Chapter 2
Her sister was getting married.
Angie studied Keira as she smiled and giggled while the makeup artist worked on her. To her surprise, Zander had given Keira full control over this wedding. Letting her do whatever she liked as long as there was security in place.
Angie knew he loved and adored Keira.
But even she was shocked that he’d agreed to this.
This was lavish. She guessed he had plenty of money. You didn’t have a set-up like he did without some cash behind you.
But he didn’t really flash the cash.
That was something she liked about him. She didn’t trust people with all the right words, who liked to show off their wealth and power.
With Zander what you saw was definitely what you got.
He could be blunt and rude.
But she’d take his brand of honesty over lies and deceit any time.
“Can you believe I’m getting married?” Keira said after the makeup artist left.
“Nope,” Honey said as she lay on the couch in the hotel room. She tossed up a chocolate almond, catching it in her mouth.
They’d all come to Colorado Springs for the wedding.
“But that’s more to do with the fact that I can’t believe Zander is getting married. Never thought he’d find someone who’d be crazy enough to tie themselves to him.”
Honey was a member of Zander’s team. She was funny, deadly, and didn’t mince words.
Angie liked to think that she didn’t care what anyone thought of her, either. Like Honey.
But that wasn’t entirely true.
The toughness she displayed was a front. Inside . . . well, she was a bit of a mess.
She’d thought it would only take a few weeks to get over what had happened to her . . . two years later and she still sometimes spoke to her therapist.
It didn’t help that she felt like her life was going nowhere. She was stuck in a rut. Smothered and stifled.
Stop being ungrateful.
Zander and Keira opened up their home to you. They’ve protected you. Looked after you. And they would never let anyone hurt you or put you down.
Well, except for the hurt she inflicted on herself, but luckily no one could hear the mean voice in her head but her.
She should be happy.
Only problem was that she wasn’t entirely sure she knew what it felt like to be happy.
Was that pathetic?
Maybe a bit.
Perhaps she was being greedy. Because it should be enough to be safe, right?
Right.
Happiness just wasn’t for her. And once she understood that . . . well, maybe she could settle. Not feel so restless.
Like she was missing something.
“Honey!” Keira scolded, but she was smiling. “Can you get me another glass of bubbles?”
“Sure,” Honey said dryly. “If you need some liquid courage to marry the boss, I’m not going to tell you no.”
Keira just rolled her eyes.
“You okay?”
Angie jumped and turned to look at Eden Jonas. Who had been Eden Jensen before she’d gotten married a few months ago.
Her brother, Kent, was Zander’s boss.
Sort of.
Zander didn’t seem to realize he had a boss.
Angie hadn’t thought that she’d like Eden. But she found herself drawn to the slightly snarky, kind-hearted woman.
It reminded Angie that she should probably look into legally changing her name. Zander hadn’t wanted a paper trail leading to her until he could figure out if anyone was coming for her.
She had no idea who might come for her. And it had been two years without any sort of threat.
It was time to get rid of her last tie to Fergus.
She shuddered just thinking about his name.
The fucking frog.
And that was being mean to frogs. But his face had reminded her of a bullfrog. If that bullfrog was a heinous, sadistic asshole.
This is Keira’s wedding day, you shouldn’t be thinking about shit like this.
So she smiled brightly at Eden. “Hunky-dory.”
Keira turned, obviously having heard something in Angie’s voice that she didn’t like.
Shit.
Get on the happy train, Angie. Or at least pretend to.
No way was she going to ruin her sister’s big day. Not after Keira had sacrificed so much to help Angie.
“What’s wrong?” Keira asked Angie worriedly. “Are you concerned about security? Because Ammo said he’s got it all under control.”
“What? No, of course not. I know I’m safe.”
Almost too safe, if there was such a thing.
Shouldn’t Zander’s security precautions make her feel better? Shouldn’t she be more grateful?
Sure, she sometimes thought that he bordered on being paranoid.
Actually, scratch that, he was definitely paranoid.
“I’m not worried about my safety. In fact, sometimes . . .”
“Sometimes you wish you had a bit less security?” Eden asked.
“Ahh, it sounds kind of stupid, right?” she asked sheepishly.
“No.” Eden shook her head. “I know how that feels. My brothers tried to keep me as safe as possible by wrapping me in cotton wool. It only made me more rebellious. You should start thinking about the next chapter of your life. Do you want to get a job? Your own place to live?”
“I don’t think that’s in the cards for me,” Angie said. She couldn’t imagine that. But the time that she’d spent on her own in Bricks, Idaho . . . yeah, she’d liked that.
You were lonely.
And you weren’t entirely alone since the Fox was keeping an eye on you.
Yeah, but having her own space had been . . . amazing. She’d never really had that before.
“Do you want that, Angie?” Keira asked, looking concerned. “It . . . would it be safe? I don’t know how Zander would feel about you being unprotected. I don’t know how I feel, but if it’s something you want . . .”
“It’s okay,” Angie said to her. “I’m fine. This isn’t anything you should worry about right now.”
“Right. Okay.”
“Seriously,” Angie told her. “Everything that you guys have done for me is incredible. I don’t need anything more.”
The look on Keira’s face told her that she disagreed with Angie’s opinion.
“Hey, how did this turn into a sad affair?” Honey said. “This is meant to be fun! We’re partying. It’s your wedding day. And you have approximately two hours left to run.”
“Like she could get away from the men following us everywhere,” Eden said dryly.
Honey waved her hand in the air. “Pfft. I am perfectly capable of taking care of us all.”
“It’s because all of your men are uber-protectors,” Angie said. “There’s protective and then there’s your men.”
“Hey!” Honey pointed at her. “I don’t have one of those idiotic creatures.”
“What? A man?” Eden asked.
“Yep. I’ve sworn off men,” Honey said. “They’re all idiots.”
Keira and Angie shared a look. “Uh-huh.”
They had their suspicions about which man Honey really wanted.
And that was going to be an interesting ride.
Jared answered the call, smiling as he saw it was his cousin, Tabby.
She was the only family he actually cared about. Unfortunately, inheriting the “family business” from his father meant he now had to deal with his family.
He had several second and third cousins who now ’worked’ for him. Although he’d gotten rid of the worst of them. The ones that had acted as advisors to his father. They’d been extreme and hadn’t wanted to adapt to his different approach.
That approach being that he wasn’t a fucking dictator asshole with a sadistic streak like his father had been.
“Hey, Jared, how are you?” Tabby asked, sounding happy and relaxed.
Good. She deserved to be happy after all the shit she’d been through.
“I’m fine.”
Sort of. He didn’t know what this itchy, restless feeling inside him was. But he couldn’t seem to get rid of it. He should be happy. He had power, wealth, and a sub who he fucking . . . well, who he wanted every moment of every day.
Who was just his.
And who he would never let go of.
“Are you sure?” she asked. “Are you happy?”
Jared let out a small bark of laughter. “Tabby, you know that happiness isn’t for someone like me.”
Although sometimes he thought he felt happy. At least he figured that’s what the feeling bubbling through his body was.
“What do you mean? Of course it is,” Tabby protested.
But he heard an off note in her voice. She knew what he was saying.
“Is your man treating you well?” he asked with a threatening note. Because if he wasn’t . . .
“Of course he is. Razor always treats me well.”
Damn.
He was happy for his cousin, of course. But he missed her. It was better that she was away from this life, though. It was dangerous and no place for someone sweet and innocent.
Not his cousin.
And not Angie, either.
Fuck. He shouldn’t be thinking about her. It was bad enough that he could see her in every corner of this house. That he still had a photo of her in the top drawer beside his bed . . . and one of her soft toys.
What he should do was get rid of every memento of her. Every piece of her. Let her go.
She was unattainable. Which might be part of the reason he wanted her. Because Jared Bartolli wasn’t a man who was ever denied anything that he wanted.
Yet he denied himself her.
Because he actually wanted to put her first. Which was odd. He’d only ever felt that way about Tabby and North. Their happiness and safety were always most important to him.
Of course Tabby now had Razor.
And North would skin him alive if he tried to coddle and protect him. North was fiercely independent outside of sex and play. Sure, he liked to pretend to be some mild-mannered, timid assistant.
But that was the perfect cover for someone who could sneak into any building without leaving a trace.
“Good,” Jared said. “You tell me if that ever changes.”
“Do you think you’ll ever find a Little, Jared?”
“What makes you think I’m looking for one?” he asked smoothly.
“Just a thought. Unless North . . .”
“Tabby, stop prodding at your cousin for information about his love life,” Razor said in the background.
He clenched his fist to stop himself from snarling at Razor that he couldn’t tell his cousin what to do.
Taking in a deep breath, Jared let it out slowly.
See? He could totally be reasonable.
“Pfft you’re no fun,” Tabby told Razor.
“I know, baby. I’m the fun police. Let me talk to Jared a moment.”
Great. What could Razor possibly want to speak to him about?
“Don’t tell my cousin what to do,” Jared growled at him.
All right. So perhaps he wasn’t that reasonable.
Razor sighed. “I’m going to ignore that. Is everything good?”
Jared raised his eyebrows. “Why wouldn’t it be?”
“Just checking in.
That seemed odd. He had no idea why he’d do that. Or why he would care. After several inane questions, he knew he needed to end the call before he snapped at Razor to mind his own business.
Once upon a time, he might have appreciated someone checking in. Now . . . he wanted to keep his distance from as many people as possible.
The less people he cared about . . . the less people he could fail.
The less people he could lose.