Page 141 of Allegiant

Wylder follows my gaze. “We’re all here because we’re family. You don’t need our surname to be one of us. We choose who we love. Who we include. And, as of today, you’re one of us. Officially.”

From the corner of my eye, I see Jules pale. His hands are shaking too. He quickly puts them behind his back like he’s hoping no one notices. But I do.

And from the crease in Harley’s brow, he has as well.

I don’t have time to ask Jules if he’s okay. Wylder claps his hands and directs us over to the conference room. When I glance back, Jules is gone.

I make a mental note to track him down later. Clearly, he’s going through something. Maybe a friendly ear might help. If he doesn’t still hate me for flirting with Harley. Which, again, was absolutely not what happened.

The man himself falls into step beside me. “Hey.”

“Hey,” I say quietly.

“We definitely good?” His eyes, so like Samson’s, bore a hole into the side of my face. “Because I can totally grovel more. Throw some more shapes. Whatever’s needed.”

I laugh, patting his arm. “We’re good. I promise. Just so long as you never threaten to shoot me again.”

“Obviously.” He considers what I said before frowning. “Can I still threaten Samson? Because if I can’t, that’s going to be a problem.”

I know. I remember game night all too well. “You can threaten him, but you can’t ever follow through.”

“Of course,” he snorts. “I’m unhinged, but not that much.”

“Says you,” Samson mutters, throwing an arm over my shoulders and tucking me against him. “I’ve seen your unhinged side. Doesn’t come out often, but when it does…”

“Speaking of.” I drop my voice low so only Harley can hear. Well, and Samson, but I’m trusting him to know this isn’t a question for him. “Is everything okay with Jules? He looked…freaked out earlier.”

Harley’s face shifts instantly. All his softness disappears, replaced by hard lines and grooves. “I don’t know. He won’t tell me.”

Sympathy twists my gut. “I’m sorry. For what it’s worth, I think he cares about you.”

He gives me a thin smile. “I used to think that too.”

He strides away before I say anything else.

“Don’t take it personally.” Samson squeezes me tighter. “No one’s going to be able to sort their shit out other than them.”

I grumble, knowing he’s right but still wishing I could help. I make a note to get together with Ansel and Neo. Surely, between the three of us, we can come up with a plan to get their heads out of the sand.

When we take our seats around the conference table, I’m sandwiched between Samson and Harley. Matthias’s face is now staring grimly out of the big screen on the wall.

“I’m going to go through the evidence we’ve amassed against Scott Johnson,” Matthias starts without preamble. His tone is flat, like he’s completely removed from what he’s discussing. Is that how he protects himself from the darker tasks The Firm asks of them all?

“As requested by Samson, I’ve removed all the evidence pertaining to Adam,” he continues. “All that’s included are the phone records showing that it was indeed Johnson who was sending the threatening messages, plus the CCTV footage proving that he was in the immediate area at the time of Adam’s death.”

Matthias clears his throat, eyeing me, Ansel, and Neo in turn. Jackson, I note, hasn’t accompanied us in here. Wyatt remains, eyes fixed on his husband as a muscle jumps in his jaw. “Even with what I’ve excluded, there’s a lot of distressing material included here. Speak now if you don’t want to see it.”

“Wait, I’m confused.” I sit forward with a frown. “If you’ve removed the distressing information about Adam, what more is there?”

Samson reaches under the table to squeeze my knee. On my other side, Harley shuffles closer, like he too is lending me his support. “Row, Adam wasn’t the only one Scott murdered. We’ve uncovered seven other homicides so far that we can link to him, and four more that we’re fairly sure were his work, but we can’t prove it definitively.”

Eleven.

Eleven people.

Dead because of him.

“Show me what you can.” My voice sounds distant, like I’m hearing it from far away. “I want to see.”