Chapter Two

9 months later…July 2023

“Here goes nothing.”

Muttering, Ice stabbed a finger at the doorbell of his best friend’s house and glanced at the seven-month-old chocolate lab at his feet. He’d rescued Grit when he was ten weeks old from a bomb site last March and that had been the best decision he’d ever made.

Hunter opened the door a few moments later with a huge smile on his face and ruffled the dog’s ears.

“Hello, Grit,” Hunter cooed.

Ice smiled at the lovey-dovey tone of voice.

“Hey, I haven’t seen you in a few weeks,” Hunter said, placing Grit on the floor.

“It’s been nuts.” Ice returned Hunter’s quick hug and stepped into the warm house. It was spring in the sunny state of California, but still damned chilly if you asked him.

Grit tore down the slick entryway like a Tasmanian devil.

“Yeah,” Hunter said and then called over his shoulder. “Babe? Ice and Grit are here.”

“Bring them in here,” Seven’s voice floated from the kitchen.

Shucking off his jacket, Ice hung it by the door and then took off his boots. Hunter waited for him and he followed the man into the bright, homey kitchen where Grit was already sitting at Seven’s feet, waiting for treats. Having smelled steak, the dog was all over that.

“Not yet, boy,” Seven told the dog and then glanced up from the meat he was seasoning. “Hey, man.”

Ice leaned on the large kitchen island-style counter. “Come here, Grit.” The pup tipped his head after hearing his name, but nope, he was galloping to the back glass doors.

Hunter opened the slider door and Grit launched outside. “He’s huge.”

“More muscle. We’ve been training, but as you can see, he’s got a wild streak,” Ice chuckled.

“He’s still young,” Hunter agreed, taking a seat at the counter.

“Got KP duty, eh?” Ice teased Seven.

“When we’re both home, we take turns,” his best friend said, throwing a smile in Hunter’s direction.

Ice glanced around the wide kitchen and then toward the patio doors and the pool beyond.

“Where’s Josh?”

“At a friend’s house.”

“Is he excited about college?” Ice asked Seven.

“No.”

“Why?”

The man grimaced. “He wants to join the Navy.”

“No shit?” Ice raised his eyebrows.

“No shit,” Hunter echoed.

Joshua was Seven’s eighteen-year-old brother who lived with them full time and had just graduated high school.

In Ice’s opinion, that was way too fucking young to go into the military, but he also knew that young adults needed to find their own way.

Ice rolled over in the bed of the spare room at Seven and Hunter’s place, and Grit was up and off the bed in seconds. At the door, the dog nudged at the slightly cracked door until it fully opened and trotted out like he owned the place.

“Could shut the door after yourself,” Ice yelled after the ungrateful mutt and swung his legs over the side of the bed to sit up. He rubbed at his face and tied his hair back.

He’d given his notice on his apartment and put all his stuff in storage before coming there. The shocked look on Seven and Hunter’s faces when he’d told them had Ice laughing.

“I have a plan,” he had said, but in hindsight, he might have jumped the gun. He just didn’t want any ties to anything right then. “I’ll just motel it when I need to.”

“Absolutely not,” Hunter had said firmly. “You and Grit will stay in our spare bedroom.”

“Thank you.”

Ice had stayed quiet while they ate with Hunter doing most of the talking. Hunter was a former Erebus assassin and one of the reasons Ice was there, but he’d save that conversation for the right time. Seven currently took the odd Erebus job now and then, but wasn’t officially working for them. Hunter had told him before that he’d never go back to that way of life.

He got it.

Ice figured if he had a family, he wouldn’t want that either. He checked his phone and rolled from the bed to shut the door. After a quick shower, he pulled on jeans and a long-sleeved white Henley, and barefoot, he walked down the hallway and stood at the kitchen door.

“Hey, Ice.” Joshua, sitting at the long granite kitchen island, looked up from his plate of food.

Grit was positioned right next to Joshua’s chair waiting for any crumbs to drop.

“Hi, kiddo.” Ice dumped a serving of the puppy food into Grit’s bowl before placing it on the kitchen floor. Grit ate as if it were his last meal.

“Do you know Gage’s brother, Travis?” Joshua pointed his fork at a good-looking boy sitting on a stool across from Joshua at the kitchen bar. The pair looked to be roughly the same age.

“No, we haven’t met,” Ice said, giving the other teenager a nod. Stepping around Grit, Ice made his way to the coffee pot that contained freshly brewed coffee and poured himself a cup.

“Where’s your brother?” he asked, lifting the cup to take a slow sip.

“They’re out back on the patio,” Joshua said, glancing toward the backyard.

Travis took that moment to stab his fork into Joshua’s sausage and take it from the boy’s plate. Joshua squinted and Travis smirked as he stuffed the whole thing into his mouth.

“That’s going to cost you,” Joshua said.

Travis snorted and smiled around the bite. “Bring it.”

It was all Ice could do not to laugh. The two teenagers sounded like a grown-up version of Hunter and Seven. He pulled the patio door open, stepped through, and closed it before making his way over to the two men sitting at the round glass table.

“So…” Ice said and gestured to the kitchen. “Since when has Josh and Gage’s brother, Travis, been hanging out?”

“Oh, they met several months ago when Gage stopped by to help Hunter move in here. They’ve been inseparable, right?” Seven looked at Hunter for clarification.

“I don’t keep tabs on teenagers,” Hunter snickered.

Seven snorted. “Anyway, they’re best friends.”

Ice laughed. “Mhmm.”

“What?” Hunter asked with his coffee mug poised at his lips.

“There’s more than friendship there,” Ice told them.

Seven grinned at him. “You seeing romance everywhere? You feeling lonely, big guy?”

“Fuuuck you.” Ice laughed and swallowed some coffee from his mug.

“Want me to arrange a blind date?” Hunter added with a teasing light in his eyes.

“Nope.” Ice popped the P sound and gave a smug smile.

Hunter’s mouth gaped and his eyes opened wide. “You found somebody! What? Who? When?” The man fired off questions.

“None ya,” Ice teased and then sobered. “Hunter, I need a favor.”

“Oh?”

“I need you to get me back into Erebus.”

Hunter stared at him. “You had wanted out.”

“I did, but now I want back in.”

“Why not call Dave?”

Ice shrugged and sipped at his cooling coffee. He gazed out over the swimming pool.

“Did you call Stone?” Hunter asked.

“No.” Ice glanced away.

“Why? You two go way back.”

“How far back?” Seven asked, squinting at him when he didn’t answer.

“Years…” Ice tossed Hunter a quick searching glance before returning to Seven. “I thought Hunter would have told you by now.”

“He did,” Seven said. “I just wonder why you didn’t tell me that you knew of Erebus and Hunter.”

“I couldn’t. I’m sorry.”

“All of you guys sure played it cool. I would have never guessed that any of you knew each other. You acted like you were strangers. Sometimes, you acted like you’d only just met,” Seven told Ice.

“I’m sorry,” Ice said again, dipping his head.

“Babe…” Hunter lifted Seven’s hand and linked their fingers. “It’s my fault. I kept things from you. It’s just that Erebus is not something that any of us sit around openly talking about. I don’t keep anything from you now… but back then…I couldn’t tell you,” Hunter said.

Seven lifted his hand to his lips. “You told me when it mattered.” The big man smiled and squeezed Hunter’s fingers before returning to Ice. “And you. You don’t need to hide shit from me, got it?”

“I got it.” Ice released the breath he was holding when Seven smirked. No way in hell did he want this shit to come between Seven and Hunter. The secrecy around Erebus was necessary. Very few people outside of Erebus knew that he’d previously been a member. In fact, anything in their dark underworld was not casually discussed. And when Erebus members met in public, they deliberately kept their distance from one another. That way, if shit went down, only those who were caught or fucked up would be eliminated.

“So, you don’t want to join Pegasus?” Seven asked Ice, keeping Hunter’s hand locked with his.

“No.”

“Okay,” Hunter picked back their previous thread. “Then why do you want back in?”

“I want to do the odd job here and there, nothing permanent,” he said.

“Bullshit.”

The curtly spoken word snapped Ice’s eyes to Hunter.

“Tell me why,” Hunter said with a hint of steel in his voice.

Ice rubbed a hand over his face. “I’m looking for someone who works inside the network. I no longer have access to search hit locations.”

“So, you want to do what? Find this person and then quit?” Hunter frowned.

“No. If I go back, I’ll have to stay,” Ice said with a nod. He understood what he was getting into.

“Yeah, you will,” Hunter said harshly.

“Why would he?” Seven cut in. “I do odd jobs and I can quit anytime I want.”

“Because you are with me,” Hunter said flatly, holding Seven’s gaze.

Ice got it. Hunter was special to Erebus. If anything happened to Solomon, who was the current leader of Erebus, then Dave’s hope would be to bring back Jaxon West or Hunter in to lead again. Ice could have told Dave that he was wasting his time on those two men. They were happily together with their significant others and had no intention of returning to that way of life.

Ice was surprised that Hunter allowed Seven to do the occasional hit job. But then again, Ice knew his best friend—nobody controlled Seven.

Hunter continued looking at Seven and the two men seemed to be having a silent conversation in their heads. Finally, Hunter nodded.

“It shouldn’t be hard to get you back in. You’ll need to prove yourself to Solomon, though.”

“Understandable.”

“What about Grit?”

“He’s old enough to go where I go,” Ice said, holding Hunter’s gaze.

“Give me a few days,” Hunter finally said. “I’ll make a call.”

Ice gripped Hunter’s shoulder. “Thanks, man.”

“We owe you,” Hunter said.

Hunter was speaking about Joshua. Ice had done what any human with morals would have done and rescued Seven’s younger brother from a dangerous situation. They didn’t owe him a damned thing because he knew if push came to shove, they’d be there for him in a heartbeat.

“No.” Ice shook his head. “Friends don’t owe friends.”