He wouldn’t let Leo down.
Chapter Thirteen
“Please tell me what’s going on.” Shelley looked around Leo’s apartment. Finn and Lucas were sitting on the couch.
“Wolf should be here soon,” Lucas explained in his smoothest tone. “He’ll know more than we do.”
“It’s going to be okay,” Finn assured her.
But it didn’t feel that way. She’d been hustled out of the breakfast by Finn and Lucas as though she was under some sort of immediate threat. Her stomach turned.
“Is this about Bryce? Has something else come up? Did the feds find something new?” It was her greatest fear. Bryce had used her in a myriad of ways to cover his crimes. She’d been too trusting. She’d signed documents she hadn’t really understood, giving Bryce a place to hide his money. She’d unwittingly given him a vehicle for his blackmail operation. He’d hidden spy cameras in the various lamps and vases she’d used in her designs. He’d gotten her the clients, wealthy, powerful men. She hadn’t known a damn thing. She’d been stupid. She’d always known it would catch up to her.
“I don’t know, Shelley,” Finn said. He seemed to be trying to soothe her. “I just know that Julian asked that we escort you down here and we don’t let you out of our sights. From what I understand, Aidan is handling the weekly meeting because everyone else is dealing with this situation.”
That meant it was damn serious. There was a hierarchy at The Club. If Julian couldn’t handle something then Leo would. Ben and Chase were next in line. Aidan wasn’t even a full timer here. If Aidan was talking to the employees about the Saturday-night scenes, then every Dom on the payroll was in this emergency meeting.
It was serious. And it was about her.
Tears threatened.
“Would you like some tea?” Lucas asked. “Or coffee? Have you eaten anything?”
Shelley shook her head. The last thing she could think about was her stomach. “I’m fine. I think I’ll just freshen up.”
She started down the hallway to the bathroom. She needed a minute. She could hear Finn and Lucas talking.
“Should we let her go?” Finn asked.
“We’re sixteen stories up. There’s no back way out, and we swept the place when we came in. She’s fine. Give her a minute,” Lucas replied.
Fine? Not anywhere close. Fine was a state she’d moved away from a long time before.
She closed the bathroom door behind her. But she’d been more than fine the night before. She’d been perfect. She’d been held between Leo and Wolf. She hadn’t had to think. She’d just felt the press of their bodies against hers, into hers. She’d been surrounded by them, safe and protected.
God, she wanted to be between them now and not for sex. She wanted them to hold her, to promise her it would be all right.
She walked to the sink and turned on the cold water, splashing it on her face. To hell with her makeup. She couldn’t breathe.
The phone in her pocket trilled.
Leo? Wolf? She scrambled, her fingers fluttering as she pulled the phone from her pocket. It was a text, and she didn’t know the number.
I know what you did. If you want to leave the men out of it, meet me in five minutes. The Mexican place down the street. If not, I can kill those two and then we’ll still talk. You have five minutes.
She dropped the phone as though it had burned her flesh.
All of her nightmares were real. Someone knew and they wanted revenge. The question was, would she let her men stand in the way of it?
Hell, no. She’d hidden for too long. The thought of Leo taking a bullet was worse than her own death. An image of Wolf’s big strong body forever silent threatened to wreck her.
She couldn’t let it happen. She needed to call the police, but what would this person do if she didn’t show up in the requisite five minutes she’d been given? How vulnerable were Leo and Wolf?
She took a deep breath. She needed a few things. She winced a little. The first thing she needed to do was get the damn plug out of her ass. She couldn’t run with it. Wolf would be pissed, but then again, she might not see him again.
She got it done, anger coursing through her veins. She should be exploring, having fun with her new Dom and trying to bring Leo in, but no, she was still dealing with Bryce’s shit. He would never let her go. He was dead and gone and still screwing with her life.
One mistake. That was all it had taken. One mistake she’d made when she was too young to know better and her life was over. It had been the day she’d said yes to Bryce.
She smoothed her hair back. She couldn’t look like a woman who was about to make a break for it. Damn it. She missed the stupid plug. It had been a reminder of Wolf, as though he was there with her. Now she was alone.
And she had a job to do.
As quietly as she could, she slipped out of the bathroom and down the hall. Wolf had talked about carrying a gun. She wondered if he had more than one. She went into the small bedroom she’d shared with the men the night before. Wolf’s duffel bag was on the bed. Guilt knifed through her. Wolf trusted her, but she wasn’t sure what else to do.
Lucas had a son. Finn had a baby on the way. She couldn’t risk them. She’d gotten herself into this position. She was going to get herself out.
There it was, just past his spare pair of jeans. She had no idea what the make was or the name. It was a gun. It was big and shiny and metallic and it would kill people.
She grabbed Wolf’s hoodie. It was enormous. It would hide the fact that she had a gun in the pocket of her jeans. Her hands shaking, she carefully placed the gun, muzzle down, handle up. She wasn’t going out without a fight.
She walked back out. Finn sat beside Lucas, both men watching their phones as if waiting for some message they were sure would come.
“Lucas, I changed my mind. I really am hungry,” she said, trying to give him a wan smile. She clutched at the cotton of the jacket as though cold.
Lucas stood up. “Of course. I’ll go see what Leo has. I’m sure I can make you an omelet.”
He walked back to the kitchen and Finn got up as well. He sighed and held out a hand, finding hers and squeezing it. “It’s going to be okay, Shelley. I promise. Wolf can handle this. If you’re worried about him leaving, I really wouldn’t. And Leo will come around. Trust me. This is all some horrifically convoluted plan of my Master’s to bring everyone together. Julian tends to get what he wants, and he wants all three of you happy.”
She nodded and brought a hand to her temple. She wasn’t worried about Wolf leaving. She was worried about Wolf staying and taking a bullet. “I know. I’ll be all right. I just have a horrible headache.”
“Stress. Of course. I’ll go see if I can find you something.” Finn turned and walked toward the bathroom.
She had so little time. Grabbing her purse, she moved as quickly as she could. She opened the door and slipped out. The moment she had the door closed again, she sprinted.
The carpet beneath her masked the sound of her feet pounding against the floor. She ran as silently as she could toward the elevator. She would use the stairs but she was all the way up on the sixteenth floor. But, perhaps…
She broke for the stairs. Finn would figure it out pretty quickly, and then he and Lucas would look for her. They would check through the apartment first, but then they would look in the hall. They would find her standing by the elevators.
If she ran hard, she could make it down a couple of flights of stairs and then catch the service elevator at the back of the building. She’d used it many times while working on the penthouse. It was large and utilitarian, unlike the elegant main elevator. It was big enough to hold furniture and appliances. It ran down to the garage.