No, if he’d caught Finn, Finn would have paid. He would have been on his fucking knees. His backside would bleed, and he would have to spit out his safe word before Julian would stop. Then, and only then, would Julian allow him to beg for forgiveness. It would be a long time coming, but Julian knew he wouldn’t allow Finn to leave. And as for Danielle, well, Danielle would never do that. He trusted her. If he saw her on tape doing what Jeremy had done, he would have known there was a damn good reason for it.
He stopped just before he made it to the bedroom door. He trusted Danielle. He trusted her deep in his bones, in a way he hadn’t trusted anyone except Candice and Jackson and Samuel.
Was he in love with Danielle?
Julian turned away from the door. He couldn’t look in on them. He strode down the stairs, found his clothes, and righted himself. When he looked smooth and calm, he walked to the main house. Coffee. He needed a bit of caffeine, and then he would be on the proper footing. Later, he would call Lucas and have him draw up a contract between himself, Danielle, and Finn.
Yes, that was what he needed. A contract would place all the proper boundaries in place, and he would be back on an even keel.
Julian slipped into the house and immediately heard laughter. It was the throaty laughter of a man, and it was coming from the dining room.
“You seriously just jumped into Julian Lodge’s car and told him to drive?”
Another laugh, this one light and frothy and feminine. Danielle. “Well, he didn’t exactly jump to do my bidding, Leo.”
Julian’s fists clenched at his side. She sounded very flirty, his little sub. Yes. He needed a contract, one that allowed him to tear into her sweet ass when she flirted with other Doms.
“I don’t doubt it for a moment, sweetheart. Julian prefers to give the orders, not take them. I should know. Now, if you had jumped into my Jeep, things would have gone differently.”
Julian strode through the door. Leo was sitting altogether too close to Julian’s property. His Dom in residence poured coffee into her mug, while he beamed at her in that all-American hero way of his. Jackson was right. Leo was an asshole.
“It would have gone exactly the same way, Leo,” Julian said as he noted Finn was sitting at the end of the table staring a hole through Leo’s head. Finn sighed and seemed utterly relieved when Julian stepped into the room. Julian would have to train Finn to ward off potential poachers. He couldn’t be allowed to mope while some Dom attempted to charm Danielle away.
Leo sat back in his chair. If he was intimidated, it didn’t show. He simply smiled up and looked too young for Julian’s comfort. “Good to see you, boss. I was just getting to know Dani, here. Lovely girl.”
“Yes, she is. Danielle,” he commanded as he sat down.
She stared at him for a moment, seemingly confused. “Yes?”
“He wants you to sit in his lap,” Leo explained. “It’s his caveman-like way of telling me to keep my hands off you.”
Danielle shook her head. “It isn’t like that, Julian. He was just being nice.”
Such an innocent. He turned to Leo. “Were you just being nice, Leo?”
“Hell, no. I was trying to figure out how fast I could get her tied up and sink my cock in her ass. I bet she’s a virgin there, Julian. She’s one gorgeous sub.”
Danielle’s face went up in flames, and Finn stood.
“You keep your hands off her!”
Julian sighed. “Sit down, Finn. The time to beat the shit out of Leo has passed. We need to work on that. Don’t worry yourself too much, Finn. Once she’s properly collared, we need only worry about all the vanilla assholes who will hit on our woman. The Doms will back off.”
Leo shrugged. “I thought I should give it a try before you collared her. She’s lovely, Julian.”
He was only slightly placated by Leo’s appreciation for his sub. His lap was still empty. “Danielle?”
She was on her feet, the coffee in front of her forgotten. She hurried around the table, her clumsiness entirely endearing in Julian’s mind. She almost stumbled into his lap. He’d had slaves who never made a wrong move, so why was it Danielle who meant so much? Why was it Finn who drew him in?
“You can sit down now, Finn,” Julian said, his arm circling Danielle’s waist. Her arms went around his neck, her breath warm on his nape. “Actually, move your chair next to mine.”
Finn moved, dragging the chair close to his. He sat down, and his hand came out, silently requesting contact, which Julian gave by covering it with his own.
“I still think he’s a jerk.”
“Who?” Samuel asked as he strode in. “Oh, Leo. Hey, Finn must be talking about you. Don’t worry about him. He likes to play around with other men’s wives. He doesn’t mean anything by it. He’s a pussy when it comes to commitment, so he falls for unavailable women.”
Leo frowned. “That’s actually quite astute of you, Sam.”
Samuel grabbed a Danish from the buffet and sat down. “There’s a brain behind all this masculine beauty. I don’t use it often, but it’s there. It’s working overtime right now trying to figure out why the hell my partner and my wife had to take off for Dallas the minute you came in. I got a note, Leo. A fucking note. I was up all damn night with a calving, and now Jack and Abby are driving to Dallas with nothing more than a note telling me to watch out for Josh and Olivia. You tell me what’s going on, and you tell me now.”
Somewhere in his speech, Samuel had morphed from funny, goodtime guy to one pissed-off husband. He was all threat as he looked at Leo, and Julian was damn proud of the man he’d become. Finn could do that, too, if he was properly loved.
Loved. Could he do it? Could he love them and not lose himself? He felt his hand tighten over Finn’s. Finn looked up, startled, but he threaded his fingers through Julian’s and squeezed back. It was a sign. I’ll be there, Finn said silently as he laced their hands together.
He turned back to Leo, who had gone very serious.
“Lexi is missing. Lucas called me last night, and she was supposed to come to his place for dinner, but she never showed up. He can’t get her to answer her cell, and she wasn’t in her apartment.”
“Fuck me,” Samuel said, standing up. His jaw clenched in anger. “I’m going after them.”
“Sit down, Samuel,” Julian said, using his darkest voice. “I have the feeling this gets worse.”
Jackson would never have left him behind if there weren’t something more. As if conjured out of thin air, Samuel’s cell trilled. He fumbled for it and sighed in relief.
“It’s Jack.” He strode off as he began to speak to his lover, his partner.
Julian turned to Leo. “Tell me.”
Lexi Moore belonged to Julian’s little family. She might be a pain in his ass, but she was his pain to deal with. If someone had her, he would move heaven and earth to get her back.
“I don’t know if Lexi has anything to do with this, Julian.” Leo leaned forward, his bulky arms on the table. His face was hard as granite now, and Julian could see the Navy SEAL commando in his happy-go-lucky employee. “She’s been a bit erratic since her wedding got called off.”
“She would never worry Lucas like that.” They had an odd relationship, Lucas and Lexi, but Julian knew she would never hurt him in such a fashion. She clung to Lucas. He was her life raft.
“Then we should worry. I’ve seen a disturbing pattern over the last few months, Julian. It started with your car being trashed.”
Danielle sat up in Julian’s lap. “Someone vandalized your car?”
He stroked her back. “It happens in the city, little one. Even in protected places, it can happen.”