Tempted & Taken (Men of Haven #4)(79)
“That’s not gonna fly with the moms and you know it,” Axel said. “You saw the haul they brought in from the store. Darya’s their new little chick. If she doesn’t go to Haven with the rest of the women, those groceries aren’t comin’ out of the cabinets and their butts will be right here making sure she’s got their kind of support until this shite is over.”
Damn, but he liked that. Not just the fact that the women who’d all but adopted him approved of the woman he’d chosen for his own, but that Darya would finally have the maternal support she’d lost way too early in life.
“We can make that work,” Beckett said. “Got a corner loft open right beneath Knox’s suite that Danny and I can use to crash in when we need to. Ninette and Sylvie can have my rooms since this floor’s secured.”
“Think it’s smart all of us stay visible, too,” Trevor said. “The idea of the women and Levi being exposed rubs me wrong, though.”
“So, we limit the exposure,” Zeke said. “If they go out without us, they do it only with backup.”
“Well, we’ve got plenty of that,” Beckett said. “I’ll rearrange schedules and make sure our top guys are freed up for family detail when we need it.”
Fighting the need to get up and pace, Knox snatched one of three pens he’d tossed to the table while unpacking his laptop and twirled it between his fingers. “So, what’s our next step on Ruslan?” he said to Beckett.
“For starters, I want a visual on the guys following her. I want to know their pattern, how big a crew we’re dealing with and where they’re based out of.”
“You trust your security team enough to farm that job out, or is that something we keep inside the brotherhood?” Jace said.
Beckett shook his head. “Better to keep what we’re researching close to the vest. At least until we’ve got a solid way to spin it. Anyone on our staff guarding the loft will just assume me or Knox have pissed off someone new. If I start putting them on a tail without much in the way of explanations, curiosity might get the better of them. The last thing we need is someone talking.”
“What about Ivan?” Trevor said. “He deep enough in we can leverage him if we need another body?”
Everyone turned their sights on Knox.
Well, that answer at least was a no-brainer. “The way he stepped up looking out for Natalie and banded with us against Wyatt? Yeah, he’s solid. No way he’d lose his shit and tuck tail if Darya needed him.”
Zeke scanned each man at the table. “We take this step, everyone going to be good taking a serious look at him long-term? ’Cause something tells me what we’re dealing with this time around could end with some hellacious dirty secrets to contain.”
“You already know my thoughts,” Trevor said. “I’m the one recommending him, and nothing’s changed on my end.”
“I like him.” Danny edged his laptop back enough to cross his arms on the table. “Never grumbles. Only time he ever balked when I asked for something was when he had a conflict with his kid, and he still tried to juggle.”
“Hope you stopped him before that happened,” Axel said.
“Hell, yeah, I did. Family first.”
“Always,” Axel volleyed back.
Zeke looked to Axel, Jace, Knox and Beckett. “You guys good with this?”
A round of nods and yeses echoed back before Zeke zeroed in on Jace. “Then I say we use him, ’cause I’m in, too.”
Jace grinned at Danny. “Looks like you might not be low man on the totem pole much longer. How’s that feel?”
“Truth?” Danny cocked his head, a little solemnity filtering through his easygoing expression. “Never once felt like a low man with you guys so I doubt things will change.” He shot Jace his own ornery grin. “That said, I’ll take another brother at my back any day.”
A chorus of agreement billowed up, each man lifting their drink in salute and drawing a host of expressions from the crowd gathered round the kitchen island. Most of the women cast their usual eye rolls and smirks. Levi’s frown said he was a little put out he wasn’t with the rest of the guys, but Darya’s face was harder to read. Like she was okay where she was, but couldn’t grasp the need for distance between them.
Understandable. Outside of introducing her to his clan and encouraging the weekly outings with the women, he’d done shit to clue her in to the deeper aspects of the brotherhood. Like how they kept their meetings separate from the women so they could honestly claim innocence if anything ever blew back on the brothers, or the depth of what actions they were capable of. Though, after the wide-eyed surprise he’d caught on Darya’s face when he’d pulled a pistol from his glove box, she’d likely clued in on that last part. He’d give her the rest of the details, though. Tonight. Just as soon as they got their initial plans in place.
Beckett’s voice cut through his thoughts. “Knox?”
Knox dragged his attention back to the men gathered round the table. “Yeah. Sorry. What?”
To their credit, no one gave him shit for the fact that his mind had wandered off, but neither did they waste time diving right back on topic.
Jace tugged his toothpick from between his lips and tossed it on the table. “Beck was askin’ about you not seeing anyone on your tail coming here. You think that means they’re just marking when Darya comes and goes?”