Chapter 55

“I’m goingto rip their balls off and hang them from my bumper,” Kayla threatened as she paced before the massive fireplace. If she could reach it, she’d draw Lupos from its iron perch and begin the maiming now. If only she had a specific target on which to direct her ire.

Then she remembered who was in the room. “Sorry, Grams.”

“You are in a circle of trust.” The Diné woman smiled. “I’ve wanted to snip a few achó bizis in my time.”

Unaccountably, the backs of Kayla’s eyes burned. All six women were positioned in a semicircle around her, with Lupos at her back.

Lupus. Wolf.

Weren’t most wolf packs guarded, at least in part, by an Alpha or breeding female? Their show of sisterhood drained the fury from her heart. But not her determination.

After her warrior angels had marched her back to the Friary, they’d supplied her with tissues and plied her with wine until her tears had dried up.

No judgment. No false platitudes.

Only patience and understanding and strength. The realization that they would make amazing members of Service whispered through her mind.

”Tell us what you know, child,” Grams said, as if sensing her mental shift.

Kayla laid out every detail to these women, even the smaller bits that she hadn’t yet shared with Ash. She told them about Tommy the activist and her guilt for the way she’d treated Natalie after hearing about her relationship with Kayla’s college nemesis.

“Alexander Brighton,” Liv said. “There’s a name I’d hoped to never hear again.”

Thank heavens Liv was on the same page. She didn’t know what she’d do if Liv started spouting off about how people could change. Kayla knew this. She’d evolved over the years.

But Alexander Brighton would always be a dick in her book.

“A coincidence is a term our emotional side uses to justify our lack of action,” Cilla said, referring to the profane markings on Kayla’s vehicles, both past and present. “Your initial gut reaction to this guy showing up in Natalie’s life has merit.”

“What happened to him after you reported the vandalism?” Maddy asked.

“Nothing. His father, a former senator, made the incident go away.”

“Former?”

“Unfortunately for Mr. Brighton, his response to his son’s juvenile stunt triggered my activism gene. He lost his reelection campaign.”

“Damn, girl.” Lena smiled. “Glad you’re on our team.”

“Everything has consequences. Even so-called righteous actions.”

Noticing everyone’s confused expressions, Liv jumped in. “The family’s finances collapsed, and Alexander didn’t return for his senior year.”

“Alexander might feel he has a score to settle,” Maddy said. “Natalie falls in love with him, putting your friendship and your firm at risk.”

“And kidnapping your mother,” Lena added.

“But why now? All that happened fourteen years ago. And how is this linked to Vicky’s murder?”

“Maybe it’s not,” Cilla said. “They could be separate incidents.”

“That’s a lot of bad luck in such a short amount of time,” Maddy said.

“Vicky was your godmother,” Liv said. “Another person close to you and someone who advanced your political ideals.”

“But Mason all but confirmed Seb Grimball killed Vicky.”

“Can you one hundred percent trust what Mason Wade told you?” Lynette challenged. “Should you?”

Kayla crossed her right arm over her middle and planted her left elbow on top, allowing her to drive her fingertips into her forehead. In the political arena, she thrived on strategizing offensive maneuvers to their opponents’ various points of attack. Loved anticipating their movements and delighted in their resulting failures.

But with this living nightmare, she couldn’t identify the enemy with any certainty and therefore wasn’t able to develop a counterattack plan.

Liv approached and placed a warm palm on her shoulder. “How about we take this one step at a time?”

“That’s the thing,” Kayla said, her voice raw. “I don’t know which direction to go first. There seems to be an infinite number of options.”

Lena appeared on her other side and snaked her arm in the crook of Kayla’s. “It’s good there are six fabulous brains here to help you figure this out.”

She lifted her head, realizing these women weren’t here to just help her through a difficult patch. They were here for the long haul.

Emotion garbled her words. “Any suggestions?”

Grams looked at her daughter-in-law. “Clay?”

Lynette clicked her phone to sleep. “Just sent him a text.”

“Step taken,” Grams said. “Clay will look into this Alexander Brighton’s background and see what he says when he thinks no one is listening.”

Part of the Rios family, who had kept the estate running well before any Blackwell stepped foot on the property, Clay Neuman had become an essential element of the BARS team by taking over Zeke’s duties in the field, allowing the CEO to focus on the administrative side of the multimillion-dollar business.

But what made Neuman even more valuable was his ability to bounce around to different jobs, filling in for the guys at a moment’s notice.

Kayla focused on Grams’s words, on what she hadn’t said, and her stomach twisted. “Does that mean Neuman’s going to bug his place?”

“That would be illegal,” Grams said.

Which was neither a yes or no.

“I don’t want anyone getting in trouble or hurt on my account.”

“Your problem is our problem, Kayla Krowne.” Steady brown eyes bored into hers, and Kayla could see the matriarch’s resolve.

“Thank you, Grams.”

“Is there anything else we should know?” Lynette asked. “Any other people of interest we should look into?”

There was another name that hovered on the tip of her tongue, but Kayla couldn’t bring herself to say it. Not even in this circle of trust.