because of her.
She has always been our weak spot.
“So what do we do?” I ask, looking to the brothers.
Lincoln always has a plan. He runs his hand through his dark hair and sighs. “I don’t know. She won’t leave, that much is obvious. Even after this, I don’t know that we could drag her away with a herd of wild horses, so we need a new plan.”
“I’ve been saying that for weeks,” East grumbles as he gets up and walks back to the doorway to check on her. I turn my attention back to Lincoln, who glares at his brother.
The resentment that East is still here when he could’ve escaped is real, and while I have my own suspicions about the whole situation, I keep my mouth shut. They have their issues, but the bond between them is ironclad.
“As I was saying, we need a new plan of attack. She won’t leave, and what we’ve been doing isn’t working.”
I lean back in the chair, watching him closely. “So what do you propose?”
A scream cuts through the air and I move without even thinking. My heart pounds in my chest until my eyes are on her. Tears stream down her face as she claws at her throat. I stride across the room, and lift her from the couch. I sit, placing her on my lap and hold her so she can’t hurt herself anymore than she already has. “You’re safe, V. I got you.”
I murmur the same phrase to her until she calms, rocking her softly until she falls asleep again. The others are all standing around the room, just watching us.
I have zero doubt in my mind that any chance of us giving her up, of getting her out, went out the window when Raleigh attacked her.
That means we need to do the opposite of what we were doing.
“We need to keep her close. It’s the only way to protect her now.” My words aren’t meant for anyone in particular, but Lincoln nods.
“He’s right. We tried pushing her away, but the only way to keep her safe now is to keep her as close to us as possible.”
East runs a hand through his hair and pulls his phone from his pocket. “I’m going to call Smithy. He needs to know what’s happened.” He leaves the room and I hold my breath as V shifts in my lap, clinging to me even in her sleep.
I’m not surprised Smithy has some clue of what’s going on. You don’t work for the Royals and not know about the Knights—they go hand-in-hand. The downside of being involved with a legacy—something I know all too much about. I’m not sure how much he knows about the finer details though.
As if reading my mind, Linc speaks up. “He can help us keep her safe. We just need to bring him into the fold.”
Mav shifts from foot to foot before crossing his arms over his chest. “This stuff isn’t my strong suit. You point me in a direction and I’ll make people bleed—to get them out of the way, or to keep her safe. I’m not the guy with the plan, but I’ll do what needs to be done to keep her.”
He doesn’t give himself enough credit, but I nod anyway and Lincoln does the same.
“Now all we have to do is convince her that this is either the right plan of attack or the only option.” I sigh.
Lincoln barks out a dry laugh before leveling me with a scowl. “Yeah, because she’s not going to be stubborn about that at all.”
“Can you blame her? Especially after these last few months. We just have to be more stubborn than she is. She’ll come around eventually.”
“If you say so,” he murmurs, eyes fixed back on the girl in my arms. The girl we’ve all been in love with our entire lives. “You make it sound so easy.”
I lean back, shifting to cover her with the blanket again. “Nothing has ever been easy when it comes to her.”
He huffs and drops down into the armchair across from the couch. “Maybe, but I’d do it all over again if I thought it would save her.”