Chapter 26 #2
“Don’t be.” She wrapped her arm around me and squeezed. “I’m so grateful to be able to experience all of this. To feel the love this group gives. To have Rip.”
I smiled at her. “I know what you mean.”
“I know you do, Dani, though I wish you didn’t. There are a few of us here who understand what it’s like to be treated in a way that no one deserves.”
Looking over, my gaze found Gwen, but when I glanced back Sloane was watching Sylvia. “I still have so much to learn about you all.”
“Plenty of time for that,” she replied. “I haven’t been here too long myself, but I haven’t seen Smokehouse look so happy before.”
“It’s been a long time.”
I gave Kit a guilty smile. Being caught talking about her brother for the second time in one day made me feel bad.
“Did he tell you he had a fiancée before?” she asked.
I nodded. “Last night, actually. We finally got to have a long talk about things.”
“Good. Took him long enough.” She pulled me into a hug and the rest of the group split up to go into the bathroom and those who were out here with us gave us space.
“He had this idea that the women he loved were bound to leave him at one point or another,” she said.
“Then you came along.” She squeezed me tight.
“I can’t tell you how happy I am to have you here.
Thank you for bringing my brother back to life. ”
I just hugged her back because I understood what she meant.
“He’s done the same for me.” It was like I’d just been existing with Eli.
No real joy, just going through the motions of life.
Now I was free and happy again. It wasn’t just because I’d gotten away from my ex either.
It was having Smokehouse in my life. These women.
His brothers. And my baby. I needed it all to feel the way I was.
We still hadn’t given each other any proclamations of love, but I had a feeling it was only a matter of time.
We had plenty of it. Even with Eli balking at the divorce, it would eventually happen.
Mom’s lawyer friend had already reached out and I had an appointment with her to go over everything and start the proceedings without him. I was ready to leave that life, and him, behind.
When the other women came out of the bathroom we melded into a giant ball again. Keely wrapped her arm around me and laid her head against mine. “I’m so happy for you, Sis.”
“Thanks, Keels. I feel like I might burst,” I confessed. Everyone could see that I was different. And so was Smoke.
She laughed and hugged me close. “You deserve this,” she told me, her eyes intense. “You put up with so much-”
“Too much,” I admitted.
“You didn’t do anything wrong. That was all on Eli…” She trailed off, frowning.
“What is it?” I asked, looking over my shoulder where she was staring.
We all watched as a blond man in a suit looked left, then right, then slid through a doorway as soon as a crack had formed. He shut it gently behind him.
“That was weird,” Jordan remarked.
“That was Fremont’s new assistant,” Keely told the group.
Seek’s eyes narrowed. “How do you know?”
“He was at that court hearing. Fremont introduced him to us while we were all waiting. Almost like it was a dig at the guys since they had a part in what happened with…” Keely broke off and gave Gwen an apologetic look.
“In what happened to Trent,” Gwen finished. She narrowed her eyes on the door where the man had disappeared.
“I’m sure that was Fremont’s way of letting the guys know that he was continuing in whatever schemes he’s involved in,” I said.
“That’s Carl,” Gwen told us. “He and Trent worked together from time to time, though I don’t know what Carl really did.”
“Well now I really don’t trust him,” Jordan said with a scowl.
“What do you think he’s up to?” Jenny mused.
“He certainly didn’t seem to want to be noticed,” Kit said, sounding thoughtful.
“We should follow him.”
We all looked over at Gwen in shock. Her face was set with determination. “Fremont is trying to come after our guys. He used Trent before for his dirty work, right?”
“Yeah,” Tori answered. “Trent did a lot of dirty dealings with Fremont. He acted like a third party to keep Fremont’s hands clean.”
We all knew this, even me thanks to having that talk with Smokehouse. “What if Carl is doing the same?” I asked.
“If we caught him we could give the guys evidence that could force Fremont to back off,” Keely suggested.
“The guys would hate this idea,” Sloane pointed out.
We all looked around, but Static had stepped into the restroom. I bit my lip. “If it could end things quicker, I vote we follow him. What’s the worst that could happen?”
Everyone looked worried.
“I don’t know,” Sloane said. “ A lot of bad things could happen.”
“He’s one skinny guy,” Jordan pointed out. “And he’s short. We’ve fought worse.”
“Definitely not dangerous looking,” Susie said in agreement.
“And we’re in public,” Seek said. “There’s a building full of people.”
“Plus, we’ll make sure we’re not seen,” Kit pointed out.
“There’s too many of us for that,” Gwen argued with a laugh.
“Anyone want to stay behind?” Jenny asked. She looked pointedly at Sloane.
“Of course I’m going,” Sloane said, her voice firm.
No one else said a word. As one unit we all made our way over to the door and slipped inside. I held the door open for the dogs before closing it gently. A pang of guilt hit me for leaving Static behind, but we couldn’t afford to waste any time. Not to mention he would probably try to stop us.
We made our way down a hallway. We paused at each door, peering in, but the offices were all empty. “How big is this event center?” I muttered.
“Huge,” Seek said, panting as she hurried along.
We came to a set of double doors and I stood on tiptoe near the back of the group as we all tried to peek in the windows that were at the tops of the doors.
“I can’t see anything,” Jordan said.
“Me either,” Tori complained.
“Looks like there’s an opening on the other side of the building. I can see just the corner of it,” Kit replied. “There’s only those hanging strips closing it off from the outside.”
“It’s a loading dock,” Seek confirmed. “Most buildings like this one have them.”
“Why don’t we go see if we can see anything from over there?” Susie suggested.
They all started moving into one of the narrow hallways that would eventually make its way back toward the rear of the building where the loading dock was.
I was waiting in the hall for everyone to crowd into the narrow space.
It gave me a chance to look through the windows on the doors even though no one before me had seen a thing.
Keely had just stepped into the hallway when a voice shouted from behind me.
“Hey! You!”
I looked over at the two men who were glaring at me as they rushed toward me from the direction we’d come.
“Shit!” I hissed. “Run,” I told my sister in a low voice.
All the women were watching me with worried looks.
“We can’t all get caught. Go!” I was talking as much as I could without moving my mouth.
I didn’t want these guys knowing there were more of us back here. “Hopefully they just work here.”
They didn’t look like it. They were in suits, whereas the workers outside had polos on, and thanks to Smokehouse and the other guys always packing, I noticed the guns that were bulging out from inside their suit coats. If these guys worked for Fremont, I was in big trouble.