36. Colby
Chapter 36
Colby
My wife never ceased to surprise me. I knew she was different and had an attitude to match, but I never considered her someone who would have worked for the LVSF, even as an undercover informant.
I had so many questions about her reasoning for leaving and wanted the name of the officer who dared to make her feel as though she could no longer work for them—to make him regret everything he even remotely considered doing to her.
I wanted that fucker’s head on a stick.
Once Sienna had fallen back asleep, I adjusted myself to sit with my back against the headboard and her head in my lap, with my fingers subconsciously dragging themselves through her long, dark hair.
I was too on edge to sleep, anxiety gripping me like a vice as I considered what I would say to convince Dustin to give her a second chance. What in the ever-loving fuck was I going to do?
Nick texted me throughout the afternoon. He planned on being at the mansion with us to support Sienna and testify about what had happened at the casino, knowing how everything played out firsthand.
There was no way to avoid disclosing my wife’s involvement with the LVSF, seeing as she would be dead right now if she hadn’t been.
However, knowing her history with them made it easier to prove that she was coerced into working with them instead of willingly.
Nick: How long ago did she work for them?
Me: Three years… Why now?
Nick: There could be more behind the organization that Jameson works for if the LVSF is interested in keeping him alive.
Me: Dustin won’t accept that as a reason for her failure.
Nick: I’ll see what I can do before your meeting. Hang tight.
Me: Thanks, Nick. I owe you one for this.
Nick: Don’t thank me just yet. Your wife is still a target until Dustin says otherwise.
“Colby?” Sienna groaned as she stirred in my lap, rolling onto her side and burying her face in my shirt.
I stroked her hair, eyes still closed, and wished everything would be okay after tonight. I’d give anything for a second chance to love her without complication.
I gave my wife another hour before waking her to leave for Dustin’s mansion. Her body was still recovering from the gunshot wound, and it was consuming all of her remaining energy.
To see someone so fit and agile, now wounded and weak, was heartbreaking.
When we pulled up to the mansion, I parked outside the main doors, noticing Nick’s Lamborghini already there. A black Escalade was parked beside his, unfamiliar to me, but I assumed it belonged to Dustin—although, why would he park in the front of his mansion?
I escorted Sienna up the steps, my arm wrapped tightly around her waist for support as she insisted on walking herself.
“You don’t need to coddle me, Colby; I’m highly capable of getting myself into this mansion on my own.” She elbowed me in the ribs with a low growl, determined to piss me off.
That was my wife, ever the challenger of my sanity and patience.
“You were shot in the chest less than forty-eight hours ago, and I don’t know what to expect in there, so let me fucking help you,” I grumbled through a low hiss, squeezing her waist even tighter to get my point across.
I was nervous about this meeting; I had been since the incident at Neon Palms. Nick had given nothing to reassure me of her safety, and the thought alone of what I would be forced to do to her made my stomach turn sour, and bile burn the back of my throat.
I had known of a handful of men over the years who had been forced to end the lives of their wives, all because they couldn’t handle the task set before them.
I’ve seen a broken man and wasn’t ready to become one tonight.
Sienna huffed, relaxing her body against mine as we continued up the steps and through the double doors.
Upon entering the grand foyer, we were met with Dustin’s butler.
“Mr and Mrs Bryce, I presume? Please follow me to Master Slate’s office.” He greeted us before turning on his heel and making his way down a long corridor to the left of the foyer. When we approached a large open black door, he stopped beside it and gestured us inside, addressing Dustin directly: “Your guests have arrived, Sir.”
“Thank you, Avery. That will be all for now.” Dustin replied with a wave of his hand as he turned to face us.
I guided my wife into the room and gestured for her to sit in the empty spot on the black leather loveseat beside Nick, who had his arm fanned out over the back, looking far too comfortable. I glanced at him for any sign of hope as Sienna took her seat, but all he did was return a grim-looking smile and a subtle shake of his head.
“Colby…” Dustin sighed, running a hand down his face before pinching the bridge of his nose in frustration. “Excuse my language tonight, but do you have any idea just how fucking badly your wife fucked up?”
Not what I had expected of his first words for me, but they were better than the alternative of getting straight to the point.
“Dustin—”
“Before you attempt to sway me into giving your wife a second chance, Nick has already done most of that work for you.” Dustin cut me off, and I crossed my arms over my chest to stand my ground, not willing to give an inch without a fight when it came to her life. “What I didn’t account for was someone else speaking up on your wife’s behalf as well…” Wait, what?
I dropped my arms in surprise as a man I didn’t recognize entered the room, shutting the door behind him before stepping up beside Dustin’s desk. Who the fuck?
I peered down at my wife, whose eyes flared wide at the sight of him. She shook her head in denial before shooting up to her feet and pointing at him with a dark, menacing glare, forgetting any pain she once felt in her chest.
“Who the fuck invited him to this.” She seethed through her teeth, looking ready to charge him at any given moment. I wrapped my arm around her waist to hold her back and prevent whoever the fuck he was from being mauled to death by my freaked-the-fuck-out wife. “Why the fuck are you here, Travis! Haven’t you and Landon done enough!?” She shouted with a venom I hadn’t heard from her before.
The man she called Travis laughed, running a hand through his short, dusty brown hair before sliding it into his jeans. His dark green eyes hardened on my wife.
“Relax, sunshine. I’m just here to help.” His eyes flicked to meet mine before returning to her, and I could see red bleed across my vision. “Unless, of course, you no longer want it?” He crooned, holding up the back of his right hand, displaying an all too familiar black ring—Sienna paled at the sight of it, sucking in a sharp breath.
This couldn’t be the Travis she spoke about earlier, could it? How could he be a member of the Men Under Revue and work for the Special Forces? We had no members working in any form of law enforcement. What the fuck was going on?
“I thought we were done with your shit, Travis.” Nick chimed in, sounding almost bored. “Didn’t Dustin tell you to stay in your fucking lane?” And how did Nick know him?
“Someone tell me what the fuck is going on here.” I barked, losing my patience as I glanced around the room. I was far too sober and stressed out for this shit. Fuck sake…
“Sit the fuck down, Travis…” Dustin growled, resting his palms on the desk. “I assume the first thing you are questioning is how a member of the Las Vegas Special Forces unit came to be a member of the Men Under Revue?” He arched a brow at me.
“That would be a good place to start.” I clipped, pulling Sienna’s back to my chest while wrapping my arm around her upper body to keep her in place.
I could feel the anger radiating off her flushed skin, her heavy breaths pushing her chest against my arm.
“Dustin wanted an in with the only field of work he could never penetrate, at least not without help… Simply put, I had what he needed, and he had what I wanted.” Travis spoke like a cocky motherfucker, tilting his head as his eyes examined my wife—and I wanted nothing more than to drive a knife through his throat.
“An in which would ensure that all Las Vegas Law Enforcement would stay the fuck out of our business. Except this time, they didn’t.” Dustin glared daggers at Travis as he hissed his words through a clenched jaw. “Travis confirmed the LVSF knew about Jameson and what we had planned for him. It just so happened that us choosing him as your wife’s target played into their favor, and Travis took advantage of that by leaking information to one of the officers who, in turn, persuaded her into sabotaging herself.”
“We needed him alive, and you needed him dead,” Travis added matter of factly.
“And where does this leave her now?” I questioned, looking between the two of them.
“Colby, you know what happens to those who fail their tests—”
“That’s fucking bullshit, and you know it; he set her the fuck up!” I shouted with rage, gesturing to the piece of shit who put her in this situation to begin with.
“However—” Dustin’s voice rose, holding up his hand to stop me, growing more frustrated with this meeting as it continued. “Seeing as Travis came forward and admitted to interfering with your wife’s assigned test, I have decided that we will issue her a new one in a week’s time.” He finished, picking his phone up from the desk. “Consider this a second , first chance. Now, all of you, get the fuck out of my office.”
I didn’t hesitate for a moment to pull my wife out of that room; I didn’t need to give Dustin any more reason to change his mind after getting away with what we just did.
What he just did was unheard of; a man known for being so ruthless and unforgiving to give my wife a second chance.
As we started making our way down the hall to the front entrance, her hand tightly held in mine, Sienna abruptly stopped and spun herself around, jerking me back in her direction before she released her grip on my hand and pulled away.
“You son of a fucking bitch!” She screamed before slamming her fist into Travis’s jaw. “How fucking long?—” She demanded. “How fucking long have you known?”
I could see she was still reeling from his surprise appearance, her chest rapidly rising and falling with her heavy breaths, and her jaw clenched so tightly that it was a miracle her teeth didn’t shatter from the strain.
“Christ almighty, sunshine. If I had known our reunion would be the same as our departure—” Travis rubbed his jaw with a chuckle. “Although I have to admit, I should have seen this coming. You certainly have a type.” He added, his eyes inspecting me before catching her wrist in his hand as she went in for another swing.
“Get your hand off my fucking wife.” I sneered, launching myself forward, gripping his wrist and squeezing hard in a silent order to release hers.
He let go of her wrist, and I tucked her behind me.
Sienna didn’t need my protection; my wife could sure as fuck handle her own, but I knew she was still weakened in her current state, and I didn’t need her overexerting herself for someone like him.
“She would have been my wife if she hadn’t run away from me first.” He crooned, sliding his hands into his pockets. “Although I never pegged you for the marriage type, Sienna. You were always one to fight instead of surrender.”
“Fuck you, Travis. As if I would have ever considered being tied down by you.” My wife gritted out, hands squeezing my forearm, her nails leaving half-moons in my skin from the tight grip.
“No, but I suppose all I needed to do was get you drunk enough to sign the paperwork. Isn’t that right, Colby?”
I was more than sick of his shit. How did he even fucking know what had happened between us that night?
“Oi! Knock it the fuck off, you two.” Nick’s voice cut the tension between us like a knife as I was about to introduce Travis’s jaw to my fucking fist, just as my wife had done moments ago. “Dustin made his decision, and I suggest we all get the hell out of here before he reconsiders it. I sure as fuck know that he won’t appreciate you two pissing all over his foyer over a woman.”
Fucking Nick…
I leveled a vicious glare at Travis before turning to escort my wife out of the mansion.
“You stay the fuck away from my wife, Travis, you hear me?” I growled over my shoulder as we reached the main doors. “Or I’ll fucking kill you. I don’t give a fuck how valuable you are to Dustin.”
Nick came up behind me as we reached the steps outside and mumbled, “Watch it, Colby. Travis has more influence over him than you think. Stay the fuck out of it, for your wife’s sake.” He gestured his chin to her. “He just saved her ass in there. Dustin was ready to watch you slit her throat before Travis showed up and convinced him otherwise.”
I couldn’t believe Nick was choosing to stand by his side—but I had to agree, he had a point.
If it weren’t for Travis, her blood would be on my hands tonight, but I wasn’t about to thank the asshole for saving her life when he was the one who had put her in that position in the first place.
“Let’s go, love,” I murmured to my wife as I gestured to the passenger seat.
As she got herself situated, I glanced over my shoulder to see Travis standing pompous and proud in the doorway, his arms crossed over his chest.
“Colby.” Nick barked, snapping my attention to him as he stood beside his car door. “Leave.” His stern hiss sent a shiver of warning down my spine, and I did as he ordered, getting into the driver’s seat and leaving the mansion behind us.