me asking,” I whispered after making sure everyone was deep in their sleep, “what are you waiting for?”
After a couple of minutes passed of Wren not speaking, I almost gave up on learning the answer.
“When I ask her,” he finally spoke, “I want to offer her more than just my name.”
I scoffed at that. “Lou doesn’t care about money.” I was living proof that people were always better off without it anyway.
“I’m not talking about money. Fox,” he said, referring to his former boss, “wants her dead, and as long as he’s alive, he’ll never stop.” Wren’s hands tightened around the steering wheel as he gritted his teeth. “Neither will I.”
“So that’s why she’s rabid one minute and pouting the next? You’re out there trying to get yourself killed, man?”
He smirked at that. “I’ve been on the streets since I was fifteen, and so has she. I know how to handle myself, and she knows that, too. Lou’s just stubborn and spoiled. Besides…I’m not hunting him alone.”
“What do you mean? Who’s helping you?”
Wren’s blue eyes darted to the rearview mirror, and I wondered whether he was ensuring himself that Lou was asleep or Ever. “My father.”
“Don’t you mean ‘our’ father? We were all there when Ever’s pop told him you two were brothers. The question I’d like answered is, why the hell didn’t you tell him yourself?”
“Ever doesn’t know this yet, but he got a dealt a winning hand. In fact, he dodged a fucking bullet.”
“Explain.”
Wren took his eyes off the road to study me, his expression one part incredulous and two parts hostile. “What makes you think I owe you an explanation?”
“Because before you came along, I was the closest thing Ever had to a brother besides Jamie.”
My reason seemed to be enough for Wren, so he nodded and sighed. “My father is the ‘love ’em and leave ’em’ type. He did it to Thomas, he did it to my mom, and he did it to Evelyn…”
“And then he did it to you.”
It was still jarring finding out that Mr. McNamara played for both teams. I wondered if he’d been afraid to share that part of himself with his son. It would never matter to Ever, but I could understand his father’s hesitance. Of course, anything would have been better than Jamie outing his uncle mid-temper tantrum.
“I won’t stand by and watch him do that to Ever,” Wren vowed.
“Mr. McNamara said Sean wants to meet Ever. How do you plan to stop him?”
“By giving him something he wants more. Our father co-founded Exiled. If we can find Fox and overthrow him—”
“He’ll ghost again and be out of your hair forever.” At Wren’s nod, I admitted to myself that it was a pretty good plan…if not slightly harebrained. “So why don’t you just tell Lou this instead of letting her worry?”
Wren grunted at that. “She’ll do that anyway, and then she’ll try to talk me out of it.”
“You think she can?”
I watched what suspiciously looked like a rare grin from Wren. It kind of freaked me out a little. “She has her ways.”
Two hours later, I was starting to nod off when Wren punched me in the arm like a dick. “Wake the hell up. We’re here.”
“Here” was a large lakefront cabin that Ever had rented for the next couple of days. I wasn’t sure how since most rentals didn’t welcome guests under twenty-five, but I didn’t care enough to ask questions. Sleeping in the woods with only the leaves as bedding was better than being back home. I almost hadn’t come until I considered the alternative. It had been three days since Colombia, and the smug look my father gave me when I returned still hadn’t left my mind.
So I left Blackwood Keep, hoping to run from it.
Wren hopped out, slamming the door behind him, which woke everyone else up. I followed him out into the chilly summer night and started helping him with our bags while Ever looked for the lockbox where the owner left the key. Once we got the doors unlocked and everything unloaded inside, I grabbed a beer from the melted ice water in the cooler and dropped onto the recliner in the corner. I’d chosen it for the unobstructed view it gave me of Tyra.
“There are five bedrooms,” Ever announced. He paused, his lips flattening before shooting me a dirty look.
Yup, he’s still pissed.
“I guess Tyra and Selena can bunk together,” Ever continued.
“Don’t you think Tyra will want to stay with Vaughn?” Four pointed