The pleasure I thought I would take in his demise, however, was curiously absent. Relief, sure, that was present, but no real joy. The only thing filling me at the moment was an emptiness that stretched out into the void.
While I might never miss him, I wasn’t entirely sure I’d be able to dismiss him mentally the way I needed.
“Gentlemen,” Leopold said in that firm voice of his after Lainey disappeared upstairs. “There are showers out in the pool house that you can use. Young Mr. Graham there is well aware of the location.” Clearly, we were not invited to follow Lainey up.
Adam didn’t say a word, just pivoted on a heel and strode out. Leopold’s glare followed him. The dislike the old man had for him needed to go.
“Of course,” I said, then nodded to Milo and Bodhi. “You guys can take the first showers. I’ll go last.” Hopefully, Adam was already getting cleaned up. The stench of smoke seemed infused into my skin.
“Go ahead,” Milo said to Bodhi. “I’ll wait for Ezra.”
Wait for…
“I’m good right here,” Bodhi responded before he faced Leopold as well. “You wanted to have a discussion, sir?”
Sir.
Holy shit. Bodhi deferred to almost no one. I said almost because I’d seen him with his step-great-grandmother once. Her, he treated with utter consideration and courtesy. Lainey and Em were the only other two I’d seen him offer the same kind of gentle respect.
Now Leopold Benedict fell into that category.
Funnily enough, the old man just gave Bodhi a firm look. “Don’t try to charm your way out of this one, Phillip. I’m well aware of your interest in my granddaughter as I am of this reprobate—” Oh look, I had a place in the list. “And Reed.” Reprobate actually ranked higher than Reed.
“Leopold,” Milo began, but the old man cut him off with a slice of his hand through the air.
“Milo, my boy, recognizing the competition means identifying their weaknesses, flaws, and points of leverage. I don’t doubt for a second they wouldn’t take her away from you given the first opportunity.”
I frowned.
“I’m telling you all right now, you will not fight over her like some choice cut of prime beef.”
Every single word in that sentence was an insult.
“She’s chosen Milo here and I’ve given my approval. The rest of you boys need to accept that.” Leopold nodded firmly. “That goes for Reed as well. His family has done enough to mine. I will not let him hurt her.”
“Mr. Benedict,” I said, inserting myself into the quiet hanging off that last sentence. “Adam loves Lainey without reservation. He’s not his father. He’s a thousand times better than him.”
Leopold fixed me with a look. One I refused to shrink from.
“As much as I hate to admit it, Bodhi is a damn good man. Odd at times. More than a little intimidating. He’s also handed me my ass more times than I care to confess, but—he would kill for Lainey. If anyone stands a chance of cutting off a threat before it even darkens her doorstep, it would be him.”
Fuck that was so weird offering up the defense for Bodhi, almost like a damn endorsement.
“Is that so?” Leopold glared at me. “I take it you don’t approve of my choice in Hardigan then?”
“I don’t care about your choice,” I admitted, not shying away from that heated look. Fuck, I’d stared my own father down. Leopold was intimidating as hell, but this was bullshit. Hate Harper Reed all you wanted but leave Adam out of it. He was a far better man than I would ever be. “Milo’s fine. In fact, he’s better than fine. But you don’t care about my opinion, so why should I care that you approve of him over everyone else?”
Eyes narrowing, Leopold studied me. “No defense for yourself?”
“You don’t like me because I’m Adam’s friend.” Before, I wouldn’t have cared to figure out why he didn’t like me. The old man was really important to my kotyonok though, so it was better for me to win him over now rather than put her through the need to defend me. “You also didn’t care for my drinking or carousing over the years. That’s on me. If I need to earn your respect, then I’ll work on it.”
Rather than respond to me, he shifted his gaze to Bodhi and Milo. “Nothing to say?”
“I think he’s doing fine, sir. He’s also correct. None of us are our parents. Not me. Not Milo. Not Adam. Not Ezra. The same can be said for Lainey… wouldn’t you agree?”
Goddamn, I envied Bodhi’s directness.
Rather than being put off by it, Leopold met him stare for stare. “One could argue that Melissa was never her parent.”
“One could,” Bodhi agreed with him. “Yet, you raised both Melissa and Lainey, sir. So, I think at least fifty percent of the problem and the accolades could be attributed to you.”
While Milo didn’t wince outwardly, his expression took on a firm neutrality. It was a mask. One he did really well. It kept his opinions and thoughts to himself.
“Do you think couching insults in speculation will gain you something?” Leopold countered with an attack of his own.
“An insult, sir?” Bodhi made the inquiry sound deeply puzzling to him. “I didn’t think we were insulting at all. No more than you were in your observations. Is this not talking as men do? Putting all our cards on the table?”
“All your cards are not on the table,” Leopold pounced on that fact.
“Are yours?” Bodhi dared him.
The silence stretched out almost painfully. Adam’s absence had also grown a little more noticeable. I had to wonder if Leopold guessed what I suspected. Adam needed Lainey at the moment. We all needed her, but sometimes we needed her more than the others at different moments.
“I’ve made my feelings clear,” the old man said decisively. “No one will be using my granddaughter for her inheritance or her reach.”
“No sir,” I said, in absolute agreement. “No one will. We would never allow it.”
“While I appreciate your confidence in me, sir,” Milo added, his respect clear despite the hardness of his tone. “My father is Julius King. If you disapprove of Adam because of his father or Ezra for his, you can’t possibly like me because mine is one of the worst people I’ve ever met. He’s despicable on every level. He doesn’t deserve to breathe the same air as Mayhem or anyone else for that matter. He’s a bottom feeder in a ten thousand dollar suit.”
