CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

“ N o way,” Craig said. “I’m not letting him walk out of here. Especially after all that cryptic shit he said to you.”

Brayden wasn’t sure it was all that cryptic. There was something in the back of his mind nagging him, like a lost jigsaw piece. Not that he did jigsaws, except the soft blow-up pieces Lucas played with in the bath.

That shit was cute as hell.

“Well, you won’t have to. He’ll be gone by midnight, I suspect, so let him go, and we’ll follow him.”

Craig stared at him.

“Ben isn’t going to talk, Craig.” Brayden shrugged. “So, we pivot.”

“Pivot?” he asked. “What the fuck is a pivot.”

Brayden stood up from his desk as the blinds behind him whirred open. Somewhere out there, Ben had some help; he knew it in his bones. He was going to let it play out.

“Yeah, I read it on a Facebook meme. Pivot.”

Craig shook his head. “You joining those fucking Tony Robbins groups now?”

Brayden let a slow smile spread across his face.

“Yeah, I’m going to send you to one of his resorts for a weekend of personal development. Kumbaya, motherfucker.”

Craig raised his eyebrows in horror before grinning. “You know, you could’ve had these good ideas of yours when I was a single vamp. There are a lot of lovely females at those places.”

“You never went without, so stop complaining.”

Craig smirked.

Brayden returned it.

The two of them had a long history of sexual debauchery. While they no longer had a flow of females or males coming through their bedroom, or any other, doors, they were far from going without. Sex with a mate was beyond anything Brayden could have imagined.

And because Willow and Brianna shared notes, there was an unspoken competitiveness he knew both him and Craig were creaming for all it was worth.

They loved their mates, but hell, they were still red-blooded predators.

And Ben was not unlike him and Craig; a powerful alpha with revenge on his mind.

“Prepare a team. I want you to follow him. Find out where he lives, who he’s associated with, and what he’s doing in Rome,” Brayden ordered, getting back on topic. “I don’t want him to know we are onto him, so let’s keep this between us until he’s out of the castle. If he’s caught by one of our wider team members, which I highly doubt, we’ll—”

“Pivot?”

Brayden let out a laugh. “Yes.”

“Got it.” Craig stood. “I’ll keep you updated.” Then he bunched his lips. “I’m taking Kurt with me.”

“Do what you need to do, but make sure Ben doesn’t suspect anything; otherwise, he’ll lie low and then it will just be a waiting game before he tries to slip us.”

Craig nodded.

“One last thing. After the executions, I’m considering sending you back to the States, depending on what we learn from Ben in the upcoming days. Whoever he’s working for is over there. You’ll be on the move, so have a thought about what you want to do with Bri. It will be dangerous.”

“Shit. Okay.”

Brayden ran his hand through his hair. If what he suspected was true, he might be going with the commander.

But he’d keep that to himself for now.