Page 149 of Nyx

I fidget more, my annoyance growing with every breath I fill my lungs with.

"We confronted that fucking private investigator," I remind him, my tone bordering on disrespect and insubordination.

Kincaid doesn't grow frustrated or annoyed as he continues to look in my direction, but several other teammates shift in their seats as if they feel the need to come to his defense or, at minimum, tell me to calm the fuck down.

"We had a case against him." Kincaid reminds me. "We knew we could prosecute him. If we confront Graham Whitmore before he does something wrong, then we don't eliminate our problem."

"Oh, we can eliminate our problem very easily," I argue.

A few people near me chuckle, but no one voices an opinion on how we could go about it. They all know what needs to happen to the man, and I don't mind being the sole contributor to make it work out the way it needs to. In fact, I'd prefer to be the one solving the problem.

Kincaid gives me a tight smile. "It would be best that we're able to legally do something to put an end to his terror."

"Like hurting her again?" I snap.

"That will never happen," Shadow interrupts. "Not on our watch."

"One could argue that the mental anguish will have long-lasting effects on Juliet," Rivet adds.

"And we're not discounting that," Kincaid tells her. "But even if we had enough for a stalking charge, it won't hold him very long, and from what we've seen with this motherfucker, we know he won't give up until he has to. Nearly ten years in prison and another year and a half on parole weren't enough to stop him. We need more."

"More?" I growl. "What kind of more would put him away for longer, given his financial support and ability to make an abused woman look like the perpetrator?"

"We can't act against him yet," Kincaid says, knowing what the answer would be.

Whitmore damn near killed Juliet, and he did kill her twin babies, and look what he got... hardly any time, considering what he did to be put in prison in the first place.

"She's protected here," Shadow assures me.

"And that brings up another concern," Kincaid says. "Will she stay?"

I want to tell them that she will after what happened today, but I know better than to presume it was enough.

"She won't," I find myself saying. "She's too dedicated to her job."

"What if her job were here?" Kincaid asks.

"Maybe," I say, running a hand over the top of my head.

"Are you saying move all the women at Juniper House to club property?" Shadow asks as if this is the first time he's heard about it.

"Maybe," Kincaid answers as he takes his seat at the head of the table.

He does this when a meeting transitions from orders to a discussion, and it makes me feel more like a teammate than an employee following orders.

"Census is low at Juniper House, and we don't have any prospective new additions right now," Kincaid says.

"I don't think it's a terrible idea," Dominic adds. "But I don't live here. I would presume they come to the clubhouse."

"Recon, Holler, Signal, Mischief, what are your thoughts?" Kincaid asks the newest members who still live in the clubhouse.

I know he doesn't ask me because he already knows my answer.

"I've asked why they weren't here to begin with," Holler says. "Logistically, it just makes sense."

"I think we have to consider what the women want," Rivet says. "Cerberus is a lot to handle, and it's different from us being outside to sharing a space."

"We'd consider what they want and need and make adjustments where we can," Kincaid says. "But I get the feeling that if the shelter stays open right now, then that's where Juliet will feel she needs to be."