Chapter 27
CHAPTER 27
NORTH CAROLINA
A dria glanced down at her phone, realizing it was the third time Jonathan had called. She knew she couldn’t keep avoiding him or she risked him showing up unannounced.
Answering it?—
“You have been a hard person to get a hold of.” Jonathan’s voice was deceptively sweet. “I trust you are not avoiding me.”
“No, Jonathan, just have a lot on my plate these days. A fact you insist on continuing to remind me about,” Adria replied.
Ever since the Triune’s visit, not a day went by that she didn’t hear from Jonathan. It seemed he was taking his newfound freedom into her life very liberally.
“It’s purely work, darling. The Triune expects me to keep tabs on the situation, you understand?”
To that, Adria didn’t respond. Clearly, Jonathan wanted to play house, and she was well past playing games.
After an extended pause, he continued, “On the note of work, there has been a slight alteration in plans. Rather than your home, the Triune wants the preview to be on neutral ground.”
Adria doubted that she and the Triune would agree on the term neutral ground. If the Triune wanted it changed, it benefited them in some way.
“They have taken the liberty of securing Club Shale, two weeks from today.”
The phone dropped out of Adria’s hand, bouncing off her gold-laced Persian rug.
Scrambling, she picked it up.
“That is impossible,” she said, getting the phone to her ear. “The preview isn’t for months.”
The preview took place a few weeks before the auction as a way to generate interest.
“The timeline has been moved up, princess, I trust you will adjust.”
Click.
The line went dead.
Adria threw the phone, and it crashed into the wall with a loud crack before tumbling to the floor.
Club Shale was her place. The one piece of herself that she had apart from the Nine. Now Jonathan would be there. Walking along the leather-lined walls, casting his eyes over all of her hidden places.
Adria screamed.
The sound reverberated from the ground beneath her. Like a heavy weight, suffocating her. It felt as though a torrent of emotions was pouring out of her.
“What the hell is going on in here?”
Eric rushed into the room but stopped at the door. His 9mm already out of the holster, as he moved around the corner.
“Adria, what is it?” he said, checking for monsters.
Except the monster wasn’t here.
“ADRIA,” Eric shouted at her .
“It’s nothing,” she said, going to pick up her phone. “I didn’t mean to scare you.”
Eric holstered his gun. Placing his hands on her shoulders, he gave her a once over.
“I thought your arm was being chopped off,” he said.
That sounded about right.
“Jonathan called,” she said, hating that she had let him get to her.
“And?” Eric pressed, his eyebrows creasing.
“They are moving up the preview. It’s in two weeks.” Adria felt the enormity of what she was saying.
In two weeks, the Triune’s eyes would be on her. Watching her every move with Bryson.
Eric let out a breath.
Letting her go, he took a step back, giving her space.
“We’ll just have to adjust some things.”
She shook her head.
Eric continued, “Bryson snapped sooner than expected. With the three fractured?—”
“They’re making up as we speak,” Adria interrupted.
Eric looked confused. “How would they be…” he looked at her, “You didn’t?”
“They are my submissives, not yours,” Adria said. “I’ll treat them as I see fit.”
Eric looked like he wanted to argue, but instead he said, “You’re right, my apologies.”
She sat down, feeling exhausted. Was there anything she could do right?
Eric was correct. She had all three of them exactly where they wanted them. The conflict between the three had been orchestrated and planned for months.
Adria despised Bryson but couldn't bring herself to feel the same way about Seth and Kaydon.
“Even with this setback, you still have one card to play,” Eric said .
“And what’s that?”
“The boys want to stay together. Suggest a trade.”
Adria didn’t understand.
“Offer them a deal. You sell them to a seller of their choosing if they cooperate at the viewing.”
Adria said, “But I already have a buyer.”
X’s man was going to sabotage the stolen land in exchange for Bryson. Her first priority was satisfying the Triune, but second to that, she needed to ensure that Callen didn’t gain any further power. Especially off the back of her hard work.
“They don’t need to know that,” Eric said.
Adria raised an eyebrow. “Lie?”
“Do you have some aversion to it?”
Technically no.
Technically yes.
It was complicated.
Eric traced a finger along the dent her phone made in the wall.
“I want to up the security detail on you and Loretta,” Eric said.
“I don’t think that’s necessary,” she said. “I don’t want to make any major changes with the Triune watching.”
“Haven’t you been trying to arrange a meeting with X’s buyer?” Eric asked.
She nodded.
“The preview might work to facilitate that.”
“That could work,” she said.
The Triune had more reach than Adria wanted to admit, and she didn’t want them to catch wind of her new potential buyer. When she did sell them, Adria wanted it to seem like a spontaneous decision rather than a pre-planned one.
But at a preview, any number of people would be expected to attend. It would be a perfect time to meet .
“Okay,” Adria said, “I’ll set it up.”
Eric moved to leave.
“And, Adria.”
“Yes?”
“Don’t be afraid to remind the boys what’s at stake.”