I grinned at Micro, the President, who I’d liked the instant I met him the other day. There was something so calm and easygoing about him.
“Hi. I’m good. You? I don’t know why we came here, sorry.”
Micro laughed, pointing to the two chairs opposite his desk in the cramped space, and gestured to a coffee machine beside him.
“I’d be lost without this thing. You want some?”
Once we both had a steaming paper cup in hand, he leaned back in his chair.
“So? How did it go?”
Henley groaned. “Well, apparently I’m on their speed dial now for when they need something… ‘bruv’.”
Micro snorted, but he didn’t look at all surprised.
“Those fuckers are desperate to have us at their beck and call, but it’s so not happening. So, did you get what you needed from them?”
They both looked at me, and I lifted a hand, because I knew what I’d been told, but it wasn’t the same as seeing it, was it?
“They went into disturbing detail about the torture they put him through, and how very dead he is… but it’s not like they had physical evidence to show us, so… I don’t know. I want to believe them, want to believe he’s gone, but it feels like he isn’t.”
Micro rubbed his jaw thoughtfully, his eyes leaving us as he pondered something, and we waited for him to speak.
“Pres?”
He nodded. “They detailed what they did? Was it bad?”
I grimaced. “Awful. Broken limbs and cutting him up, and whatever a Nige is. What the hell is that?”
Micro rolled his eyes. “The only Nige I know of is that snarky fucker who does their tech stuff. Their version of Grease. Anyway, it sounds like there’s no way your ex survived any of that, or even some of it. Remember, there was a whole group of them there wanting a piece of him, and letting him survive would put them at risk too. I think we know enough about them to know that wouldn’t happen.” He hesitated, tilting his head at me. “Is it enough? It’s not like I know of anything else that could help, but, I mean, can you start to move on now?”
Wasn’t that the million dollar question? I could, couldn’t I?
“I plan to try,” I said finally, because it wasn’t a yes or a no, but somewhere in the middle.
“You have to know, if he ever popped up anywhere, we’d know, and we’d kill him again, but he’d have to be Lazarus for that to happen. Or Rasputin. I dunno. The fact is, you’re safe, and you have a pretty big family now to back you up.”
Family. He was talking like I was one of them, but I was just a woman starting to get to know one of their prospects in the biblical sense. Was it enough? The way his words warmed me inside made me think it might just be.
“Thank you, Micro. I appreciate that. I guess I just need to put my focus on our future now.”
“Lissa’s always there too,” he said gently, “I mean, she’s fixing all of us, so don’t doubt her powers.”
I nodded, and next he turned to Henley, a brow lifting arrogantly.
“What’s happening about this night out you’re planning for us, prospect? You want time off your sentence, you need to start delivering.”
Henley groaned. “It’s in hand. I’ve got a place, a brilliant place you’ll love, and I’m just working on the finer details.”
“Get on with it, yeah? This club needs some time hanging out where we’re not all wearing hard hats and trying to fucking build a clubhouse. They’ve been falling out with each other like you wouldn’t believe. Like there are that many ways to build a fucking wall, I dunno.”
I laced my fingers through Henley’s and cupped our palms together. I wanted to offer him support like he’d done for me.
“It’s in hand, and it’ll be amazing,” I promised Micro, who grinned at me.
“I don’t doubt it, love. Well, off you go, unless you want to be put to work.”
We got out fast, because when someone threatens to make you help with building work, you leg it.