I slide into his lap, and he makes room for me as I press my fingers against the back of his neck. ‘We need to talk to Kane, but I want to see if you can get a lock on Ricci first.’
“Leo or Marco?”
‘Either. Both.’
He hums, then turns his head to press a swift kiss against my temple. It makes me warm in ways I don’t let myself think about. I settle against him, almost cradled in his big arms, and I watch his hands move over his display. It’s almost like a dance to music I’ll never be able to hear. That little box with the constantly shifting braille dots and the thick pads he presses in patterns I’ve never bothered to learn.
His fingers trail over the words, and his head is cocked to the side because he’s listening.
“Marco’s with Romano now,” he says after a long beat. “I’ve been trying to keep tabs on Leo, but he went off the grid since Rhys was picked up.”
‘Do we have eyes on Aldis and Rhys?’
“Several,” Phoenix says, sitting back and adjusting me more comfortably in his lap. His hand rubs at my still-limp dick, which hardens just a bit for him but not enough to do anything about it. He doesn’t seem to mind. “I don’t know if it’ll last, but Rhys isn’t stable enough to be whisked off just yet, so I think we have about a week before Leo will make his move. He’s a bleeding heart, just like our princess. I don’t think he’ll risk Rhys dying.”
It’s moments like that—when the boys say shit like that—which make me wonder how far I’d have to be pushed before Icould stand there and watch them die. Would I kill them? Yes? Would I sacrifice them?
That’s the bigger question.
Phoenix sighs and turns his chair slightly, gripping my chin with one big hand. His kiss is messy and filthy, and I give everything I have until he sighs against me and knocks our foreheads together. It’s not easy for me to be sweet, but it’s easy for me to allow the sweet moments when they offer them.
“Kane’s coming in.”
I don’t move, even when I hear the door and the light flicks on.
Phoenix laughs and shakes his head as he sits back. “Were you just sitting here in the dark?”
‘I like it,’ I tap out on his neck.
His grin softens, and he kisses me as I listen to Kane’s footsteps cross the room. It’s not long before a big hand lies against the back of my skull, dragging through the shorn edges of my hair. Kane hums his pleasure, watching us, and doesn’t hurry us along.
But it’s business today. I can feel it in the air.
Phoenix breaks the kiss first and turns his attention to Kane. “Thoughts?”
“I wanted yours first,” he says and moves to the chair beside Phoenix’s desk, which is in my eyeline. He sits down, his thighs spread, and I can see his fingers rubbing subconsciously over the sleeve of his new prosthetic. “Both of you.”
Phoenix shrugs as he traces a pattern over my arm. “I think we need to figure out who Leo’s got on his payroll that can break through my security systems. I think we should start bringing people in one by one, until there’s no one left but those three fuckers at the top.”
My mouth waters. That’s a lot of blood. A lot of screaming. I look at Kane, and he laughs when he sees the hungry look in my eyes. “I think our pretty little psycho likes that.”
I shrug and tap on Phoenix’s neck for him to interpret for me, ‘I definitely don’t hate it.’
Kane’s grin widens, but it doesn’t reach his eyes. “We can’t afford that kind of time or distraction. I won’t postpone the wedding, but I don’t want to give those fuckers time to make any kind of real plans.”
I personally don’t think Guido has the brainpower for that kind of thing. He’s weirdly charismatic, and he’s good at finding people smarter than him and terrifying them into doing his bidding. But his position as leader has become precarious over the last year, and it’s going downhill fast.
“So what do you want to do?” Phoenix asks.
“I want to marry Alice, go on our honeymoon, and then I want to bring Marco in. He’s not someone who will be leaving here alive.”
I lick my lips and try not to think about Alice’s torn face when I ask, ‘And Leo?’
Phoenix’s tone reflects my own hesitation, and I can see it mirrored in Kane’s eyes. Leo might not deserve death, but he may not be allowed to live when this is all over. Doing that will ruin any chance of Rhys ever forgiving Kane, though, and it might just shatter something in Alice that the four of us won’t be able to fix.
“Where’s James?” Phoenix asks.
“Alice was sick, so he’s with her.”