Fiery Surrender

by Mari Carr

  “I don’t know. He was analyzing everything we’ve got related to the Bellator Dei’s bombs. That’s why I wanted Langston.”

  “More information than we want the Americans to have, but not a crisis.”

  “Maybe he’s afraid he’ll be in trouble,” Karl whispered in Antonio’s ear.

  “He could be afraid,” Antonio said out loud.

  “True,” Milo mused. “He doesn’t know about the Masters’ Admiralty. He just thinks he was contracted to work for the Cohortes Praetorianae.”

  “A dangerous company to piss off,” Antonio pointed out.

  “But not worth going on the run.”

  “Find him,” Antonio ordered. “If he went to the U.S. and attacked the Americans, trying to get the tablet back…”

  “I’ll find him, Admiral.”

  Antonio hung up and looked at Leila and Karl. He quickly caught them up on the Grand Master’s call to Sophia, then hers to him.

  “You think that the tablets were accidentally switched when they were in the lab, and now your bomb expert flew all the way to America to try to steal it back?” Karl asked.

  Antonio sighed. “It seems extreme.”

  “Unless there’s information about other cases, not just ours,” Leila suggested.

  “If this idiot Luca went to America and ends up starting a fight between us and the Trinity Masters, I’ll—”

  His phone rang.

  “Milo,” Antonio said as he answered. “Where is he?”

  “He’s in America. Flew to Charleston, South Carolina, three days ago.”

  Antonio cursed and ended the call, then dialed his sister.

  “We have a problem,” Antonio said by way of greeting.

  “I’ll get Arthur.”

  “You’re handling the Americans. It’s you I need to talk to.”

  “Antonio, do not tell me bad news.” He heard the change in sound as the phone was put on speaker.

  “Luca, our bomb expert, is in America. They must have his tablet, and he followed them there. Trying to get it back.”

  “Porca miseria,” Sophia cursed.

  Pig’s misery was a good summary of the situation.

  “I have to call the Grand Master,” Sophia said. “This situation is a…what is the expression?”

  “A complete shambles,” Arthur said.

  “That.”

  “Maybe you don’t have to call her,” Arthur added. “There’s another option.”

  “What?” Antonio and Sophia asked at once.

  “I’m going to call Lancelot.”

  “Lancelot, this is Arthur. Is your wife home?”

  “Fook. Now what?”

  Arthur sighed. “I need to speak to Sylvia.” For a moment, Arthur wasn’t certain Lancelot was going to hand the phone off. The man was a knight, sworn to obey the admiral of England, but that loyalty wobbled whenever his American wife, Sylvia, was involved.

  “Lancelot,” Arthur said, invoking his deep-voiced “don’t fuck with me” tone.

  “Fine. Sylvie. Arthur wants to talk to you.”

  “Admiral?” she said into the phone. “Is Eric back?”

  Arthur grimaced. Sylvia, new to the Masters’ Admiralty, had been wooed to their secret society and away from the Trinity Masters by the fleet admiral. There had been no denying Eric had been very fond of the American, and she of him. Sylvia had taken Eric’s disappearance quite hard.

  “I’m afraid not. I need to make a request of you, Sylvia, as your admiral.”

  “Of course. What is it?”

  “I need you to call your brother.”

  “Of course. Wait, which one?”

  “Langston. He was in Italy a week ago. Rome asked him to look at a bomb they found, to see if it was made by the same person or people as the previous bombs were.”

  “Langston was in Italy and he didn’t call me?”

  “Focus, Sylvia.”

  “I just think it’s rude that—”

  “When he was there, it seems he accidentally left his tablet and took someone else’s. A man named Luca Campisi. He’s Rome’s bomb expert.”

  “Oh man, he’s going to be pissed he lost his tablet.”

  “Well, Luca seems to be pissed, too. We think he followed Langston and is trying to get his tablet back.”

  “Wait, does he think Langston stole it on purpose? He wouldn’t do that.”

  “We don’t know, but the Grand Master thinks we sent Luca to get the tablet back. Unless this situation is defused—”

  “Nice bomb pun!”

  “—we might have an international incident.”

  “Oh. Oops. Okay. I’ll call him, then call you back.”

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Levi followed them into the suite and made a big gesture of locking the dead bolt and throwing the latch, tossing a pointed glance at them.

  Rich scowled darkly, making it perfectly clear he wasn’t happy about having a babysitter.

  Langston seemed less bothered by the man’s presence.

  Levi appeared to be a descendant of Goliath. Mina had erroneously thought Rich and Langston were big men, but they actually appeared small next to Levi. He made them stand near the door while he went through the suite room by room, gun in hand.

  “How tall are you?” she asked when he returned, realizing her tone came off as part rude, part stupid. She was woozy from the lack of sleep.

  Levi’s gaze met hers, and he grinned.

  Shit. Goliath was hot. Straight white teeth, black eyes, full lips, dimples.

  “Tall enough.”

  “Are you like…Trinity Masters police?” Langston asked.

  Levi looked at him oddly. “I’m a grad student in Cambridge. Classics.”

  “Harvard. Right…” Langston looked at Mina, bewildered.

  “Also former Green Beret.” Levi picked up his duffel bag. “Which are you three using? The big one?” Levi asked. Obviously, he believed the three of them were sharing a room, a safe assumption to make, considering they were on their honeymoon.

  Of course, the question only threw light on the fact they were now down a bedroom, which meant they either worked their shit out, or one of them was sleeping on the couch.

  Rich.

  Rich was sleeping on the couch.

  “First one on the right,” Langston said.

  Levi nodded. “The big one. I’ll take the one at the end. Either keep it down when you’re doing it or make it loud enough for me to follow along.”

  Mina’s lips twitched. That he was being funny made it easier to pretend he wasn’t there to protect them.

  Levi’s expression hardened. “No one leaves the suite without notifying me. I will either escort you or arrange to have additional guards come to escort you. Don’t answer the door for room service because you’re no longer allowed to use room service. We don’t invite strangers into our space.”

  “We need to eat,” Rich snapped.

  “I brought protein bars.”

  “That’s not food.”

  “You’ll be okay, Tex,” Levi said.

  Rich’s jaw muscle jumped.

  “I’m tapped into the hotel security monitors so I can watch the hall.” Levi gave each of them a hard look. “This means I’ll see if you leave. As long as we’re in the suite, I’ll try to give you some privacy.”

  “This is fucking ridiculous,” Rich muttered, but Levi ignored him, walking down the hall before entering his bedroom and shutting the door.

  Mina dropped down on the couch wearily. She shot Rich a dirty look when he sat down next to her, while Langston claimed the same chair he’d sat in before.

  Mina wished they’d shaken up the seating arrangement for this talk. This wasn’t a déjà vu she wanted to revisit.

  The bottom had officially fallen out on her. She’d gone so long without sleep, she wasn’t sure she could remember how to do it anymore. Given the dark circles and zombie-like expressions on Rich and Langston’s faces—especially Rich’s—it was obviou
s they were running on fumes, too.

  She’d been on edge all day, hating the emotional distance Langston had maintained. Returning this morning must have been incredibly difficult for him, given what had passed between them the night before. Her respect for him had grown when he’d pushed down his anger and hurt to tell them about the tablet. He’d swallowed his pride so that the three of them could work together to figure out what the hell was going on.

  She studied his face. His jaw was tight as he glanced over their shoulders, his gaze locked on the window, not that he could see more from this height than the late-afternoon sky and the tops of the buildings across the street.

  Now that they’d talked to Juliette, the subject of the stolen—no, that word had upset him—the switched tablet was on hold for now until the Grand Master’s chemist could try to figure out exactly what they were dealing with.

  She could see Langston shutting them out, closing down all emotion.

  Their future was in the balance, but with no clear idea of how to deal with that, she’d thrown herself into the mystery of the mixed-up tablets and the bomb schematics, letting that distract her from the dull ache in her chest that wouldn’t lessen.

  Now that it was just the three of them, back here again, in the same fucking seats as last night…she had no choice but to face what she and Rich had done.

  She’d been angry as hell at Rich after Langston walked out last night, the two of them going a few brutal rounds before spending the night in different bedrooms. She was still pissed.

  Rich should have told her about Langston’s conversation with Juliette before the three of them had…

  God.

  Stupid fucking men. They always thought with their dicks first. Though anyone with half a goddamn brain should have known not to…

  Mina closed her eyes and sighed.

  “You’re still mad at me,” Rich said to her.

  His softly muttered comment captured Langston’s attention.

  “About what?” Langston asked when he realized Rich was talking to Mina and not him.

  “About Rich being an absolute tool last night.”

  Rich ran a frustrated hand through his hair. “Mina’s pissed off that I let things…progress…between the three of us without telling her you’d spoken to Juliette.”

  Langston considered that. “That was a dickhead thing to do.”

  Mina shot Rich an “I told you so” look.

  Rich leaned back, resting his head on the couch cushion behind him, closing his eyes for just a moment before opening them again and looking at Langston, then Mina. “I know it was. I’m sorry. When I’m with the two of you…well… Last night, what I wanted overpowered what was right. I should have known better, should have done better.”

  Mina wanted to hold on to her anger toward him, continue the fight they’d had after Langston stormed out last night, but now that Rich had apologized, she realized she wasn’t just mad at him. She was mad at herself for what they’d done to Langston.

  But before she could respond, her stomach rumbled, drawing Rich’s attention.

  “Did we eat today?” he asked.

  She tried to remember. At this point, all the days were running together, and she couldn’t tell him the last meal she’d eaten if her life depended on it.

  “No,” Langston replied. “We didn’t. Room service?” It was obvious he’d made the suggestion hoping to start something between Rich and Levi.

  Mina rolled her eyes when Rich nodded.

  Regardless of their desire to piss off Levi, neither one of them rose to grab the menu from the kitchenette counter.

  “Langston,” Rich started. “Before we—”

  Langston shook his head. “No. Just no.”

  “Please,” Mina said, hating the way her voice wobbled. She prided herself on her strength, her ability to handle stressful situations. None of that was present at the moment.

  Langston was a gentle, caring man. And even though he was hurt, he responded to the obvious pain in her voice.

  His eyes softened. “Don’t, Mina. I can’t handle it if…”

  She stood up, walking around the coffee table, kneeling in front of him. She swallowed back the tears. Mina wasn’t the type of woman to use tears to sway a man. She wouldn’t do that to Langston, even though everything inside her felt shattered, scraped, bloody, raw.

  “I’m so sorry. We did everything wrong. Right from the beginning. You didn’t deserve—”

  Langston closed his eyes, rubbing them. “I don’t want to talk—”

  “Langston. Please let us apologize.” Rich remained on the couch, but from his body language, from the way he was leaning forward, perched on the edge of the cushion, Mina could tell he wanted to be closer.

  Langston fell silent, his gaze drifting from Rich to Mina. She decided to take his silence as tacit permission to continue.

  “We made assumptions based on your behavior during the binding ceremony,” she began.

  Langston’s brows furrowed with anger. “How many times do I have to—”

  Mina squeezed his knee. “You don’t have to say you’re sorry for that. Ever again. Rich and I foolishly continued to believe you would ask Juliette to dissolve the union despite everything you did and said that proved you were committed to the trinity. To us.”

  Langston held her gaze. “I was.”

  She hated the past tense.

  “How can we make this right, Langston?” Rich asked. “Tell us. We’ll do anything.”

  Mina nodded. “Anything.”

  Langston didn’t respond for a long time, and then he ran his hand over his jaw, frustration rife in his eyes. “I feel like I’m flying blind here. You told me the Grand Master’s word was law, that there was no arguing, no debating the trinities we’re put in. Then, last night, you contradict it all, tell me I could still ask to have it dissolved. I don’t know which end is fucking up here, and I hate it.”

  He stood up and strode to the bar, grabbing the bottle of Gentleman Jack, splashing some on the countertop as he poured himself a glass. He took a long swig. “So tell me…what are my choices? And maybe tell me all of them this time.”

  Mina stood up and opened the wine fridge, pulling out a bottle of Chardonnay. She poured herself a glass, and then nodded her head back toward the chairs, silently asking him to sit with them again. “We did a terrible job explaining how the binding ceremony works. Will you give us a chance to do so now? Maybe it will help you understand…what we were thinking.”

  Langston picked up his glass and returned to his chair. Mina extended an olive branch, reclaiming her spot next to Rich on the couch. She ignored the smile he gave her, letting him know he was only half forgiven.

  “There is a reason there’s a month-long honeymoon period between the binding ceremony and the actual wedding,” she explained. “It’s something the Trinity Masters enacted about a hundred and fifty years ago…after the Bloody Binding.”

  Langston chuckled. “Blooding binding? Sounds bad. And I thought we’d gotten off to a rough start.”

  Rich took over, briefly sharing the story about Charles, Laurence, and Gertrude.

  “So it is possible for a trinity to have a binding, but then at the marriage ceremony, it’s dissolved?” Langston asked.

  Mina shrugged. “We think it is. If being in the trinity pushed one of the people to violence, or would cause them to be unable to function, it could be.”

  “Were you…were you going to tell her that I was going to murder you?” Langston asked. He sounded more alarmed than upset, as if it were so ridiculous he couldn’t quite process it.

  “No, we were going to have you tell her that you found the trinity so upsetting that you wouldn’t be able to continue your work. Above all, the trinity marriage is meant to facilitate personal and professional growth. The Grand Master, our fellow members…they expect greatness from us. If you can’t achieve greatness because you intensely dislike your trinity…” Mina gestured vaguely.

 
; “Why didn’t you tell me this at the beginning?”

  Mina looked at Rich. They were stepping back into the same emotional minefield as last night, where they’d tripped every damn mine.

  “We should have,” Rich said, his response simple. “We’ve made so many mistakes, Langston. And we’ve yet to admit the biggest one.”

  Mina knew what Rich was referring to. It was where their conversation ended last night, both of them admitting what they should have said to Langston, to each other.

  Langston rested his elbows on his knees, his face down so that they could only see the top of his head. “Not sure I want to know the rest.”

  “Langston,” Mina said. “Look at us.”

  He lifted his head, his expression wary, distrustful. He was a man waiting for the other shoe to drop.

  Mina took a deep breath, silently praying they weren’t too late. “Our mistake was not telling you that we want to be with you. We don’t want to dissolve this trinity. We want you.”

  “Want me?”

  Rich gave him a rueful, sad grin. “Truth is, the three of us are perfect for each other. When we’re not fucking everything up.”

  Langston barked out a short laugh as he rose. “Exactly when did we manage to do something without fucking up?”

  “Think back,” Rich said, his face deadly serious. “There have been more than a few times.”

  Langston sucked in an audible breath. “When we’re together. In bed.”

  Mina smiled sadly. “Apparently that’s the only time we let our true selves show, when we lower the walls and let each other in.”

  “The only time we’re honest about our feelings,” Rich added.

  “If we’d had a frank conversation,” Mina pointed out, “and communicated—”

  “Say communicate one more time, woman, and I swear to God, I’m going to—” Rich started.

  “—we would have realized that Langston didn’t want to try to break the trinity, and then we could have been honest about our own feelings, rather than trying to hide them to protect ourselves.”

  “Protect yourselves?” Langston asked.

  “You were going to leave me,” she said softly. “If I admitted I had feelings for you, that would have made it so much worse when you walked away and broke my heart.”