Chapter 6
CHAPTER SIX
RORY
Waking up with a dry mouth and a thumping head made me question why I drank in the first place. Hangovers sucked.
I sat up in bed and rubbed my eyes, pausing when something flickered in my memories.
I hadn’t been drinking, some guy had broken in and fucking drugged me.
My hands instantly ran down my body to check for damage and to make sure I was still dressed, confusion filling me at finding that I seemed untouched, although still a little bit foggy in the head.
Pushing out of bed, I made my way slowly across the room to the door, cracking it open and peeking into the hallway.
“Hello?” I croaked, my voice rough. Silence met me, and after doing a quick walk-through of the house, I realized I was alone.
If the man hadn’t touched or taken me, why the hell had he drugged me?
Considering Josie’s security was top notch, it concerned me that someone had managed to get in and out without being noticed. I had no idea how the man had done it, and that was what bothered me most about the entire thing.
Not the fact that he’d been inside the house, but that he’d gotten in without a trace.
If I told Skeeter, he'd just lock me in a basement somewhere to keep me safe and kill Diesel for not finding the guy, and Caden would have another rich boy tantrum.
The guy knew Diesel and Skeeter, that much was obvious, but he wasn’t anyone I’d seen before.
I didn’t exactly want to tell anyone what had happened, and since I hadn’t dropped dead from the drug and I seemed okay, that was a good sign. But I also didn’t want to stay in the house alone, the whole thing had rattled me slightly.
Would he come back?
That left me with one choice that I could possibly regret.
Grabbing my phone, I noticed it had been a few hours since Diesel had left, trying to focus on the screen to type a message.
Rory: Can I crash at your place tonight on the down-low?
Lukas: Mom would have a bigger tantrum than Holloway. We can stay at Jensen’s?
Rory: Will he tell Caden and Ty?
Tyler wasn’t being a dick to me like Caden was, in fact, he was trying to calm Caden’s entitled ass down and seemed to be on my side with things, but I didn’t trust him to keep his mouth shut. He’d be loyal to Caden over me, which meant he couldn’t know.
Lukas: If you need a night to yourself without Caden being an overbearing dick, Jense won’t say shit. He’s on your side, Rory. You can trust him with this.
I doubted that, but I’d just have to risk it.
Rory: I’ll wait at his house then. See you when you guys get there.
Lukas: The staff are there, so knock and they’ll let you in. Jensen told them he’s expecting company.
Rory: Thank you.
I shoved a few things into a bag and made my way downstairs, intending on leaving without writing a note, but guilt hit me.
Josie would freak out if I vanished, and as much as Caden had no business knowing if I was home or not, he’d come to the conclusion that I’d been kidnapped and start a search party.
I grabbed the small notepad and pen from the fridge and quickly wrote down that I was spending the night at a friend’s house, then I left it on the counter where they’d see it, before walking outside.
The Corvette was parked in the driveway, making my escape quick and easy, and it didn’t take long for me to drive to Jensen’s, where an older man jogged down the stairs the second I parked.
“Miss Donovan? Mr. Gilbert has asked me to secure your car in the garage,” the man said politely as he opened the door for me to climb out, and I winced.
“Uh, can I park it myself? It’s a friend’s, no one’s meant to drive it.”
“I will take good care of it,” he promised.
“Fine, but I’ll make sure he finds out it was you if you damage it. He’s not a very nice guy,” I warned, allowing him to climb in and park it on my behalf. I never really understood the whole valet thing, I was more than capable of parking it myself, but I also didn’t want to argue with him.
I watched him like a hawk as he maneuvered the car into the massive garage, not taking my eyes off him until he handed me the keys.
“Unharmed, as promised.”
“Thank you. Jensen said I could wait inside the house for him and Lukas.”
“Yes, Mr. Gilbert and Mr. James will be here soon. I’ve been asked to escort you to the kitchen so the chef can make you something to eat,” he said with a friendly smile, motioning for me to follow.
“I’m not hungry, but thank you,” I said sweetly, trying not to be a bitch. I didn’t need people waiting on me, it was weird, and something I probably wouldn’t ever get used to.
Even when we had money, Mom loved cooking meals herself.
My nanny, Sarah, helped a lot too, but she felt like family more than staff. I still missed that sweet lady.
The man ushered me into the house and offered to take my bag, but I declined and wandered into the kitchen to sit on a bar stool at the counter to wait for the guys, hoping they stuck to their promise of not telling Caden and Tyler.
If they told them, then it was obvious I couldn’t trust them.
I’d only been alone for twenty minutes when I heard the man greet Jensen, who didn’t verbally acknowledge him in the slightest. Lukas and Jensen appeared in the kitchen a moment later, both their eyes raking over me.
“I’m fine. And don’t be a dick to your staff, you entitled brat,” I scolded Jensen, who shrugged.
“Their job is to be polite to me, I don’t get paid to be nice to them. You can’t be fine, or you wouldn’t be here.”
“Is it that hard to believe I just wanted to get out of the house for the night?” I asked dryly as Lukas walked closer.
“Honestly? Yes,” Lukas muttered, boldly grabbing my chin to inspect my face. “What happened?” I batted his hand away with a scowl, and he snagged my wrist gently, his eyes on mine. “Relax.”
“Stop touching me then.” His hand instantly dropped and he took a small step back.
“Nothing happened, I honestly just wanted to get out of the house. Skeet’s busy with Captain Asshole, and I don’t have many other options.
I was sparring at the Shed this morning, so any marks on my face are from that. ”
“I’m glad you messaged me,” Lukas said with a smile as Jensen wandered to the cupboard and grabbed a bottle of whiskey.
“Anyone want to swim and drink?” he asked, a snort leaving me.
“How do rich pricks live so long? You think drinking in the pool is a good idea?”
“I think one or two won’t hurt.”
“I didn’t bring a bathing suit.”
“Just swim naked.”
“I’m getting deja vu,” I mumbled, noticing Lukas looking uncomfortable at that idea too.
I snatched the bottle from Jensen’s fingers and started walking outside, ignoring him as he muttered something about my ass.
Once I’d chugged some whiskey, I placed it on the small table by the pool and tugged my shirt over my head, shimmying out of my pants and leaving them in a pile on the ground. I was more covered in my underwear than I would’ve been in a bathing suit anyway.
I grabbed the bottle again and moved towards the pool, dropping down onto the edge and sliding in.
The cool water was almost shocking to my heated skin, but I didn’t react. It felt nice.
“You sure you’re okay?” Jensen asked as he sat on the edge in his boxers, my eyes absently wandering his bare abs and making his mouth quirk into a smile. “Don’t look at me like I’m a piece of meat unless you’re going to eat me.”
“I’m still pissed at you.”
“I know, and I’m still sorry,” he replied as he carefully slid into the pool beside me. I thought he was going to keep talking about it, but he started swimming laps, ending the conversation.
Lukas took the bottle from me as he slid in, taking a large mouthful before handing it back.
“Did you at least let Josie know where you are?”
“I left a note to say I was staying at a friend’s.”
“Good. I know you’re not used to a caring parent, but she really worries about you. Holloway said Skeet spent the night with you,” he said lightly, but I could tell it bothered him.
“Yeah, he snuck in late after you left.”
“Can you promise me something?”
“Probably not.”
He sighed, raking a wet hand through his hair.
“Be careful. I can tell Skeet cares about you in a weird way, but he has a lot of enemies. It’s easy to get sucked into his lifestyle with the illusion of being protected.
” He reached out and gently took my wrist in his grip to pull me closer, my hand shooting out to press against his chest to keep some distance between us while the other that was in his grip held onto the bottle.
“I will do everything I can to make sure you’re safe, but I’m not stupid enough to think I can go up against someone with a gun. ”
His eyes searched mine and I relaxed a little, taking the whiskey in my other hand to down some before offering it to him.
“Remember when we’d sneak out at night as kids and sit on the edge of my pool?” I asked softly, his eyebrow raising.
“I remember you pushing me in once or twice,” he chuckled as he released my wrist, sliding his arm around me to keep me afloat. “You were always a better swimmer than me back then.”
“Probably because I spent all my time outside in the pool to avoid hearing Mom and Max fight,” I said with a shrug, glancing over my shoulder to find Jensen watching us silently from his spot on one of the ledges.
I hadn’t even heard him pull himself out of the water.
“I bet the golden boy over here came out of the womb knowing how to swim.”
“You’d be right,” Jensen grinned, kicking his legs a little to try and splash us from across the pool. “I can’t picture you two being friends as kids. Luke was a sour-puss when he started at Ashburn Valley Academy.”
“You guys tried to bully me,” Lukas deadpanned, making Jensen shrug.
“I was on your side. You know what Holloway’s like once he has his sights set on someone. In his defense, you looked like you’d be easy to bully. I didn’t know you’d start swinging at him like that.”