Page 134 of The Defiant Curse

For his bestie.

“Raph!” he said, still not buying it.

Only, the big Archangel stood there, willing to go ten toes down with Ivan on this. He knew where he was, and he also knew that the man wasn’t exactly an idiot. Ethan could handle his shit, and by now, like planned, he was with an Archangel and a Black Watch soldier.

If that wasn’t enough, he was with Elizabeth.

Technically, he was safer with those three than with just him.

“Where did he go, Raph? I know you’re well aware. Someone fucked with the security, and there are only two people who can do that. You and me. We’re the only two here who can do that.”

He shrugged, giving nothing away. This might be the end of his job, but honestly, he had to hope that the family would save his ass if Ivan went fire happy.

As he said nothing, Ivan stared into his eyes.

It appeared they were at a standstill.

The ball was in his court.

Ivan hated to do this, but the man was giving him no option. It was already difficult enough dealing with this pack of lunatics. Now, this one had broken ALL of the rules.

It usurped his authority, and that wasn’t cool.

“Well, then, you’re fired. Pack up. You’re out of here.”

From where he was standing, Chris actually gasped. Was he out of his mind?

Raphael was an Archangel.

They only had him, Uriel, and Muriel. Michael was gone, and that weakened them.

To fire one…

That was crazy work.

Up to that moment, he’d been quiet because, in a way, they’d all helped Elizabeth get out of there. He supplied the jet and money, and Gene had bought her time.

Hell!

Ivan hadn’t really tried that hard to locate her. None of them did to give her some leeway after what had just gone down. To blame Raphael for doing the exact same thing…

That was wild.

Immediately, there was pushback, but not from Raphael. He’d begun pulling off his gear, willing to do the time for the crime.

“You can’t fire him!” Saint said, defending his husband. “That’s bullshit!”

Oh, he didn’t want to do this. Raphael was his friend, and he loved the man like a brother. Only, if he let them run roughshod, he’d have bigger issues. Demeter was a wildcard, and one inch, and mayhem prevailed.

So, Ivan overrode that, too.

“Yes, I can. It’s still my business, and this isn’t happening. We can’t make this a regular thing. Someone will get hurt, and I guess I’ll have to be the bad guy in this!”

That’s when Saint began pulling off his gear in solidarity with his husband. This was escalating, and if Elizabeth was here, Ivan wouldn’t have been allowed to do this.

Why?

She would have put her boot in Toady’s ass. No one got fired in this family.