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“When are you planning to tell Luca?” I asked.
Jeremy shook his head. “Not until we know our next steps.”
“After our statement comes out,” Roman stated in a tone brooking no argument. Except, I was feeling a hell of a lot like arguing.
“I think he’d appreciate hearing it personally,” I said.
“He will. I’ll call him,” Jeremy assured me. “I can’t go to him now. Not with everything up in the air. We need to have a solid plan so he understands this is under control.”
“I don’t think that’s a good idea.” Dread clawed at my throat. “Delaying leaves room for anything to happen.”
Roman inserted himself again. “I agree with Jeremy.”
My jaw rippled. This fucking guy. As far as I’d been aware, there wasn’t a third Hayes brother, but he sure acted like there was. “I’d rather keep this professional between us, so I’m asking you to step back and let me speak to my brother.”
He held up his hands. “I’ll leave you to it.”
Roman rejoined the rest of the team across the room. We didn’t have much privacy, but it was better than him interjecting every other sentence.
“Roman knows what he’s doing,” Jeremy started.
“That’s comforting,” I intoned. “When this is over, we’re going to talk.”
He nodded once. “I know. Give me a day. I need to get a grasp on this.”
“One day,” I warned.
He put his hand on my shoulder again. “That means you can’t tell Clara about this. It has to stay between us, just until tomorrow.”
Funny enough, my focus had been so single-minded, Clara’s part hadn’t occurred to me. Now that it had and he was asking me to keep it from her, a bitter taste blossomed in my mouth.
“I don’t lie to Clara.”
“It’s not a lie,” he hurried out. “It’s a delay. One day, Jake. I know you’re mad as hell at me, and maybe I’ve lost you, but I need this. MZ needs it. I’m asking you, as my brother, to give me this. One day to get ahead of it.”
It was on the tip of my tongue to tell him no. But then I thought of him, solid by my side while I told our dad I was becoming a father at seventeen. I thought of when he’d started staying summers at our ranch, the way he’d shrunk away from physical contact and loud noises because he’d been used to cold and quiet. Then I thought of him being sent back alone to the cold after living in the warmth with me for two months. He’d never held it against me. Had always had time for me. Had looked out for me when our father was on the warpath.
I couldn’t say no. Not when he rarely asked for anything. This, one day…it didn’t seem like much.
“One day.” There was finality in my statement. I would not back down from it, no matter what happened in the next twenty-four hours. This concession was the length my brotherly loyalty stretched. It would go no further.
“Thank you, Jake.” He squeezed my shoulder. “If you want to sit in on our meeting, I—”
I shook my head. “I want nothing to do with this. Any of it,” I spat in disgust. “Just excise Dalla Fox’s poison from MZ. That’s all I need to know.”
“It’ll be done.”
I believed that. But at what cost?
Chapter Thirty-nine
Clara
Jake wasn’t a talkative man in general, but tonight, he’d been quieter than normal. He’d laughed with Nellie, danced to her favorite cartoon, but in between, he was a million miles away, caught up in his thoughts.
My propensity for pessimism reared its ugly head with thoughts I couldn’t tamp down.
He’s tired of us.
