9. ~Brianna~

9

~Brianna~

They were alive.

The demons were still alive.

"It took so long and everything I had to bring Brianna to me, to draw her close, to get her to trust me. Then with Chloe's revelation that was jeopardized. Now my actions bringing Royce right to our doors. Not telling her that they're even alive, yet alone that I was pursuing them this entire time."

I couldn't believe it.

It just didn't compute.

Not yet.

I needed time to get past the numbed stage of it, I figured.

That was how I dealt with shocking news—I went into a numbed state until my brain had the chance to process it.

The thing was, I didn't have a lot of time. I needed the boys to fill me in on the details of it all as soon as possible, given that an attack had taken place on my apartment that Levi had managed to stave off.

For now.

Those guys, they didn't stop.

I shuddered. They certainly hadn't when Levi and I had been in captivity.

Maybe going into this talk with the boys, being numbed to it would be better, a way to take things in at an emotional distance, objectively.

Rationally and with logic and reason leading the way.

I sucked in a sharp breath and blinked back to the moment, to the beauty ahead of me.

Boreas.

That was what the boys called this winter lodge in the mountains.

Their safehouse.

Colt had informed me that it was named after a Greek God of the north wind.

He'd also told me that this was where the three of them had retreated to five years ago after what they'd termed the incident. It was a bit more than an incident, but I got their need not to emphasize that when they discussed it.

It seemed that them never really discussing it, except when it came up in bursts of frustration for Mason was much more of a detriment to all three of them than actually talking it out and recalling what had happened.

I'd even noticed a little of the weight bearing down on Mason's shoulders easing after he'd confessed to me what had happened back then.

The thing was, he needed to recollect it with Levi. He needed to process it in a bid to let go of the blame he put on him, something that impacted their relationship even to this day.

And I needed to take my own advice and process what I'd found out earlier after waking up with one hell of a headache and exhaustion still plaguing me from being chloroformed and transported up here against my will and without my knowledge—kidnapped.

Malcolm Lynch and his two cohorts were still alive.

I needed to know more, not just the outline—not even really the CliffsNotes—that I'd overheard earlier when I'd walked up to hear the boys arguing, then Levi collapsing in so much pain.

I hadn't seen him that way since our captivity and it had cut into me terribly. I hadn't been able to stand it. It was why I'd absolved him so quickly.

But we weren't done.

We all needed to talk it out.

And we had to restore the trust that had taken a hit.

I drew in a calming, centering breath, then took another gulp of my coffee that Colt had made for me in the kitchen after our tour earlier. I needed it to offset the lingering effects of the chloroform as well as a couple of painkillers Levi had given me to dispel the nasty headache that had plagued me.

I looked out at the spectacular view of the snow-covered mountains surrounding the winter lodge on all sides.

"How are you feeling?"

I turned to see Mason standing there leaning against the closest of the three doors that led back into the house from the wraparound balcony. His arms were folded across his chest and he was still dressed in that sexy shirt that clung tightly to his broad, muscular body, the one I'd torn with my blade earlier. The bruising was more prominent now beside his left eye from my punch.

"Getting better by the moment." I raised my coffee mug. "And by the cup full."

"I'm sorry."

"I know you are."

"What can I do to make it better, except swear to you that I'll never do anything like that again?"

"Stop making unilateral decisions and moves on behalf of the rest of us."

"Done."

I cocked an eyebrow. "Just like that?" I shook my head. "You can't really make that promise, because of your trust issues—with Levi. When things heat up and the pressure is on, you'll default to the autonomous route because of that. You think involving him and his judgment is a risk. You need to talk about what happened five years ago and find out where he was really coming from, how it came to that, and what his thought process was. That way, even if you hate it, you can understand it, and determine how to ensure something like that never happens again." I took a sip from my coffee. "I'm also here to assist with that."

"You help him to see reason. He respects you."

"He respects you too. If he didn't, he wouldn't have come home to you and Colt. He could have also taken Hex from you and gone it alone, but he respected your leadership—until you marked me, of course, and lost control because the two of you weren't sharing control of Hex ."

"You're right, I did lose control," he actually admitted.

I sighed. "Levi just doesn't trust that you won't automatically stop him from whatever he intends to accomplish at any given time if it doesn't toe the line completely. He's afraid, Mason. He's afraid you'll cage him." I smiled sadly. "Like you've caged yourself."

He took a few moments to take my words in.

And then he gave a nod. "Well, we're stuck up here for a while just the four of us, so it's as good a time as any to have that difficult conversation."

"Good." I finished the last gulp of my coffee then walked to him to head back into the house. "Let's have the other conversation now. Time to get me up to speed."

"Yeah. I'll get the other two."

Before he could, I snatched his arm, holding him to me.

Our gazes collided.

"Don't ever fuck with me like that again."

"I won't. I'm sorry, Bree. Really sorry."

I gave a nod. "All right, then let's move on."

"I'd like nothing more."

I went to move past him, but he called out, "Wait."

I stopped and eyed him in question.

"You want me to have that difficult conversation with Levi, I need to know, I need to understand… out front there, how did you forgive him so easily?"

"Simple. Everything Levi does actually comes from a good place. Things get twisted up for him because he's been in survival mode since the kidnapping. All that rage and pain and recklessness, it's him trying to find peace and love. Now he's found the latter in me, you might have noticed the edge has been taken off. There has been a change in him."

"I have noticed it, yeah."

"Unfortunately, it can't be more than that until he feels peace. For him, with this revelations about Lynch still being alive and out there, we now know that peace is putting that sick bastard down. Taking back the power he lost six years ago to him, to the whole situation."

He took my words in, nodding along. "How are you doing with that revelation? I can't even imagine the shock it is for you."

"I guess we'll see when we get into it all in a few moments."

"My knife, baby?" Levi said, as he stopped in front of where I was sitting in one of the armchairs in the living room and held out his hand.

The whole place was so homely with a rustic edge.

The walls were made of cedar logs which had a calming scent and vibe right off the bat. Cozy shag rugs lined the hardwood floors. Gray oversized couches and armchairs had plaid throws and lots of cushions. Rustic rounded wood furniture was throughout the house along with real wood-burning fireplaces.

I reached into the pocket of my robe and handed it back to him within the sheath.

He surprised me then as he pocketed it in his cargo pants, but then drew out another sheathed knife. "This is now yours."

I frowned as I took it from him.

"It's weighted better, sharper too, accuracy unmatched." The corner of his mouth turned up. "Although seeing you wield the other one earlier made it clear accuracy is your jam."

"Seriously?" Mason said from the couch where he and Colt were sitting, Colt lounging back with his arm behind his head, while Mason was sitting on the edge rigidly straight. "Are you doing this to—"

"To what? Twist the knife?" Levi asked, laughing.

Colt burst out laughing too. He quickly slapped his hand to his mouth, took a moment, then told Mason, "My bad. I couldn't help it. Sorry, darlin'."

Mason rolled his eyes at him, but then shot a sour look Levi's way.

Holding up his hand, Levi told him, "No, seriously, I'm doing it for two reasons. One is to take the edge off what happened outside. And, voila, it's already working. The second is because after those skills I witnessed out there, our woman needs a knife worthy of said skills—and her."

"Thank you," I said, pulling it from the sheath and taking in its beauty, feeling the weight in my hand, then spinning it around, enjoying the boys looking on in awe as they saw my skill.

It wasn't something I'd planned to bring out unless I'd had to—which I'd felt like I'd needed to earlier to make it clear to Mason that not only shouldn't I be trifled with, but that I wasn't a porcelain doll that required such an insane level of protection.

Point made. Pun intended.

"This is really sweet," I told Levi.

He beamed down at me. "Glad you like it."

"Weapons as presents. Never thought of that as a gift option before," Colt mused.

"Hey, I know our woman. She likes that," Levi said. "It's not the first time. I know about the 26 you keep for protection."

"26?" Mason said. "As in a Glock 26 ?" He shook his head at Levi. "You're the only one who calls them just by the digits."

"Not the only one, but sure. And, yeah."

"Of course you know about Tommy giving that to me," I said, with a roll of my eyes.

"Your ex?" Colt chimed in.

"Her predatory ex, yeah," Levi clarified.

"He wasn't—" I stopped myself. "Let's get down to it here, all right?"

"She's right, focus up," Mason said, backing me.

"Sorry," Levi said, although I could tell that it was one of those times where he didn't actually feel sorry at all. He was stoked that he'd given me a present.

Mason snapped his fingers in front of Colt's face as he was staring off into space. "Focus, brother."

Colt blinked. "Sorry, I was thinking of gift ideas."

"What? Why?" Mason asked.

"Because I keep getting upstaged by the two of you. First Lev with the butterfly nightlight, then you with the sandwiches gesture, then this knife thing. My duet recording is nothing compared to that."

"You're wrong," I said, stretching out my hand to rub his arm on the adjacent couch. "It was heartfelt and really sweet. Don't sell yourself short."

"Really?"

"I promise."

He smiled out at me and kissed my knuckles. "You really are a cutie."

"Beneath the dark angel thing," Mason countered.

"Don't you forget it," Levi told him.

"Levi," I groused.

"Right, yeah. Getting down to business. Filling you in."

"Start with Chloe and we'll go from there."

He shoved a hand through his curls and sauntered away so he was standing in front of the couch and the armchair, facing the three of us. "All right, so, yeah, it was my doing getting Chloe out of the picture. Out of Stonewell U and the town. But it wasn't so I could remove an obstacle."

"Because you're never about that," Mason said with dripping sarcasm.

Levi tossed him a look. "She wasn't an obstacle to me. She's Brianna's friend, I didn't want to take that from her, that support system. Even though I'm not a fan of her being a fucking trainwreck who you ended up having to basically babysit so often."

"Levi!" I cried.

He held up his hand. "Sorry. Just bringing the honesty."

"Jeez," Colt said, shaking his head.

"Get back to it, Lev," Mason told him. "Maybe, without that sort of thing."

Levi sucked in a breath, then went on, "As I was saying, yeah, even if I had seen her as an obstacle, it wouldn't have stopped me anyway. Even if she'd still been around, I would've found my way to you. You know it as well as I do."

I nodded. That couldn't be denied in any shape or form.

"The reason I did it was to protect her, because she's your friend. Your only friend at the time, until the three of us came into the picture actually. I wanted her safe for you, out of the line of fire. I'd planned to tell you about my investigation into those fuckers sooner, but it took so much for you to come around to even admitting the kidnapping had happened, to warm up to me, that I delayed it. Again and again. And once I felt like it was time, I was afraid to screw things up, to hurt what we'd finally started to build. So, in my mind, danger would come our way, retaliation from my pursuit of Lynch, and I didn't want them to go after the only person close to you at the time. So, yeah, I got her out. I figured you'd still keep in touch and maintain the friendship, even if it couldn't be in person anymore."

"Wow, that's so sweet," Colt commented.

"Sweet?" Mason questioned.

Colt lifted a shoulder. "You know, in Lev's distorted way." He looked out at me. "You've gotta get that it was super sweet in his mind. He doesn't always think like regular people, he can't help it."

I smiled. "I know, it's okay."

"It is?" Levi asked, his worry about it very pronounced, as he kept clicking his nails, and shifting his weight.

"Yes, I believe you had good intentions. But it was extremely underhanded. Although, that was before you and me reached an understanding and you stopped doing that sort of thing."

"I made you a promise and I'm trying my hardest to keep it, even though it really doesn't come naturally to me."

"I know. I know it doesn't. I've seen you trying."

"And?"

"And, keep it up," I said, grinning at him.

"He got off way easier than me," Mason groused.

"Easier?" Levi said, turning to face him head-on. "She cost me a lot of money from a fight, punched me in the face, then kicked me in the balls."

Mason and Colt stared at me wide-eyed.

I shrugged. "Told you I'm not a damsel in distress."

"Damn," Colt whistled.

Mason chuckled. "Well, I feel better now."

"Good, glad we could assist," Levi bit back at him. "Can we move on with filling her in now? You good? Or do you need more affirmations and hand-holding?" He stepped forward. "Want me to give you a kiss?"

"I'm good, but we can keep it on the table for later, seeing as though you brought it up."

"Hmm, interesting."

Colt broke the strange tension between them and planted a kiss on Mason's cheek.

"There. Now moving on, guys."

Mason grinned. "Thank you, gorgeous."

Levi chuckled.

"How long have you known Lynch and the other two were alive?" I asked, unable to hold the question in any longer, as much as I enjoyed their banter that flip-flopped between lighthearted playfulness and aggressive tension.

It jarred Levi and he spun toward me. "Too long." He sighed. "Three years, give or take. Three years ago was when chatter first reached me, but it took a hell of a long time for me to get something concrete beyond whispers and rumors."

"That's why you really left for a year," Mason said.

"What about the internship?" Colt asked.

"A smokescreen. Sorry, cupcake. I couldn't pass up the leads. It took some time following the path I'd found a thread for, but it led me to Lynch."

A shudder rolled through me. "You actually saw him?"

"I did, but I couldn't fucking well act. He was surrounded by thirty of his guys at the time. If I'd moved in, I would've fallen, and there was no guarantee that I could've taken him down with me in the process."

"If he'd seen you, Levi," I choked. "What he would've done to you… oh my God."

"Hence my retreat, baby. So I came back here. I wanted Mason to mobilize Hex to give him a taste of power to distract him so I could pursue you, because I knew he'd be suspicious of me suddenly coming back. Just me being back would have him on my back… because of the history of my recklessness, me returning would be jarring to the peace and quiet he'd endured without me here."

"Peace and quiet… more like unbelievable boredom," Colt said.

"All well predicted and deduced," Mason told Levi.

Levi acknowledged his rare compliment, then told me, "I'd heard that you'd come to Stonewell U just after I'd left. The urge to go to you and come home right away was overwhelming. Knowing you were finally within reach and out from under your father's thumb… it was something I'd been waiting on for so long. But I wanted to come back and reintroduce myself to you with something major to tell you. That being that I'd taken out Lynch. When that couldn't happen, I pivoted, deciding that I'd come to you and recruit you to my cause, get your help. I knew all about your skills and resources, I just hadn't wanted to involve you if I hadn't needed to, because I also knew about your trauma. And when I came back here, I saw that it was worse than I'd even imagined because you were in such denial that you'd completely reinvented yourself and thrown away the old you—the real you, baby."

"Shit, Lev," Colt said. "You must've felt so alone. I'm so sorry, brother."

"It's okay, I'm not anymore."

I beamed out at him. "No, you're not. Neither am I. Neither are any of us."

"I'm so sorry we were all forced to come here, though, to lay low like this."

"Because of Royce Humphrey. What happened there?" I asked.

"I tracked down Kyle Trass to get confirmation on the name of the organization Lynch was using now. Osiris."

"Apt," I grunted.

"Exactly my thoughts." He sucked in a breath. "I kept the fucker alive in case I needed to use him down the road. While Mason and I were using Royce's network to track Lynch through, making him appear as though he was the one pursuing Lynch with the intent to rip the growing power of Osiris out from under his former boss, Kyle and Royce came into contact earlier than their usual monthly check-in call or meeting, and it tipped Royce off to me. "

"All right," I murmured, my thoughts wandering now as I felt that numbness wearing off from all the slap-you-in-your-face reality I was being inundated with. "That's everything?"

"My dad is involved now. He's going to reach out to yours and once I get a location, they're going to devise and launch a strike with us in tow against Lynch, and we'll decimate the fucker and his rising organization. We'll take out Royce and Kyle too. In the meantime, while we're at the safehouse and I'm working to get a lock on Lynch again through covert means so my dad and yours aren't linked to it which could risk Lynch targeting them, my dad has put out word that I was gravely injured in that attack I thwarted at your apartment."

"Jeez," I uttered.

"We left the guys alive, Lev," Mason pointed out. "I mean, it's feasible that you took a hit and kept fighting through it, but it's still a reach that Royce might not believe."

"They're not alive anymore," Levi told us. "Roman took care of that."

"What?" Mason said.

"With his underhanded business partners?" Colt asked.

"No. Personally. It was where he was headed when we parted ways and he sent me up here to reconnect with you guys."

"Jesus fuck," Mason breathed. "Roman Knight going the personal route… that's another level."

"Well, this whole thing hurt him too. Like it did Curt."

I rose to my feet, all of it hitting me at full force now. "Okay," I only just managed to voice. "Thanks for the… the report. It's… good. We'll… I need to take a breather."

With that, I rushed out of the room without another word.