“It hasn’t been.”
“It is now.”
“That’s not how it works.”
“It is today. What else do you want to talk about?” Because I knew he hadn’t kept me back to assess my mental health. That was Embry’s job, and in any case, as long as Orla and Locke were safe and whole, I wasfine.
“We need to talk about the Bear thing.”
Okay. scratch that. I wasn’t fine. I was instantly irritated that I had to waste a minute of my life pretending I cared about that fucker. “Did you give it up?”
“What do you think?”
“Honestly?” I sucked on the vape and exhaled a cloud of lemon-scented steam. “I think you were considering it, but Alexei talked you out of it.”
Cam pursed his lips. “That’s way too close to the truth for me not to punch you.”
“Punch me if you like.”
“The mood my sister is in?” Cam made a stabbing motion with his hand. “No, thanks. I can take your smugness.”
I narrowed my gaze at him. “Why?”
He grinned a little. “Because getting your way has consequences. Foryou.”
Fucking grand. Cam’s dry amusement kept any anxiety at bay but also let me know whatever was coming was utter bollocks. “Spit it out.”
Cam sobered a little. “I told them no. And they accepted it.”
“You told them to go fuck themselves and they let you?”
“Pretty much. On one condition.”
“Which is?”
“He wants an apology, Nash. Bear. In person. He wants you to grovel forgiveness for breaking his face.”
“That’s it?” I went with logic, despite my entire fucking soul screaming that there was noitto be found in ploughing my fist into that rat’s jaw.
Cam rubbed his lips. “Feels like a trap, doesn’t it? We ride to the meet, you and me, you apologise to that minge-bag, and then they nick us anyway.”
“What does Alexei think?”
“I haven’t updated him yet.”
“You really are a stupid motherfucker, aren’t you?”
Cam held my gaze. “No, I’ve just been busy, and I don’t want to waste every second I have with him talking about someone who makes me want to bash skulls. He spends enough time around violence—they both do. Sometimes I just need to love them.”
I felt that to my fucking core. Understood it more than I wanted to. “When’s the meet?”
“Soon.”
“You don’t have a date?”
“Nope.” Cam pushed his hair back from his face with both hands. “I’ll let you know when I get one. Then we can decide what to do about it.”
“There’s nothing we can do about it. If the feds want us, they’ll get us. Unless you want to spend your life on the run. And that’s possible for you, but not for me. Locke needs to be here, and I need to be where he is.”