Chapter 27
CHAPTER 27
ICE
S ince Lottie had indeed taken herself out to brunch and had, somehow, dragged Silver out of bed to go with her, Braden called Holden and Beckett to see if they wanted to meet at the club. The chef had some new recipes she wanted to try out, and they were all too eager to help her taste test her ideas.
“Your group is growing,” Ice said, nodding to the small crowd of beige across the street. The solitary woman had grown to five men and women, standing in a huddle, staring at the doors to Club BDE.
Braden made a sound that was part annoyance, part amusement. “I see that. So much for hoping they’d get bored and move on.”
Unease crawled up Ice’s spine. It wasn’t the first time he’d come face to face with protestors. A man didn’t spend half his life making ‘devil music’ and not have a few nutjobs come out to play.
But this felt different, for reasons he couldn’t explain, and he was tempted to go find Silver so he could drag her ass back to California, away from the crazies.
Back to reality, where Silver was once again completely off-limits to him. Where he wouldn’t be able to touch her whenever he wanted, kiss her whenever the mood struck. Where he’d never again have the pleasure of seeing her on her knees, her mouth stuffed full of his cock.
Back to a reality where he faced the very real possibility of losing both of his best friends forever.
Feeling vaguely nauseated by the thought, he practically jumped out of the car the moment Braden put it into park. Holden’s giant SUV with the blacked-out windows was already parked on the street in front of them, along with Beckett’s more sensible sedan.
Their friends were waiting for them upstairs, seated at the booth closest to the kitchens. As Ice and Braden made their way over, Ice’s phone buzzed in his pocket. Pulling it free, he grinned at Silver’s picture on the screen. “Hey, baby. What are you?—”
“We have a problem, Ice. A big fucking problem.”
Again that nervous feeling crawled up his spine at the panic in her voice. “What’s wrong?”
The phone in his hand buzzed again. “Check your texts.”
He lowered the phone and swiped open her texts, his heart slamming up against his ribs at the headline of the link she’d sent him. “Son of a bitch.”
“I know.” Her voice practically vibrated with fury. “Someone outed us. What the fuck are we going to do?”
Damage control. They needed damage control. “I’ll call Simon, get him out in front of it.” And see if he can keep Ace from losing his fucking mind.
“Ace is going to flip when he sees that photo,” Silver said, echoing his own thoughts. “I’m so sorry, Ice. I never meant for this to happen.”
“Baby, this isn’t your fault.”
“Yeah, it is. I should have just gone back to California when you told me to, but I was selfish and now I’ve royally fucked us.”
We were both selfish .
But there would be plenty of time for self-recriminations later. “Where are you? I’m coming to get you.”
“Don’t bother. We’re like ten minutes from the club. We bailed on brunch once we saw that fucking article.”
“All right. We’ll see you when you get here.”
He wanted to say more, to tell her Daddy would take care of it. But the fact of the matter was, they’d been in a race against the clock from the moment she’d gotten on her knees for him at Black Light all those months ago. And now it was all set to blow up in their faces, just like he’d always known it would.
As soon as Silver hung up, he hit the button to dial the one person who might be able to help him mitigate the shitstorm headed their way.
“Elias.” Simon’s voice, tinged with amusement, came through the phone. “I was wondering when I would finally hear from you. How’s South Carolina? Is Amanda with you?”
“She is. Which is part of what I’m calling you about.”
Simon’s sigh of exasperation probably would have made him laugh under less dire circumstances. “Let me guess. You two finally got your head out of your asses and fucked, and now you need me to make sure Ace doesn’t lose his mind when you inevitably tell him, because you’re such a goddamn boy scout there’s no possible way you’re going to keep it a secret, even if it would make my life easier.”
“That’s… not too far off, actually. How did you?—”
“Please. Everyone knows you’ve been mooning over that girl since you were teenagers. Well, everyone but Ace, maybe.”
“Crash?”
“Are you kidding me? He’s been taking bets on you two hooking up since your first tour.”
So much for their big secret. “That’s… We can talk about that later. Someone outed us, Simon. Sold a picture of me and Silver to one of those online gossip sites.”
“Fucking hell. Okay.” Simon blew out a breath and Ace could picture him in his head, pinching his nose the way he did when he was stressed about something. Which was ninety percent of the time. “I’ll head over to Ace’s, keep him contained. If he calls either of you, texts you, whatever, do not answer until I give you the all-clear. Got it?”
“I’m not going to ignore him, Simon. He’s my best friend and he deserves to hear the truth from me.”
“I swear you four live to complicate my life,” Simon muttered. “Fine. Do whatever you feel you have to.”
“Thanks, Simon. I know this isn’t how you wanted to spend your Sunday.”
“Just another day in paradise.”
No sooner had the call ended, than the sound of Lottie calling her for her Daddy echoed through the club. Rising to his feet, Braden strode toward the steps. “Up here, Lottie-bug.”
A few seconds later, the five of them appeared at the top of the stairs, with a furious Lottie leading the charge. “I told you those assholes were bad news! But nobody wanted to listen to me!”
“What assholes?” Braden asked, his mouth dipping down into a frown.
“The church or cult or whatever the fuck it is outside! I tried to tell you we needed to get rid of them, and now look what they’ve done!”
It struck Ice then that he’d expected to be greeted by a pack of hysterical women. When, in fact, they were being greeted by a pack of vengeful Valkyries ready to battle. Even sweet little Ivy looked ready to rip someone’s throat out.
Hell hath no wrath.
Sighing heavily, Braden pinched the bridge of his nose, and Ice nearly laughed at how much it reminded him of Simon. “Lottie-bug, there’s no proof those pictures came from the people hassling us.”
“Oh my god, who else would they have come from?”
“Anyone,” Silver said, stepping forward to take Ice’s hand. He pulled her close, tucking her up under his arm, needing the feel of her pressed against him to quell the erratic beating of his heart. Which it did, somewhat, when she snuggled closer. “Doesn’t matter where we go, there are always going to be people with cameras waiting to catch us doing something headline-worthy. Could be the people harassing you, could just be some regular Joe off the street.”
Lottie’s shoulders drooped. “It’s them,” she muttered, her bottom lip puffing out a bit. “I know it’s them.”
“It might be,” Braden conceded, pulling her into his arms and dropping a kiss on the top of her head. “I’ll send another email out to the club members, letting them know to be extra vigilant.”
“The good news is, even if it is them, I don’t think they have any incriminating evidence about the club.” Rising from the table, Holden scanned the screen in his hand. “All the article says is you two were spotted outside an ‘exclusive club in downtown Charleston’. There’s some speculation you’re here for some kind of romantic getaway, a few rumors swirling you secretly got married and you’re on your honeymoon, but nothing about the club itself. If the people harassing you had any real info on the club, it would be plastered all over the internet.”
“Oh.” Lottie’s pout deepened. “They still could have taken the picture.”
“Certainly, and I’ll let my men know to be on the lookout for cameras pointed our way going forward. We may not have many members with Ice and Silver’s level of celebrity, but we have plenty who value their privacy.” Holden glanced over at Braden, one brow raised in question. “You still want my men to keep their distance, or you want to try confronting them? They might run if they realize we aren’t going to stand back and do nothing.”
“Fuck.” Looking more stressed than Ice could ever remember seeing him, Braden ran a hand through his hair, leaving it uncharacteristically mussed. “Let me call my brothers, see what they think.”
“Sounds good.”
“In the meantime, Ice, what do you need from us?”
Before Ice could answer, his phone buzzed yet again. Dread sat in his stomach like a lead weight when he spotted Simon’s name on the screen. “What’s wrong?”
“He’s not here.”
“What do you mean he’s not there?”
“I mean, he’s not fucking here, Ice. I’m trying to get his security info, see when he left. But if I had to guess, he’s on his way to South Carolina.”
“Fuck!”
“Yeah. I’m going to pop over to Crash’s place, let him know what’s going on and then I’ll be on my way, too.”
“All right. See you when you land.”
“What’s going on?” Silver asked, her eyes wide as he jabbed at the screen to end the call.
“Pretty sure Ace is on his way here.”
Instantly, everyone around them was on alert, and though it felt a bit dramatic, Ice couldn’t help but appreciate it. “Do you think he’s dangerous?” Holden asked, pulling his own phone from his pocket.
“Ace?” Snorting out a laugh, Ice shook his head. “He’ll scream a lot, maybe break some shit, but he’d never actually hurt anybody.”
Frankie raised an eyebrow. “You realize those are huge red flags, right? Like, crimson.”
“I know how it sounds. And yeah, he’s a dick, but he’d never actually hurt Silver.” If there was one truth left in the world that Ice could cling to, it was that.
“Francesca has a point,” Holden said, earning him a smug smile from the woman in question. “I’m going to have some of my men keep an eye on your place, just in case.”
“You don’t have to do that.”
“Yes, I do.” For the first time since they’d arrived, Holden smiled. “If I let anything happen to Silver, my little girl will have my head on a platter.”
“I am not your little girl, Holden!” Frankie snapped, her smug look fading as she shot daggers at the giant next to her.
It reminded Ice a bit of a chihuahua staring down a great Dane, but he was wise enough not to say that out loud.
“Braden, can I use your office?” he said instead, hoping to diffuse the storm brewing between Holden and Frankie. “I want to see if I can get Ace on the phone and I’d prefer to have a bit of privacy for that particular call.”
“Of course,” Braden said, inclining his head. “When you’re done, you can join us for the taste test.”
“Oooh, taste test?” Eyes lighting up at the mention of food, Ivy bounced happily on the balls of her toes. “What are we testing? I’m starving .”
Looking down, Ice found Silver watching him with those dark, serious eyes. “You with me, baby?”
“Always.”
“All right. Let’s get this over with.”