Chapter 6
I ndie blamed what happened on her mum and Edward. If she’d been in a better frame of mind she would have protested as the guys bundled her into Slade’s Phantom.
But it took her at least ten minutes to notice that she was in his car, being driven away from the estate.
She was in the backseat while Slade drove and Quaid sat in the front passenger seat. Spencer must have gone with Rock. Turning in her seat, she saw them behind them.
“Easy, precious cargo,” Quaid murmured to Slade as he took a corner too fast and she nearly slammed into the door. Man, this car was nice. The whole thing was expensive and gorgeous.
Although why did Quaid say that? Did they have something in the boot of the car that was precious?
“Yeah, sorry,” Slade told him as he slowed down, changing gears.
“What . . . where are we going?” she asked.
“Where do you want to go?” Quaid asked, turning to look at her.
“Uh, I guess the train station.”
She rubbed her arms. She didn’t really want to return to Billy .
But what choice did she have?
Tell them to take you back to their apartment.
Tell them that he scares you.
They’re your family.
Indie gathered up her courage and opened her mouth to tell them that she didn’t want to go back to Billy when Quaid’s phone rang.
He answered it with a frown. “It’s Sunday. Yes . . . right . . . fuck.”
That was such a shock from the usually calm and cool Quaid that she jumped in shock.
“How the fuck did that happen? What do you mean? Sure?”
He ended the call.
“Problem?” Slade asked.
“Ah, yeah. Apparently someone tried to hack our systems. Shepherd managed to keep them out. But he wants us at the office, checking over everything and helping him tighten it up.”
Slade started to swear. “What the fuck? Hackers?”
“Yes, they’re becoming more of a problem. Stealing information for ransom.”
“Yeah, but why us? Makes little sense.”
She suddenly became aware of the fact that both men had gone silent.
Quaid had turned to look at her.
Right. Because they’re probably wondering how to get rid of you.
“Um, if you drop me here I can make my own way to the train station.”
Quaid scowled.
Damn, he could be scary. But he didn’t intimidate her.
Uh-huh. How are those lies going for you?
“Don’t be stupid,” he snapped, making her sit up straight.
“Quaid,” Slade warned. “You’re not angry at Indie.”
“Of course I’m not angry at Indie,” Quaid replied. “Indie has nothing to do with this. Indie knows I’m not mad at her.”
She did ?
Okay, it seemed she did as he gave her a stern look.
She nodded. “Uh-huh. I know. I’m just not sure why you were frowning at me and calling me stupid.”
And now his frown just grew worse. What the heck had she said?
“I did not call you stupid.”
Um, yeah, he had.
“What you said was stupid, you are not stupid.” He turned back to Slade. “We’ll drop her off and head back into London?”
Slade nodded and Quaid started tapping on his phone.
“Guys, that’s hours out of your way. I can get myself home. I took the train here.”
“Don’t remind us,” Slade grumbled.
“What’s wrong with the train? Thousands of people use trains daily across the country. Probably more than that.”
They shared a look.
What didn’t she understand?
“We just want to make sure you get home safely,” Slade told her quietly. “Never forgive myself if something happened to you on the way and we could have prevented it. We rarely get to take care of you anymore, Boo. Just let us do this, yeah?”
The wind was taken right out of her sails by his words. And she sat back with a nod.
“Okay, thank you.”
She sat there in silence, wishing that she could have them take care of her for the rest of her life.
But dreams weren’t for people like her.
Closing her eyes, she let herself daydream. She felt so tired, all of those nights with very little sleep catching up to her.
And why do you think you can sleep now?
Is it because you feel safe with them? Because you know they will keep you safe?
They can take on Billy and win.
Now didn’t seem the time to tell them, though. And maybe she should think things through a bit more. There were things at Billy’s place that she wanted.
Like her backpack.
And if she told them now, she wouldn’t get to grab it.
She’d come to regret that decision later.