Chapter 32
E verly
“Oh God, oh shit,” I chanted to myself.
After my tell-all with Connor, I’d rid myself of the sex toys, cleaned us up, then cuddled up with him on the bed. On the screen, the contestants for the game had emerged from the warehouse as five happy couples, everyone bloodied, all in the throes of passion, then the footage had cut out, leaving us in the low pink light of the room.
It took an embarrassingly long time for me to realise I was stuck.
I couldn’t get Connor back upstairs, not on my own, and we couldn’t spend the night here. For all I knew, the room was booked throughout, and a customer would arrive any minute to kick us out.
Also, I was naked, and so was Connor.
The dangers of the high-adrenaline evening and the fact the club was full to the brim scared me.
I needed help, and he was going to kill me for it in the morning.
At the door, I held my breath and peeked out. Our room was down a dimly lit corridor from the big open space with all the sex furniture and people, but my luck was in.
A familiar woman strutted by, calling good luck to whoever she’d been with.
“Cassie,” I hissed.
She jumped. Spun around to seek the source then crept over. “Uh, Everly? Are ye okay?”
“No.” My voice cracked on a laugh. “I have a problem, and it’s awkward as hell.”
“Oh my God. Please tell me Shade got his dick stuck in something.”
“Not exactly. I’m sorry to lay this on you, but could you find Arran? Also, I need something to cover myself up with.”
She choked. “You’re naked right now?”
“I’m so sorry!”
“Don’t be, this is awesome. Stay right there. I’ll be back.”
Ten minutes later, and wearing a long skeleton crew t-shirt Cassie had found for me, I wrestled Connor’s jeans back onto him.
Someone thumped at the door. “Everly, open up.”
It was Arran. I let him in.
He burst inside, his dark-blond hair a mess I imagined at Genevieve’s hands, and his expression fraught where he looked his friend over. “Is he sick?”
I touched my forehead in embarrassment then gestured to the sedative case. “Nope. I knocked him out and now I can’t get him back to our apartment. I messed up.”
Arran stilled then pressed his fist to his mouth. Incredulity warred with amusement in his expression, but he fought to neutralise it.
“Can he hear me?” At my nod, he addressed the prone man on the bed. “Listen up, brother. I’m going to carry you upstairs, then we are never speaking of this again.”
His gaze took in the room, me, then Connor. All Connor’s distinctive tattoos were on display.
“There’s a problem in how recognisable he is. He can’t be seen like this. Aside from reputation’s sake, he’ll fucking murder me.”
“I know!” I squeaked.
“Then we’ll cover him as best we can and move fast.” Arran stripped his shirt, cradling Connor’s head to dress him. I fastened the bandanna I’d worn earlier over his face and hair.
We stepped back to admire our handiwork.
Arran jerked his chin. “You go first. Get to the lift then hold it. Don’t talk to anyone.”
I ran, my wobbly parts jiggling in my flight back through the brothel to the exit that led to the penthouse apartments. A spying Cassie gave me a slick high five, but otherwise, I ignored every other face. In the lift, I breathed hard, then almost sagged in relief when Arran swept inside a minute later with Connor over his shoulder.
He leaned against the wall, sweat on his brow, and his only comment was a quiet, “Heavy fucker.”
Upstairs, I used the code to get us inside, and Arran hefted Connor to our bed, then the two of us retreated to the living room.
“Is there an antidote?” I whispered.
Arran rolled his neck. “Outside my wheelhouse. He’s the specialist, and you took him out of commission.” He waved off my sorrowful apology. “He no doubt deserved it. Watch over him.”
He left us, and I returned to the bed to do exactly that.
Brushing Connor’s hair back from his head, I pressed a kiss to his forehead. “I won’t leave you. I’ll never leave you. If you forgive me, I’ll spend the rest of my life making it all up to you.”
To the tune of the club almost bursting with patrons and raucous shouts reaching us from below, I took his pulse, as if that could tell me anything other than his heartbeat in a steady rhythm.
More, I told him I loved him. That I was sorry for choosing wrong.
I stripped my borrowed shirt to show him I obeyed his rules.
But I just as quickly put it back on when someone thumped at the door.
“Everly,” Arran called through the apartment.
There was a tone in his voice I didn’t like at all.
Stumbling from the bed, I squeezed Connor’s hand. “It’s just Arran. I’ll be right back.”
I could almost feel his anger at me walking away. At the apartment’s entrance, I paused and spoke through the door. “Is everything okay?”
“The police are here.”
I stilled. That didn’t sound good.
“For you.” In spite of my terror, Arran continued. “They said they received a report that you were being held here against your will and wanted to speak to you. That’s all.”
I opened the door, expecting to see uniformed officers filling the hall, but it was only Arran with Genevieve at his side.
She gave me a sympathetic look. “A quick conversation will do the trick.”
“You don’t think they’ll try to take me?”
Arran snorted, his thumbs in his beltloops. “They can try. Gen’s going to sit with Shade so he can listen in over her phone. He’d want that, even if he can’t do anything.”
I shrank in on myself, suddenly afraid, as if I was a naughty child going in front of the headteacher. My father had sent them in, I knew it. “You’ll stay with me?”
Arran inclined his head. I stepped back inside with Genevieve and changed my clothes. Leaving her with Connor and a promise to him that I’d return soon, I exited.
In the time it took for the lift to reach the ground floor, I was sweating.
“My office,” Arran directed.
We moved down the corridor. Two police officers, a man and a woman, waited outside Arran’s room, watched over by one of Arran’s crew.
“Everly Makepeace?” The woman stepped forward. At my nod, she slid a glance over Arran that was decidedly frosty. “We’d appreciate a moment alone.”
“Arran stays with me,” I stated.
She thinned her lips. “As you prefer.” In the room, she got to the point. “I’m Police Constable Sanders, and this is my colleague, PC Smith. We received a report this evening that the daughter of the mayor had been kidnapped.”
I held up a hand to stop her. “You know my name, so please use it. How is it relevant who my father is?”
The two officers exchanged a look.
PC Sanders began again. “I need to ascertain if you are here in this establishment voluntarily or under force.”
“I’m here because I want to be.”
She pursed her lips and eyeballed a silent Arran once again. Then slowly, she took in the office. The furniture. The bright light. For some reason, her expression of disbelief followed by pointed scrutiny pissed me off. She didn’t give a damn about my safety. This was an intimidation tactic borne from my father’s outrage at me leaving. He’d sent more messages, none of which I’d read, just as I’d ignored his calls. Trust him to step up his attempts.
I launched into an attack of my own. “Let’s get this straight. You’re here because my father or one of his cronies pulled strings to get me back under his roof. I’m twenty-seven years old. An adult. I can live wherever I choose. Did I break the law in moving out of his house?”
“No, but in circumstances like this?—”
“But nothing.” I advanced on her. “He wanted me out, but his method left a lot to be desired, and I won’t suffer his control anymore. I’m exactly where I want to be. I will never return to him and am here by choice. Can I make myself any clearer?”
She watched me.
“Anything to add, Police Constable Sanders? If not, I’m going back to bed.”
At length, she inclined her head. “I appreciate your time.”
She could appreciate that all the way back to toadying up to my father. With Arran arranging for them to be seen out, I returned upstairs.
Genevieve left me, and I locked up then climbed back in bed with Connor. Stroked his hair and told him what had happened. That I was fine and in no danger. Filling in my thoughts and feelings to what he would’ve heard over the phone.
God only knew what he’d have to say about it in the morning.