Sebring

And in the meantime, Nick had built his own threat that included a loyal army. But he knew if Shade found him a threat, Shade would ignore that. He’d even ignore Knight.

But he would not get in the face of Marcus Sloan.

“In your listening, Georgia Shade have any clue what went down with Hettie and the FBI?” Knight asked.

“No one mentions it except Shade, Harkin and Leary, but only in Shade’s office. Never Georgia. Definitely not Olivia. Don’t listen myself, but reports state she doesn’t even know much about what’s going down with the labs, has been fully removed from the illegitimate operations, her ties to the soldiers have been cut and she’s not in close communication with the warehouse anymore at all.”

“Sister protecting sister as one builds up to a takeover?” Knight asked, his brows going up. “Or sister cutting out sister as she builds up to takeover?”

“No clue,” Nick answered, his mouth tightening after he did.

He had no bugs in Olivia’s new office. But he got a report on her conversation with her sister weeks ago, including Georgia’s not-gentle nudges for Olivia to start seeing Dustin Culver.

It was a strange fixup considering Culver was an attorney with no ties to anything illegal in any way except a few semi-dirty clients who weren’t much to get excited about. And Nick had no idea why Georgia was pushing that because, outside her nudges, neither Georgia nor Shade had mentioned Culver.

After he broke things off, Olivia not a focus of his plan, Nick didn’t know if she’d started seeing him.

Or fucking him.

That got scratched on the top of the list of shit they were discussing that night.

“Nick,” Knight called.

Nick focused on his brother.

“Want you to take a chance on finding someone, bein’ happy. Not real thrilled you picked the way you picked, not your girl, a tough road you both gotta travel. But I’ve already found what I need. I know how it feels. You find what you need, I’m happy for you and I’ve got your back. But is that all you wanted with askin’ me here? To tell me you found a woman you wanna try to make happy, your neck’s on the line and the woman you’re claimin’s neck’s on the line? Or do you want somethin’ from me?”

“I called you here because I wanted you to know my decision about Olivia. I called you here because you need to know that’s the path I’m on and it’s gonna be bumpy. And I called you here because, along that path, I might need you and I needed to give you that heads-up.”

“To launch this operation, you pulled in your buddy Turner, a fuckin’ Fed, and every other marker you got out there and you asked nothin’ from me.” Knight smiled. “I was feelin’ left out.”

“Think, over the years, I’ve asked enough of you.”

His brother stopped smiling and stated, “You don’t got much left to learn. You set about learning it and you didn’t fuck around doin’ it right. But one thing you do still gotta learn is, when it’s family, Nick, there’s a limit to the shit I’ll eat. But there is no limit to the love I’ll give.”

Nick kept his mouth shut but he did it to swallow against the lump that was all of a sudden blocking his throat.

Knight let that go and pushed up from his seat.

Nick pushed up with him.

“Want her ass at Anya’s and my place for a steak, soon’s you can,” Knight demanded.

“They watch her, brother,” Nick told him.

Dark flashed in his brother’s eyes before he said, “Clear her of a tail and get her ass to Anya’s and my place for a steak, Nick. Soon’s you fuckin’ can.”

“Right. It isn’t just that. You need to give me time. She’s closed up tight. Face value, she’s cool to ice-cold, man. You don’t know the warm under that surface, she isn’t easy to like.”

“Kat and Kasha’ll break that down. They don’t, you know to dump her.”

“I’m bein’ serious, Knight.”

Knight tilted his head. “This woman’s the woman you’re willin’ to put your ass out there to get her safe, puttin’ the mission you been livin’ and breathin’ for four and a half years in jeopardy, she’s gonna be at our bar eatin’ steak more than once over the years. I think we can look past her bein’ a little cool and uncomfortable with us the first time around. So get her ass to Anya’s and my place, soon’s you can.”

“Jesus, you’re a bossy motherfucker,” Nick muttered. “Then again, you always were.”

“You don’t know the half of it,” Knight muttered back, but did it grinning.

He probably didn’t know the half of it. What he did know was that he didn’t want to.

Nick grinned back. “Get out of my office. Got shit to do.”

Knight didn’t stop grinning as he moved to the door.

Before he opened it, he stopped and turned back.

“Anya made it easy. Fell for me, gave me the beauty of her, didn’t make me work for it. Not even a little. Not a lot of women like her would put up with a man like me. Who I am. What I am. How I am. What I do. Barely a hesitation, she was all in. I needed that. Life I was born into, I needed something that important to come easy.”

Nick again remained silent, held his brother’s eyes and let Knight give him what he needed to give.

“You, brother, you started life havin’ it easy,” Knight continued. “Got a lot of love for you so this is difficult to say but I’m gonna say it. I like you gotta work for what’s important. If you work for it, you’ll get it. You’ll get why it was worth the work. You’ll never forget that. And you’ll finally get to where I am now after you wade through all the shit, knowin’, when you finally have it easy, just how worth it was to keep wading through. But bottom line, I know you’re a man who’s got the balls and the guts and the heart to stick it out and wade through.”