13. Wade
13
WADE
I slowly woke to the smell of citrus fruits. I opened my eyes and realized that smell belonged to the blonde hair in front of me. The hair that was attached to the naked body I was currently spooning. Ellie’s delicious body was up against mine, and my dick immediately took notice and hardened. After having sex in her apartment, we moved to mine because I could not bring myself to have sex with her in her brother’s bed. Having sex with Jack’s sister was already going to get me in hot water, but if I did it in his bed, he just might kill me.
After we moved to my place, I took her again, this time in my bed because I was a selfish bastard and needed to be close to her for reasons I really didn’t want to think deeply about. Not once did I think about what would happen if I fell asleep and had a night terror. I chose to blame it on my brain not firing on all cylinders after two of the best damn orgasms of my life.
Waking up to her scent and delicious body up against mine made me never want to leave this bed. Remembering how soft her skin was every time I touched her last night made my dick impossibly harder. Last night was the best sex I’d ever had, bar none. The little noises she made when I kissed her and moved my hands all over her body had me fighting not to be a two-pump chump. Even on the second go last night, I felt like a teenager who couldn’t control his hormones and was ready to blow after being inside her for mere seconds.
Sex with other women was good too. I felt satisfied but ready to go home after finishing. With Ellie , I was ready to go all over again after just a few minutes of recovery. She had that effect on me. Her body was addictive.
Even now, just her body pressed up against mine while sleeping, and I was ready to go again. This woman’s body was like voodoo to my dick. I snuggled up against her, my hands roaming over her warm, naked body, and kissed her neck and shoulders. God , this woman was a drug I couldn’t get enough of.
Before I got serious in my pursuit of taking her again, my phone buzzed from the nightstand. I reluctantly separated from her and reached behind me to grab my phone. I saw a few texts from Archer telling me that he and Vince were on their way over. They found a few things and needed to talk to both Ellie and me. I’d told them yesterday I was going to stay on the couch in her apartment because of what happened, so they’d texted they were headed to her apartment.
I shot them back a thumbs-up reply, realizing I needed to get us both up and dressed and back in her apartment before they came over. The guys knew we’d stayed in the same apartment, but I wasn’t ready for the conversation with them about the other stuff that took place in the apartment last night, or that we ended up moving to my apartment and my bed.
I turned back around, put my hand on her shoulder, and tried to wake her.
“Ellie, we gotta get up,” I said in her ear, which only made it worse because I took in her scent again and my brain struggled. “ Archer and Vince are on their way over.”
She moaned and pushed her soft body right back up against me, and my dick protested that we were not going to remedy this situation. I had to get up and get away from her before I lost control and Vince and Archer heard me hooking up with her from the hallway.
“Ellie, the guys will be here in a few minutes. We need to get up and get dressed,” I told her as I made my way from the bed to the dresser.
I heard her rouse and rustle under the covers, but I didn’t want to see her naked body since I was trying to get my dick under control, so I grabbed my clothes and walked out into the kitchen area. I headed over to my coffeemaker, hoping to pump some caffeine into my body since I was exhausted from not having much sleep the past two nights.
“Wade,” Ellie called my name from the hallway. “ Umm , I don’t have any clothes other than my nightgown.”
I looked down to see her in that damn pink nightgown that looked amazing on her, but I realized I didn’t want Archer and Vince to see her like that. I tried not to dwell on the fact that having other men see her dressed like that made me jealous.
“Let’s just go over to your place, then. We can make coffee there,” I told her as I grabbed my favorite kind from the counter.
We walked across the hall, and she went to change while I got coffee going in her kitchen.
We weren’t even in there for five minutes before there was a knock on the door. I opened it to allow Archer and Vince to walk inside. Archer started to tell me something in a low voice as Ellie rushed into the room with short jean shorts that showed off her amazing long legs and another Army T -shirt that still gave me a weird sense of jealousy. I turned to look at my friends before my dick started to harden and I embarrassed myself, only to see Vince’s eyes on me, very calculated, like he was trying to read my thoughts.
“I’m sorry. I was going to try to make some breakfast before you guys got here,” she rushed to say as she pulled her hair into a ponytail and darted into the kitchen area. “ Just give me a few minutes, and I’ll whip something up real quick,” she said over her shoulder.
“It’s really not necessary, Ellie . We already ate, but thanks,” Archer told her politely.
I looked back over to Vince , who was looking back and forth between Ellie and me, and I started to get a little nervous that he knew exactly what happened and he could see through my smooth exterior.
“Are you sure?” she asked, clearly upset that she had not been a good host or something. “ What about coffee? Wade started that, so it should be ready?”
They both agreed to that and started to move into the living room area, where they sat on the couch. I followed them in, and Archer started to talk low again to me, clearly wanting to tell me something that Ellie couldn’t hear.
“Started looking into some things, and I need to take a look at her car,” he started to say before Ellie came into the room and handed them both a coffee.
“So, what did you guys want to talk about?” Ellie looked at them with a bit of unease, even though she was trying to cover it with her shoulders back and a tight smile on her face.
Archer and Vince both looked at each other, and Vince leaned forward like he was going to ask her for something he wasn’t sure she was going to agree to.
“Before we get to that, I was wondering if I could borrow your car for a few hours today since mine is in the shop,” he asked her, and I knew something was up. Even if Archer hadn’t just given me a heads-up, Vince’s car was less than a year old, so there was no way there was something wrong with it that would need checked out. Not to mention very few mechanic shops were open on a Sunday , but I wasn’t going to call him out on that since I knew there was more to the story.
“Umm, sure. I work at the pub today, so I shouldn’t need it,” she told him. “ Although , my car is small. Wade’s SUV is bigger if you need it for something to haul.”
Vince paused a second, clearly not expecting that response, though he was quick on his feet and recovered smoothly.
“I, uh, remembered Wade mentioning he had some kind of appointment thing today, and I knew you were working, so I figured it would just be easier, but if it’s an inconvenience, I can…” he started to say, playing into her need for hospitality, before she cut him off.
“Oh no, it’s totally fine. Please take it!” she all but insisted as she waved her hands up. “ I’ll go get the keys!”
She darted back over to the kitchen to get the keys from her purse.
Vince looked over at me quickly and mumbled to just play along. I nodded knowing he would fill me in when he could.
“It doesn’t have much gas in it. I’m sorry,” Ellie said as she handed him the keys.
“All good, Ellie . I’ll get some gas while I’m out,” he told her.
“No, please don’t. I can get some after you return it, although if it runs out and you have to, I can pay you back,” she insisted.
He started to argue with her, but she cut him off.
“Stop!” she sighed before taking in a shaky breath. “ You guys don’t understand. You gave my brother a friendship when he needed it the most, and he always talked about you and how you had his back—well except for you, Archer , since you didn’t serve with him.” She grinned and looked at Archer . “ But you guys are his brothers in all the ways that matter, and now you are my brothers too, so let me do this for you,” she said to us, and while I felt my heart pinch at the kind words she’d said, it also made me feel a little irritated because she thought of me as a brother, and we’d just had sex last night.
“All good, Ellie ,” Vince told her, and she smiled.
“Okay,” she said, and clapped her hands together. “ Was that what you guys came here to talk about, or was there something else?”
“One more thing. What’s Randall’s last name?” Archer asked.
“Rupnik. His full name is Randall Richard Rupnik Junior ,” she answered.
Archer nodded, and I knew he would be reaching out to some friends he still had on the force.
“We also came to talk with Wade about the business, but I’ll also tell you to be careful coming and going from the pub,” Archer cautioned. “ Your ex has obviously figured out you work there, so we want to be vigilant. When Wade is working, he’s going to escort you in and out of the building, but when he’s not, we’ll make sure someone is with you. Got it?”
She nodded and agreed to his terms, though I could see she wasn’t happy about it.
“I’m gonna borrow Wade while Vince takes your car, but I promise one of us will be back to walk you to work before your shift, okay?” Archer told her, and she nodded.
“We’ll be across the hall in his apartment if you need anything,” he said as he got up to leave.
“I know you guys are trying to protect me, and that’s great, but I’ll be fine here by myself. I’m just going to do some laundry and cleaning,” she said, clearly trying to act braver than she likely was feeling on the inside.
“You said it yourself. We’re your brothers now too, so give us the one perk of being a brother and let us be overprotective,” Vince said while smirking at her.
“Touché,” she laughed. “ I’ll lock up after you leave.”
I walked out the door with both of them, but they waited until we got inside my apartment before talking.
Vince decided he was going to be first.
“Where did you sleep last night?” he asked me, but I could tell there was accusation in his tone.
“I slept here in my bed,” I told him, which was the truth. I just left out a few details.
“You left her at her place alone?” he asked, a little shock in his voice. “ I thought you were sleeping at her place on her couch?”
“She insisted Jack’s couch was too small for me to fit on, and she would rather take the couch here so I could sleep in my own bed.” also not a lie, but also not the whole truth. But I wasn’t ready to have this conversation with him about what Ellie and I were since I wasn’t even sure myself. That was also a lie, since I knew she had worked her way under my skin and wasn’t likely to get out.
“Then why were you back at her place this morning?” he accused me again, and I could tell he knew I was withholding from him.
“You told me you were meeting at her place, so we walked back over,” I answered him.
“Guys, enough,” Archer intervened clearly not interested in whatever interrogation Vince was set on giving me.
Taking advantage of his break, I decide to start asking questions.
“Why are you taking her car when I know full well your car has nothing wrong with it and you also know I don’t need mine today,” I asked Vince , but my eyes were focused on Archer since I wasn’t ready to look Vince in the face yet.
“Go take a look at her car and I’ll explain the rest to him,” Archer said to Vince who nodded and walked out the door.
I looked over to Archer , waiting for news I had a feeling I wasn’t going to like.
“You said she told you she doesn’t think the ex knew where in Georgia she was headed, and I believe her. Jack confirmed he first told Ellie his address right before she moved here,” Archer started to explain, but I honed in on one point.
“You talked to Jack about this?” I asked wondering how he took that.
“Yeah,” he confirmed. “ I know we all talked about it, but right after the phone call at the bar, I started having some questions myself. Vince reached out to some contacts you guys still have over there to get in touch with him ASAP . He’s pissed and ready to kill that mother fucker, but also couldn’t talk long since he’s knee deep in his mission. He answered a few questions we had and said as soon as this mission is done, he’s signing his exit paperwork and taking the first flight home.”
He paused, as if carefully choosing his words next. “ You said she mentioned that she originally left him without taking her stuff, and she waited until her friend could go with her to retrieve them a few days later, at a time she knew he was supposed to be working,” he said as I nodded to confirm. “ So , it’s not just that he knew she was here at the pub, but he also knew when she arrived at his house to collect her things, very quickly I might add.
“You know how he found her.” It was a statement because it was the only reason why he would bring this up.
He nodded, then continued. “ My working theory is that he put a tracker on her car. If he knew where she worked, he could have gone there one day during her shift and put it on her car, knowing she would have to come back at some point to collect her things, and he would want to know when that was.”
“Shit,” I growled, knowing this was entirely plausible but also not liking where he was going with this.
“He showed up at the house moments after she did, beat her, and left—probably assuming she would still be there when he returned a few hours later. She wasn’t. But he realized she had only moved the car a few blocks away—something we know she did temporarily while staying with her friend because she didn’t want him to have access to her car.”
All the dots were connecting in my head from Ellie’s story, and it made sense, but also made me livid. Thinking about how he stalked her, only to beat her senseless, had me raging.
He sensed my anger and told me to calm down and let him finish.
“A few days later, when she was recovered enough to make the long drive, she retrieved her car and moved here. He connects the dots once he pings her location to realize she’s parked behind a building that has both a restaurant as well as a security company.”
“Ellie said she told him her brother was, quote ‘starting up a new business with his Army buddies,’ but didn’t give him any details about it or the fact that it was a security business,” I told him, seeing where his mind was going.
“Okay, well, even if he didn’t know about Ranger Shield , she used to work at a pub, and there is a pub right next to where her car has been parked pretty much night and day for the last few weeks. My guess is he kept calling there, hoping to hear her voice or confirm she works there, and he did. Which is why he called again when Tammy worked because he wanted to torment her again.”
“So, Vince is checking her car for a tracking device?” I asked, assuming that was why he needed to “borrow” her car.
“Yeah,” he confirmed. “ We didn’t want to worry her if I was wrong.”
I understood that, but my guess was he wasn’t wrong.
“What do we do when you are correct?” I asked him, letting him know I thought his suspicions were more than valid.
He smiled, clearly appreciating my confidence in how his mind worked, but then his smile changed.
“Hold that thought. Before Vince gets back, I wanna talk about something else,” he said, his eyes boring into mine. “ I checked the cameras in the building this morning to make sure we didn’t have any blind spots in any of the entrances or exits.”
I nodded, not sure where he was going with this.
“Also wanted to check the hallway on this level so I could see in case someone did actually gain access, I wanted to be able to see them clearly from the moment they got off the elevator and all the way to your door and Jack’s ,” he said.
I now realized where he was going with this. He’d seen Ellie and me leave her apartment last night and head to mine. He’d seen me kiss her up against the door. I cursed every possible word I knew in my head. How could I have forgotten the cameras?
“I don’t know Jack as well as you and Vince since I didn’t serve with him, but I’m still happy to take on the brotherly role of protector for her,” he said, staring right at me. “ Do I need to be stepping in as a brother right now?”
His question wasn’t asked in anger, but rather as a message. A message of “it’s none of my business, but at the same time it is.” I didn’t know how to answer him because I honestly didn’t know what Ellie and I were myself, but I also needed him to know that.
“I won’t do anything to hurt her,” I told him, which I knew was vague, but I also didn’t really want to get into it with him.
“I didn’t say you would,” he started to say, but was interrupted.
Just then the door opened and Vince walked in, holding something.
“Found it.” He held out his phone, showing a photo he took of a little transmitter device. “ Asshole didn’t even hide it that well, so I’m guessing he thought he’d have her back and would be able to remove it himself before anyone figured it out.”
“Now what do we do?” I asked, feeling myself get angry again.
“Now, we mess with him,” Vince said.
I looked over at the two of them and watched them exchange a look, realizing they must have already come up with a plan.
“Remember, Tammy said she told Randall over the phone yesterday that Ellie doesn’t work there anymore—so we play off that,” Vince noted.
“We move her car to my apartment complex for now, which is the most secure of anyone’s, and I’ve got plenty of cameras around and gated access,” Archer explained. “ We also take turns driving it to a couple other pubs around town to make him think she’s looking for a new job. This will buy us some time to do more digging into this asshole.”
“Are we going to tell her what’s going on and why she can’t have her car back?” I asked, knowing she would be fine with one day but would start to get suspicious if he kept asking every day to borrow her car.
“We can, and honestly, it may be good for her to realize how seriously whacked-out this guy is and would allow us to keep a closer eye on her,” Archer said. “ Or we can also tell her that Vince got into a little fender bender today and will get her car fixed but will take a few more days.”
Both options were good, but I figured Ellie would be pissed if she knew we were hiding something from her, and, selfishly, it would give me an excuse to keep her close.
“I say we tell her. Otherwise , she’ll be pissed if she finds out we withheld this information,” I told them. “ And you’re right, hopefully it will make her be more vigilant.”
“And also give you an excuse to keep her sleeping at your place,” Vince said with a hint of accusation in his voice.
Shit. Archer brought it up specifically when Vince was out of the room, so I didn’t think he knew what had already transpired, but still.
“Also, if Rupnik’s been paying attention,” Archer added. “ He’d have noticed she hasn’t moved her car at all during the night the last few weeks. So , he either thinks she’s sleeping at the pub or is living in the building.”
“There’s no way he can get up to these apartments without the code and a key. Plus , we have dozens of cameras everywhere,” I interjected. “ But if she feels more comfortable staying with one of us, then I don’t see the problem with that.”
The guys just nodded at my response, and I took that as a win for now. I sent her a text to tell her the guys and I wanted to chat with her, and she messaged back right away to come over. The guys and I discussed how we wanted to handle this then walked over there.
She opened the door with a smile, but when she saw all three of us standing there, instantly the smile dropped from her face.
“Something tells me you aren’t here for good news,” she said cautiously as she opened the door more and let us in.
We explained how the guys found the tracker on her car and how that was likely not only how he knew she was at the pub, but also how he knew she’d arrived at his house to pack up her things.
“This is why you wanted to borrow my car, wasn’t it?” she asked with clear sadness in her voice as she took this all in.
We confirmed and explained how we thought we should proceed using her car to throw him off by moving it around.
“Do I need to move out of Jack’s apartment if he knows I was here?” she asked nervously.
“You can always stay with me if you want. I have an extra room, and my building is also secure,” Vince said, and I instantly glared at him. I stopped myself after a couple seconds, realizing I didn’t want to give anything away, but he briefly smirked at me, which meant he did it on purpose to get under my skin, and I now knew he realized something else was going on. Shit .
“This building is incredibly secure, and the odds of him getting in here to this apartment are extremely small, but if you’d rather stay somewhere else, we can make that happen,” Archer said, sensing the growing tension between Vince and me and trying to take over.
“Okay, um, I think I’d like to stay here if you think it’s safe,” she said, trying to sound a bit more confident.
“You should be fine, but I’m always across the hall if you need anything,” I said to let her know I was here, but I also didn’t offer to stay with her right in front of Vince and Archer .
“What will I do when I need to use my car though?” she asked.
“One of us can take you whenever you need to go somewhere. We have a special company vehicle that we can use,” Archer told her, and I was glad he did, because I hadn’t thought of that.
We had two vehicles we’d bought for the business to use as needed. One was an older model sedan that was nothing special but would blend in if we needed to do recon or get into places unnoticed. The other was an SUV that had all the bells and whistles and extra security features. This was the one he was likely referring to.
“Okay, thanks,” she said. “ I’m supposed to meet Ruthie tomorrow to go with her to her self-defense class.”
This was a surprise to me, but I was glad she was going to that because it would be very helpful. I was also happy she was making friends. I didn’t know much about Ruthie , but she seemed nice. She also didn’t appear to have any local friends either since she moved here at the same time Archer did.
“I can take you both to that,” Archer said before I had the chance to offer.
“Oh no, I can just borrow one of the cars. There’s no need for you to drive out of your way to get us both,” Ellie responded and I was about to offer myself, but Archer cut in.
“It’s not out of my way, Ellie ,” Archer interrupted smoothly. “ Ruthie lives in my same apartment complex, and we sometimes drive to work together any way. I can take you both and then drop you back off when we come into the office.”
“Oh, okay. I didn’t realize you both lived in the same complex,” she said, and I realized I didn’t know that either. I didn’t know much about Archer , other than he was Vince’s cousin, grew up in Vegas , used to be a cop until something bad happened, or maybe a few bad somethings happened, and one of his sticking points with starting the new company with us was that Ruthie was going to be our secretary. I also vaguely recalled Vince saying he may have also been married once, though I wasn’t sure about that.
I put those thoughts on the back burner for now. Archer and Ellie finished up their conversation about the self-defense class, and then we all went our separate ways. I really did have a few errands to run, so Archer was going to drop Ellie off at work while Vince went and moved her car.
Since I didn’t want to talk about it in front of the guys, I made plans to talk to Ellie about what happened last night after we were done at the pub tonight. Plus , this would give me time to get my own thoughts together on what I want to do, since at this point, I really didn’t have one single clue.