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A deafening silence fell over the room as we all stared, dumbfounded, at my father. Was he really offering my family’s help? I couldn’t remember Dad ever doing something like this. He’d always been careful with the family business and had stayed out of issues like this.
Blayne leaped up from his chair, standing up fast enough to send the seat sliding back against the wall. “No fucking way.” Blayne leveled a shaking finger at Dad. “We don’t want or need anything from you.”
“Blayne!” Tate snapped in annoyance. “I know you and Mr. Francis have history. I know you have a grudge against him. But that’s in the past. This is the present. This isn’t only about you. Miles, Steff, and I have mates and families to protect.” He pointed a thumb at me. “Would you be okay if Ava got hurt because one of us couldn’t look past old wounds and protect the people who are here now?”
I figured Blayne would tell them he couldn’t care less about what happened to me. He’d made it pretty evident that he wanted nothing to do with me since he’d seen me at Liam’s grave. Instead of saying he didn’t care, the fire in his eyes and face faded as he slowly slid back into his chair.
“No,” he mumbled. “I guess I wouldn’t be okay with that.”
What?
THIRTEEN
BLAYNE
I kept my mouth clamped such as I cursed Tate in my mind. He’d pulled that shit out and tossed it in my face. The logic of it was, of course, infallible. There was no way I could actually be angry at him. Every word he’d said was true. My panther had recoiled when Tate had talked about Ava getting hurt. Even if I’d had the strength, I couldn’t have put my panther in pain again by denying I cared about Ava’s safety.
My feud with the Francis family was warranted, but Tate was also right on that account. Liam was gone. Had been gone for a long time. Ramming my head into the wall and refusing Gio’s help wouldn’t bring my brother back. Tate had a family to protect. Steff had April, and Miles had Celina and a baby on the way. I’d be the most selfish piece of shit in the world if I refused the help Gio was offering. If I pushed the issue, the others would go with me on it, but what would happen if someone we cared about got hurt?
Images flashed through my mind.
Celina, eyes sightless lying in a puddle of her own blood. Harley, screaming as she held the dead bodies of her children. April, lying broken on the side of the road. It was too much. I shut my eyes tight, trying to force the images away. If any of that happened, the guys would
never forgive me. I’d be shunned and cast out of the pack. If something happened to Ava, my panther would be even more devastated than when she’d rejected me. I’d be at risk of going feral.
I couldn’t do that. Any of it. No. I had to let Gio help us. He was powerful and had the money and manpower we didn’t. This was a deal with the devil, but sometimes the devil you knew was better than the devil you didn’t.
“What can you do to help us?” Miles asked.
Gio turned to look at Ava, then back to Miles. He looked a little uncomfortable when he spoke. “I’m battling cancer. Doctors say they caught it soon enough, and if everything goes well, I should be okay in a few months. As for actual physical assistance, I won’t be very good to you. What I do have are the resources to help you all go after Antonio. Information-gathering and whatnot. We can help you paint him into a corner.
“My resources aren’t technically legal. Does that matter to you all when your lives and the lives of your loved ones are on the line?”
Even I couldn’t say it did. What did laws matter when there were people rich enough to circumvent them? Our pack was more important than any law. We all knew that, and none of us gave any indication that we would say otherwise.
Gio pointed at me. I stiffened, wondering what he was going to say. “Blayne, I know how you feel about my family. That doesn’t change the fact that we all promised Liam we’d look out for you. Whether you like it or not, we are going to stand by that.”
I stared back at the man and held his gaze. I hoped he saw what I wanted him to see. I would work with him to save the people I loved, but forgiveness was not on the table.
After a few seconds, an understanding passed between us, and I finally nodded. “Fair enough.”
“All right then,” Gio said. “Where do we go from here?”
“Good question,” Tate said. “How would you go about taking down someone like Antonio?”
“Well, when you’ve gotten to the level he has, there’s really only one place to hit first. Tarnish his name. He’s this big, shiny smiling philanthropist right now. He leans into that squeaky-clean image because it makes it easier to negotiate deals, lobby and get around certain inconvenient laws. We rub a little shit on that name, and suddenly no one wants to get into bed with him.”
“How do we do that, though?” Steff asked. I had the same questions.
“I know a few guys from back in the day. Men who greased some wheels for Antonio. He paid them to make some of his past go bye-bye. From what I hear, Antonio did pay them back for their help. The only reason they haven’t turned heel and sent word to the press is that they’re afraid of what he’ll do to them and their families.”
“Can you flip them to our side?” Tate asked.
Gio nodded. “I’m certain I can. All I need to do is give them my word that the Francis family will provide protection to them and theirs. It’ll take some time to work out the deals, but I think my brothers and I can get something together in a week or two. Once these folks are set, we can release whatever dirt they have to the press.” Gio looked at me, and then everyone else in the room. “I need your permission before I make the first call. Because once this ball starts rolling, there’s no going back.”
None of this sat well with me. Why in the name of God would Gio Francis be so gung-ho about helping us? We couldn’t give him money or power. We were nothing to him.
“What do you get out of this deal?” I muttered.
Gio looked at me with look of a disappointed father. “Blayne, you may not believe this, but I loved Liam. Loved him like the son I never had.”
I opened my mouth to call him out on the bullshit, but a look from Ava caused my panther to leap forward and force my mouth shut. I couldn’t remember it ever being this forceful and almost taking control of my body. I gritted my teeth, and let him go on.
“I tried to get him out of the field. Begged him even. It was no secret that he wanted to marry my Ava. That’s part of why I wanted him off the dangerous jobs and out of harm’s way. He was supposed to come under my wing and learn the other aspects.” Gio shook his head and smiled sadly. “Boy, he talked about you like you’d hung the moon. My brilliant brother this, my amazing brother that. All the time. He wanted better for you, especially after you’d lost your parents to those hunters. Liam loved you like he had loved his parents. He told me once that he wanted to go after the hunters who killed them and get his vengeance. I think that’s part of why he never wanted to come out of the field. He wanted to hone his skills so he’d be able to take them on.”
It felt like Gio had slapped me. Liam had never told me that. We knew hunters had killed our parents, and the only reason we’d been spared was because we were at a sleepover with our other packmates—the only other family who was part of our pack. He’d never told me that he planned on going after the hunters.
“He wanted to find the hunters?” I asked dumbly.