44 - Frankie
44
Frankie
—
Kody returns me to Leo and Monty with a lingering kiss on my brow. When he steps back, a breath of feelings whispers between us. Relief. Reconnection. Love.
He looks away first, a divot of a smile lifting the corner of his mouth. He’s so damn beautiful.
As he returns to the bar to engage with the press, Monty and Leo converge on me from both sides.
Surrounded by vigilant security guards, the three of us stand tightly together at a high-top table in a private corner of the lounge.
From our position, we watch Kody behind the bar in his element. He moves with confidence, pouring drinks, answering questions, and talking passionately about his vodka. It’s a side of him I’ve never seen.
“He looks so happy,” I murmur.
“He deserves this.” Monty’s eyes soften. “He worked hard for it.”
“He’s going to be a worldwide sensation.” Leo’s hand brushes down my hip. “I’ll fly him to all his engagements.”
“When do you take your exam?” I lean against him.
“Took it this morning.”
“You did?” My breath hikes. “I thought you were here with Kody this morning.”
“I was here. Then I took the test.” He lifts a shoulder. “I passed.”
“You’re a pilot.” A feeling of breathlessness floats through me. “It’s official. You did it.”
“Yeah.” His bicolored eyes shift to Monty. “And I own a seaplane base. Haven’t decided what to do with it, but I’m leaning toward operating Alaskan tours.”
“And flying Kody to his vodka engagements.” I grin.
“Yeah.”
We don’t mention the search for the cabin and Wolf’s body, but we’re all thinking it. Now that Leo and Kody own their businesses, flying to the Arctic every week won’t be possible.
I don’t want them to put aside their dreams to chase the past. Monty will likely take over the search with Sirena, and I like that idea even less. He spent enough time with her when I was trapped in Hoss.
Monty excuses himself to use the bathroom, and Leo immediately takes advantage of the moment.
Eyes aflame with wicked thoughts, he pulls me into him and kisses me, unconcerned about witnesses.
My body responds instinctively, an insistent craving pulsing at my core. His kiss possesses, demands, as if trying to claim a part of me that’s always been his.
“Kody took you to his apartment.” He turns me toward the table, the high top hiding the movement of his hand as he reaches beneath my dress. “I smell him on you.”
“Leo.” Arousal puddles in my belly.
I look around, confirming that no one can see. I shouldn’t let him grope me here, but everything feels so bumpy between us. This, our physical connection and chemistry, is always solid and steadfast.
So I let him touch me. I let him have this stolen moment. I want him to have it, to have all of me.
Pressing against my back, he uses his body to block prying eyes as he runs his fingers up my inner thighs, past the soaked crotch of my thong, and deep inside me.
“Messy,” he breathes at my ear. “Is this him? Or you?”
“Both.” My knees wobble.
“Couldn’t keep his dick in his pants.”
“No.”
“Bet he didn’t last five minutes.”
“There about.” I clench my legs together, halting the movement of his hand. “Monty will be back any second.”
“What will he do?” His voice takes on an angry edge. “Will he cause a scene if he finds me knuckles deep in his wife?”
“I’m yours, Leo.” I twist, causing his hand to fall from beneath my dress. “I don’t want to hurt him.”
“I know.”
The atmosphere shifts, and Monty emerges from the crowd, striding toward us.
Leo holds his uncle’s gaze and lifts his hand, slipping his wet fingers into his mouth, one by one.
“Stop,” I hiss under my breath.
Before he sucks the final digit, Monty grabs Leo’s hand and sniffs it, his expression turning nuclear.
“That’s not just her you smell.” Leo grins a cruel grin and yanks his hand away. “Got some of your brother in there, too.”
“Kody fucked you?” Monty jerks toward me, panting with the intensity of his emotions. “Here?”
My stomach bottoms out, and I open my mouth, not to apologize. I’m not sorry for giving Kody that release. It was a private moment between him and me, not meant to be turned into another jealous fight.
It wasn’t meant to hurt anyone.
“We’re not discussing this here.” I force my eyes to Monty, then Leo.
“Hey.” Rhett strolls up, his smile faltering when he realizes he walked in on a tense conversation.
“Hi, Rhett.” I gather myself and motion at Leo. “You remember Leo?”
“Good to see you again.” Rhett looks away, scanning the room, clearly uncomfortable. “I’ll…uh, grab a drink.”
Before he can slip away, a server pops over and takes his order.
“Dr. Howell.” Monty straightens the cuffs of his sleeves as he regards my boss steadily. “Glad you could make it.”
“I didn’t realize you were in town.” I rarely see him out of scrubs.
Seeing him in a tuxedo leaves me at a loss for words.
Rhett has always exuded confidence and authority in the hospital, but tonight, he looks like he belongs on the cover of a fashion magazine. His neatly combed blond hair and light blue eyes have a new dimension of sophistication.
“We’re ensuring top-notch security tonight,” Monty says.
“I noticed.” Rhett nods appreciatively, glancing around at the guards stationed discreetly. “It’s impressive. Safety first, especially with such a crowd.”
He doesn’t ask Monty for an update on the stalker. This is neither the time nor the place. Not that Monty would share those details. There’s an unspoken understanding that Monty doesn’t trust anyone. From his perspective, everyone is a suspect, including Rhett.
We share a round of Kody’s vodka, keeping the conversation on easy topics like the delicious drinks and the stunning turnout for the opening night .
Eventually, Monty and Leo amble to the bar to talk to Kody, leaving me with Rhett and a team of security.
As the crowd mingles and celebrates, Rhett turns his attention to me.
“I have to know…” He stares at the gorgeous Strakh men across the room, his pupils dilating. “Are you involved with all three of them?”
His question catches me off guard, and for a moment, I hesitate. But the alcohol in my bloodstream melts my walls and loosens my tongue.
“Yes. No. Kind of. Not exactly.”
“I assume the truth is in there somewhere?”
They’re mine.
I want to scream it so every woman here knows, but that would be unhinged. So I settle on whispering it to the one person who asked. “I’m in love with them. All of them.”
“Oh, shit.” He chuckles, finding amusement in my predicament.
“Yeah. A huge, heaping pile of oh, shit .”
“What’s stopping you from being with all of them? Who says you have to choose?”
“Do they look like the kind of men who share?”
He looks at them. He hasn’t taken his eyes off them. “No. But if anyone can change their minds, it’s you.”
“I love your confidence in me, but I already know how this will end.”
“How?”
“They’ll make me choose, and I can’t do that.” My ribs tighten. “I would shatter my own heart if it means keeping theirs intact.”
“They might surprise you. Do you know how many times they’ve looked over here in the past five minutes?”
“They’re possessive. All of them. Makes everything complicated.”
“Life is complicated, Frankie. Sometimes the simplest answer is the most scandalous one.”
As I ponder that response, Sirena saunters in.
“Fuck my life.” I grab my vodka, tipping it to my lips.
Her attention homes in on the Strakh men as if they’re the only three people in the room.
“Who is that?” Rhett braces an arm on the table, leaning forward.
“The bane of my existence.”
Dark hair flows around her like a silken curtain, and her short, low-cut dress barely covers her ample chest and long, beautiful legs. She makes a beeline for them, for my entire world, her flirtatious demeanor on full display.
“She leads Monty’s investigative team.” I gnash my teeth.
“She has a laser focus on your boys.”
“Thanks, Dr. Obvious.”
“You’re just going to sit here?”
“Yep.”
I’m going to keep my ass right here and talk to my friend. Because, unlike Leo and Kody, I have self-control. I went to therapy. I journal when I feel angry and murderous.
I support women. I do not pick fights with them, no matter how badly I want to grab a fistful of that black hair, throw her to the ground, and punch her face until she bleeds.
Nope, I’m not doing that.
“Want me to beat her up for you?” Rhett grins.
“Stop it. You already know what I’m dealing with at the hospital with two of those barbarians.”
“For the record, Paul was out of line and has been written up.”
“I wish you wouldn’t have done that. I’m trying to fit back into this life. The transition would be easier if I made friends instead of enemies.”
“Hospital rules, Frankie. He commented on your looks.”
As we continue our conversation about Leo and Kody and the shit they’ve stirred up in the trauma unit, my eyes bore holes in the back of Sirena’s head.
Her goddamn hands are never idle. She strokes Leo’s braids, touches Monty’s shoulder, and her lips…
Did she just brush her mouth against Leo’s ear?
A throb pounds behind my eyes.
He’s so accustomed to her constant touching that he doesn’t even push her away anymore. How far do they let her go when they’re traveling together? She’s been with them more than I have over the past month.
And I have a ban on sex.
She clearly does not.
“I hate to run, but I have an early surgery in the morning.” He glances at his watch before meeting my eyes. “Here’s some unsolicited advice. Go over there and claim your men openly and publicly in front of her and everyone.”
With that, he squeezes my shoulder and leaves.
Claim my men.
Right.
What do I have to lose?
I’ll just walk over there and kiss Monty on the lips in front of Leo and Kody.
Then I’ll kiss Leo and Kody in front of Monty.
Sure.
That will go over wonderfully.
Not only would it end in a bloody brawl and ruin Kody’s night, I would lose everything. All three of them. My entire world.
When Sirena finally steps away to use the restroom, I seize my chance.
With security guards on my heels, I follow her into the hall lined with single-user restrooms. Each door leads to a private commode. A gold standard for public bathrooms, especially at a bar. Kody went all out in his renovations.
I tell my bodyguards to wait outside as I reach the restroom she entered, catching the door before she can close it on me.
“Oh, hey, Frankie.” She tries to block me from entering, her flirtatious confidence gone. “What are you doing?”
I hip-check the door and slip in with her, shutting us inside the small room together.
“Stop flirting with my men.” I turn the lock and face her, stepping into her space. “Stay the fuck away from them.”
“ Your men?” She tries to smile, but it doesn’t reach her eyes. “You have more than one?”
“Cut the crap,” I snap, stepping closer. “You know damn well the Strakh men are mine.”
“Do they know that?”
“Why are you so desperate? You come across like a scared, little, insecure girl, aching for attention. Who hurt you?”
The blood drains from her face, and she glances around the bathroom, her eyes darting from corner to corner as if expecting to find cameras or hidden microphones.
Her paranoia lifts the hairs on my nape, and I find myself scanning the space, too. “What are you—?”
She’s on me in a blink, clapping a hand over my mouth and an arm around my back.
I struggle, but she’s bigger, stronger, and Jesus fucking Christ, I’m an idiot. I didn’t think this through.
Coming in here without bodyguards…
Dumb, dumb, dumb!
She pushes me against the wall and closes in, her voice barely a whisper in my ear. “Someone hired me.”
My heart stops, and my eyes go wide, searching hers.
“I don’t know who or why.” Her whisper trembles down my neck. “They paid me a lot, more than I could walk away from. I’ve never taken money from an anonymous client, but I needed it. It was a year ago, and my only task was to fuck Monty and help him find his missing wife.”
A chill grips my spine as I peel her fingers off my mouth, keeping my voice low. “Did you report information back to this person? Details on the investigation?”
“Wasn’t like that. I was only tasked to take the job as his team leader and get into his bed.”
My mind races, connecting the dots.
The stalker. It has to be the stalker.
We haven’t told her about the threats against me. She doesn’t know.
Should I tell her? What if her life is in danger?
“I have a stalker.” I grip her tightly, whispering directly into her ear. “A dangerous one.”
“What?” Panic strangles her voice. “I have to go.”
“Frankie?” Monty pounds on the door. “Everything okay in there?”
“Yep! Just a minute.”
Turning back to Sirena, I feel a strange concern for her. “Have you been threatened?”
Her face goes white. “I was only supposed to fuck them, nothing more.”
“Leo and Kody, too?”
She nods.
“The stalker is sending me body parts. People are dying. ” I grip her arm. “How is your client contacting you? Text? Phone call?”
She shakes her head, backing up, her fear palpable.
“Does Wilson know about this client?”
“No.” Her head continues to shake. “He has nothing to do with this.”
“Frankie!” The door handle rattles, followed by more pounding. “Open the door!”
She flings it open before I can stop her and bolts past Monty.
“Sirena, wait!” I crash into his chest, caught in the snare of his arms.
He’s not alone. Leo and Kody crowd into the doorway, all bearing down on me as I try to track Sirena’s escape.
“Stop her.” Pushing against them, I glimpse a blur of her dark hair.
Then she’s gone, melting into the throng of people near the front door.
“What did she do?” Leo’s eyes blaze as he shoves into the bathroom.
“Nothing. She talked to me. But she knows things about the stalker. I think she’s in danger. You need to stop her.”
Monty quickly directs some guards to follow her before turning back to me. “What happened?”
“She confessed that someone hired her to fuck you.” I take a deep breath, trying to steady my nerves. “All three of you. She doesn’t know who. It was a year ago. She was supposed to help you find me, Monty. And get you into bed in the process.”
“Why would someone hire her for that?” Kody grips the doorframe. “Doesn’t make sense.”
“I think it’s the stalker,” I say, my voice barely above a whisper.
“We’ll figure it out.” Monty pulls me into a protective embrace.
“We need to find her.” I untangle from him and shoulder my way out of the restroom.
They stay with me, of course, forming a circle around me as we rejoin the crowd in the lounge.
Then we wait for the guards to return.
Minutes crawl by at a glacial speed. The streets around the distillery teem with so many people that she could disappear into the night, either by her own doing or the stalker.
Monty and Leo have been calling and texting her with no luck. Kody returns to the bar to entertain the crowds.
The security team discreetly sweeps the bathrooms for recording devices. Then they turn their attention to the distillery, looking for anything that might’ve been planted throughout the night.
They’ve also been instructed to watch the patrons, something they’ve been doing all night, but now on a closer, more suspicious level.
Everything is handled in the background, the guests oblivious to my confrontation with Sirena.
Finally, Carl returns, shaking his head in frustration. “There are too many people outside. She was able to slip away in the mob.”
“And her apartment?” Monty’s jaw tightens.
“She hasn’t gone home, but I have a team stationed there and more combing the vicinity.”
“Continue the hunt until she’s located.”
“Yes, sir.”
“It’s time to go home.” Monty meets Leo’s eyes, who nods and starts to stand.
“No. Not without Kody.” I remain seated at the far end of the bar, watching him interact with his guests. “This is his night, and we’re not bailing on him.”
So we stay.
We sit at the bar and put on smiles while Kody sails through the opening of a shiny, promising future.
When we arrive on the island in the dead of night, Sirena is still missing.