When He's Ruthless (The Olympus Pride 4)

Antoine kept his face blank. “People from my pack, you mean?”

“Yes,” Luke replied as he rounded the vehicle.

“And?”

“And I won’t have dug up anything that you don’t already know. After all, you and Donal and Embry have conducted your own very thorough investigation. If your Alpha wants to compare notes, tell him to call me.” Luke slid into the SUV and switched on the engine, not failing to notice that Antoine was making a concerted effort not to look at Blair. In fact, the Head Enforcer didn’t even grant her a brief wave before he walked away.

“It wasn’t hard to tell that Antoine was probing you for information because he wants to know if he’s a suspect,” said Deke as they drove away. “Do you think he worries you’ve managed to unearth that he has a history of stalking human women?”

Luke glanced at the enforcer via the rearview mirror. “He might. But it could simply be that he’s aware I’ll naturally suspect any unattached male in his pack.”

Blair hummed. “Your face gave nothing away, so he’ll probably assume that you have no clue what he’s done,” she said to Luke. “Still, he’ll likely fret on it all the same.”

“How did the talk with your parents go?” Deke asked her.

“Pretty well,” she replied before giving he and Isaiah a bullet point version of the conversation.

“They kept their promise to be civil today,” said Isaiah. “Maybe they’ll also keep the promises they made you in the coffeehouse.”

“Maybe,” said Luke.

Back inside their apartment building, he and Blair took the elevator up to the floor on which Valentina and James lived. Walking toward the apartment, Blair said, “So. My parents. They seemed genuine, didn’t they?” Even she heard the plea for reassurance in her voice. It was hard to let herself believe that they’d been sincere, even though they were so convincing.

“They did,” Luke confirmed. “I suppose time will tell whether they meant all they said.”

“Yeah, I guess it will.” Blair bit her lip. “My mom shocked me. She’s not one to open up.” Noelle had rarely spoken of Marianna since her death.

“She knew she’d have to in order for you to understand why she’s behaved the way she has,” Luke pointed out. “As much as she claimed to know it was no justification, I think she did hope that you’d find her pain a reason to excuse everything.”

Blair gave a slow nod. “I didn’t know she blamed herself for Marianna’s death.”

“It’s normal to take on senseless guilt when you lose someone who matters so much to you. My dad hates himself for not going to the hardware store to save my mom the trip—then she’d be alive, but he’d be dead. I hate myself for not being strong enough to get out of the locked room and help Toby the day we were taken.”

Blair worried her lower lip. “I hate that I didn’t ask Marianna to stay with me the day she died. I was tired after my sleepover with Kiesha. I wanted to just lie in bed and watch movies. I thought about asking my sister to join me, but I was too tired to drag myself out of bed and go find her. She might have said yes—”

“But she might not have. Just as I might not have been able to help Toby even if I had got out of that room. Just as my mom might not have agreed for my dad to go shopping in her place. Yet, we can sometimes feel weighed down with guilt all the same. And that can color our decisions and opinions. So, yeah, I can understand why Noelle felt motivated to do a lot of the shitty stuff she did.”

“I think she was telling the truth when she claimed that it wasn’t her who instructed Macy to spout those lies,” said Blair. “And if it was Macy’s Alpha who put her up to it, we’re wrong in thinking that Gabriel could be behind it.”

“Yes, but we can’t know for certain that the Alpha female was to blame. There’s no point in us asking her—she wouldn’t incriminate herself.” Reaching Valentina and James’s apartment, Luke knocked on the door. It swung open mere moments later.

“Ah, here you are.” Valentina stepped aside, urging them to enter. Quick hugs later, she led them into the kitchen. She scowled at her brothers. “Will you three stop rummaging through fridge! We are about to eat!”

Mumbling to themselves, they closed the fridge and turned.

Sergio smiled at Blair. “It is our little bush dog.”

“Not so little now, though,” Dimitri pointed out.

“She still eyes us like female wolverine protecting young,” Isaak said in approval. He sniffed at Luke. “You are lucky to have bush dog for mate. Not like my poor Valentina, who was lumbered with cat.”

“I’m a cat,” Luke patiently told him, but the comment was waved away. He rolled his eyes, used to them disparaging his kind in front of him. It was far too ridiculous to get worked up about.