Rafe grunted, his mouth spreading into a wide grin. “Invitations to tea, followed by a friendly game of twenty questions and a mind-scrub?”
Chase slid him a wry look. “Something like that, yeah. If any of the women who knew Crowe best have any knowledge about his true nature or his dealings as part of Opus Nostrum, we’ll find out soon enough.”
“As for Cass,” Nathan said, “we’ll find him too. We’ll bring him in. His employees, his known allies and associates—we’ll leave no lead unturned. Tell Lucan, neither Cass nor his secrets will elude us for long.”
Chase gave him a tight nod. “Excellent,” he said, and dropped his open palms to the table in finality. He rose from his seat, and the rest of the group stood up with him. “If there’s nothing else, Tavia and I have some personal business of our own to contend with this morning.”
“It’s Carys,” Tavia volunteered to Nathan and the other warriors. “She’s moving out. Today.”
“Moving out,” Nathan murmured guardedly, surprised by the news, though surely not as surprised as the young woman’s parents must be. “That seems like a sudden decision.”
As he spoke, he caught the uncomfortable looks exchanged between his teammates as all three made a hasty exit from the conference room.
The bastards.
He’d punish them later for abandoning him to this unwanted drama.
“Carys says she’s been considering this for a while now,” Chase replied. “But I know my daughter, and she’s holding something back. I’ve already asked Aric if he knew of any reason she might be upset about something—or upset with us—but he’s been no more forthcoming than her.”
Nathan grunted. “Do you know where she’s going?”
Tavia answered him. “She’s moving in with Jordana at her apartment across town. Nathan, do you know anything about this?”
He gave a slight shake of his head. “It’s the first I’m hearing of it.” The answer was as close to the truth as he could slice it without betraying the sibling conflict of the night before.
“I realize Carys is an adult, and she’s free to live her own life,” Tavia reasoned aloud. “She’s always been impulsive, but this just doesn’t seem like her. More than that, I don’t know if I’m ready to let go of her,” she added, turning a baleful look on Chase. “I know, I’d never truly be ready for this day to come, but especially not now, knowing dangerous people like Cassian Gray are skulking around, unaccounted for. Who knows what he or his cage-fighting thugs might do if they realized one of the Order’s children—a female, no less—was living somewhere in the city away from our protection?”
A growl vibrated in Chase’s chest now. “I’ll forbid her to leave.”
Tavia sighed. “You can’t and you know it. Trying to force her will only make her dig her heels in harder. Carys is a headstrong young woman—not that either of her parents should be surprised by that.”
“No,” Chase replied, his eyes gentle on his mate, even if his tone remained firm. “But if she’s leaving because she’s got a head full of steam over something, or if she’s in some kind of trouble—”
Tavia shook her head. “If she’s upset or in any trouble, you know she’ll only try to shield us from worrying about her. Nathan, what do you think? Are we being too protective if we try to make her stay?”
Fuck. How he’d found himself in the role of family mediator, Nathan had no bloody idea.
But it was difficult not to be moved by Chase and Tavia’s obvious love and concern for their child, even if Carys was a full-grown woman, twenty years old. She was stronger than most later-generation Breed males, and more than capable of taking care of herself.
“You raised her to be independent—Aric too. If Carys feels she’s ready to live on her own, she’s going to do it. No matter what anyone says or thinks. But if you’ll sleep better knowing my team and I will keep a close eye on her, consider it done.”
“Thank you, Nathan,” Tavia said, exhaling her relief while Chase gathered his mate close and gave Nathan a brief nod of appreciation for his offer. The three of them exited the conference room to the corridor outside. They paused there, and Tavia lifted her head from where it rested against Chase’s shoulder. “I still think it can’t hurt to talk to her one more time, see if I can persuade her to change her mind.”
Chase grinned. “Your powers of persuasion may work flawlessly on me, love, but good luck dealing with your daughter. And you’d better work fast. She’s upstairs now, packing up her things with Jordana.”
Nathan stood there as the couple excused themselves and strolled away hand in hand.
Jordana Gates was there right now, upstairs in the estate. Helping Carys collect her belongings, a task that would likely keep Jordana under the same roof as Nathan for the next couple of hours at least.
Christ.
He pivoted abruptly and stalked down the corridor in the opposite direction of Chase and Tavia, toward the passage that would lead him to the weapons room.
It was about as far away from the living quarters of the mansion as he could get. A few hours of physical training was just what he needed. Hell, the way his blood was churning through his veins now, he might not come up for air until the night’s patrol was ready to head out.
With any luck, by the time he surfaced, Carys and her new roommate would be long gone.
5