Chapter 27 #2
We scramble out and sprint for the front door.
By the time I’m done fumbling with my keys, the rain is coming in sideways.
Adelaide is plastered to my shoulder, laughing breathlessly and trying to shield her face with one hand, which is not helping at all.
I finally get the key in, turn it, and shove the door open.
We tumble inside together, soaked through, and I slam it shut behind us.
For a second, I just stand there, breathing hard and grinning at her.
“My mascara is gone, my hair is ruined, and I look like a raccoon in a rainstorm.”
I glance at her slowly. “That’s fine. I’ve always wanted a hot little porch raccoon.”
A laugh breaks out of her.
And then I stop.
The air in the house feels wrong. Every nerve in my body lights up at once. The old wiring. The thing I thought I’d retired.
Adelaide has frozen beside me.
“Luca?”
“Shh.”
I turn slowly, keeping her slightly behind me without making a show of it, and I walk forward toward the living room. When I reach the arch into the main open-plan space, I stop dead.
There are six strangers standing in our house. The storm is dimming what little light is coming through the glass. The lamps are dark, but there’s enough light to clearly see them.
A woman is standing in the center, maybe late forties, early fifties, with silver-streaked dark hair pulled off her face, wearing wire-rimmed glasses and a knitted charcoal sweater.
Beside her, a man. Tall, easily six-two, broad enough.
Dark hair cut sharp at the sides and longer on top, a curtain of it falling across his right eye.
Cleanly shaven, charcoal trousers, a darker shirt unbuttoned once at the throat, a long black coat over it.
Everything about him screams expensive and arrogant.
The face of a man who gets away with everything.
Behind him, in a loose formation near the back of the living room, are four men.
All of them huge, in dark clothing, and clearly the muscle here so that prick gets his way. Except, I know two of those fucking faces.
They’re the chief’s men from The Breakers.
The chief promised North he’d pull back, so what the fuck?
Without taking my eyes off the intruders, I shift my wrist and reach over to thumb the tiny recessed button set into the edge of my watch, subtle enough that nobody watching would work it out.
North designed them for the three of us years ago, back when getting caught in deep shit was more of an occupational hazard.
Hit the silent alarm, and the other two get an instant alert with one message built into it: I’m in trouble, and here’s exactly where to find me.
Adelaide has gone very still behind me. I feel her fingers close on the back of my shirt.
I push her farther behind me without taking my eyes off those in front.
“Who the fuck are you?” I bark, and my voice has fallen low and flat.
The man in the coat grins. “Which one are you? Ace, Luca, North?” The bastard has done his research, so he’s here for us?
I’ve never heard his voice before, and I already hate it enough to kill him for it.
A small, stifled “Oh” comes from Adelaide now close at my side, shaking. “Daniel? How’d you find me?”
“I told you, Adelaide. No one leaves unless I decide they do.” Daniel’s voice is calm, which irritates the hell out of me.
The air goes cold all over my body. That is Daniel Nixon. Fury boils through my veins as I see red when I stare in his direction.
This is the man who threatened her, made her run. I’m going to take him apart with my bare hands. I have to make a choice in the next two seconds about whether to keep Adelaide behind me or move her further, then distract them enough for her to escape.
I keep my weight loose and my hands visible. North. Ace. Hurry the fuck up, right now. Sure, I can take three of these men before they drop me. But all four, I’m not so sure, not to mention weapons are down in the basement. Goddamm shitty timing.
“Daniel,” I spit out.
He studies me like he’s deciding what kind of problem I am. One hand in his coat pocket, the other loose by his side. Too comfortable, while Adelaide is beside me, close enough that I can feel the tremor running through her every time thunder cracks above us.
“So,” he says softly, “she did tell you about me.”
I shift half a step, enough to block more of her from his view.
His eyes drop to that movement. Come back to my face. “She told me enough.”
His mouth twists. “Then she left out the part where none of this concerns you.”
Behind him, four men stand spread out, while the woman moves into the shadows.
“You should send her to me,” Daniel commands. “Now. Before this gets uglier than it needs to for you.”
I bark out a laugh. “Yeah, nah. Get fucked.” This slick little cunt has walked onto my island in the rain and thinks he gets to make demands while Adelaide is shaking behind me. “Buddy, I’d rather set my own teeth on fire.”
“I’m pretty certain she took incriminating footage of me,” he says. “Something she never should have had. I want it back. Including her.”
And just like that, the van clicks into place in my head.
The ransack. Clothes thrown everywhere. Her belongings tossed around.
They weren’t looking for cash or a passport or some random personal shit.
They were searching for some kind of fucking footage.
He thinks she filmed him, maybe assumes when she overheard him ordering that hit, she got proof of it too.
Before I can answer, Adelaide steps out. “Fuck you, Daniel. I took nothing. I want nothing to do with you. Leave me alone.”
I get an arm around her waist immediately and pull her back into me. “You hear that? Says a lot, doesn’t it?”
His gaze drops to my arm around her.
“And just to save time,” I say, “she’s not going anywhere with you, so you can kill that fantasy now.”
One of his men shifts. Hand lower. Ready.
I catch it, every inch of me stiff, wondering how quickly I can head to the basement, dragging Adelaide with me before they get us? Won’t make it in time, I know it, and that twists my guts.
“So here’s what’s going to happen,” I say. “You and your sad little backup crew are going to turn around and head out of my house before I stop being charming.”
Daniel’s mouth tightens. “This is between me and what’s mine. Don’t make the mistake of stepping into it.”
I smile. “You walked into my house and spoke to my woman like she still belonged to you. It concerns me a fucking lot.”
“She belongs with me,” he barks.
Adelaide flinches.
I go cold. “No. She chose to leave you.” My arm tightens around her.
“And if one of your boys reaches inside a jacket, I’m breaking the first face I get hold of.
I might be outnumbered, but trust me, I’ll take you into the pits of fucking hell with me before I let anyone touch her.
” Then I tilt my head and give him one last grin. “Now get the fuck out.”
Thunder cracks above us.
Adelaide shifts half a step out from behind me, just enough to see past my shoulder, and I let her.
She’s earned the right to stare this man down on her own terms. And the woman in the knitted sweater has finally moved clear of the shadows, close enough now that I can see the tightness in her mouth and the ugly edge in her eyes.
“Daniel,” she snaps, voice sharp with nerves, “you said you’d deal with them, not her. Just grab him already. He’s the one who’s the killer.”
Who the hell is she?
“Shut the fuck up,” Daniel barks in her direction.
Adelaide jerks against my side, then goes dead still. Her fingers clutch hard at my shirt. “Malia?” she says, disbelief cracking through the name, staring at the woman. “What the fuck are you doing here?” Adelaide glances up at me, her brow furrowing, saying, “She’s from the murder club.”
I scratch the side of my head, confused, but if it’s buying us time until my backup arrives, I’ll take it.
Malia lifts one shoulder in a shrug. “I’m sorry you got caught in it, Adelaide. Truly. But you were the only lead I had left.” Her gaze flicks over me, then the room, then back to Adelaide. “I needed to know who killed Rebecca, and you found them for me.”
Adelaide stares at her like she’s been hit by a car. Her mouth parts, then closes again. “You’ve got this all wrong, Malia. You’ve made a huge mistake.”
Malia’s smile turns thin and poisonous. “No, babe. You have. These Alphas are no good for you. Let Daniel handle this before it gets uglier. You saw the photo. They took her, killed her, and how long before they do that to you?”
Adelaide releases a sharp, short laugh. “Says you, who’ve partnered up with a fucking monster over there, with Daniel?”
Adelaide pulls away from me, shaking her head, just stepping clear enough to stand on her own feet. Her face pales, but there’s fury behind her eyes now too, bright and sharp and waking up under the shock. She glares at Malia as if she’s seeing a stranger wearing someone else’s skin.
And then, behind Daniel’s men, I catch movement at the balcony doors. I stiffen immediately.
Two dark shapes separate from the storm outside. North and Ace. Thank fuck, and my shoulders drop. One of them works the lock while the other covers him, both moving low.
I don’t breathe, all happening in the span of three seconds.
The latch gives. The door opens a fraction, and the wind shoves through so hard it sends rain spraying across the floorboards. Everyone turns toward the balcony at the exact moment North and Ace charge inside like the storm has finally decided to enter the room itself.
Oh, about fucking time. This is happening now!