Chapter 27 #2
Lincoln’s face cracks slowly into a rare full smile, and he chokes back a laugh. “Brantley did? He’s such a puppy. I didn’t think he had it in him.”
“Yeah, well, love does weird shit to people.”
“I can relate,” Lincoln murmurs. So can I. “Is there a reason you’re calling me instead of Marcus or your dad?”
“I just don’t want to bring either of them into this. And I trust you to take care of it,” I say begrudgingly.
“Who was it? Flowers’s asshole of a stepdad?”
“We thought so at first, but it turns out it was her stepbrother. A guy named Nedry Abrams. She said he used to be FBI, so your guys should take extra precautions to stay under the radar.” I frown. “I suspect he was dirty. He would have killed her if Michaels and I hadn’t shown up.”
“Jesus, Seb, you guys weren’t even with her?”
I look away, guilt that I’ve been pushing down since yesterday rising in my chest. While Michaels and I had a nice little lunch in town, Fi was out here running from a psychopath.
“It was a few hours. We had to go get her car. I thought—” I blow out a breath.
“I thought she’d be safer here than in town. ”
Lincoln gives me a tight nod. After what happened with Matt and my stepsister, I don’t think he’d dare say I made a poor choice. But that doesn’t make it any easier to think about her here, alone, in danger.
Lincoln rubs the stubble on his chin. “I’ve got a couple guys who are really good. They can make it look like a suicide or just make him a missing person. You guys need to leave now. Just text me the address.” He pauses. “Wait, how did he die?”
“Michaels took an ax to his chest.”
“Fuck,” Lincoln says, raising his eyebrows. “That’s brutal. And kind of dramatic.”
“You’re telling me. Honestly, I don’t know if I should be disturbed that Fi wasn’t more upset by the whole thing.”
“Nah, I’m not surprised. She’s the toughest chick I know. Can you get her to leave? Because she’s also stubborn as fuck.”
“She certainly is that. But I think we convinced her last night.”
Lincoln gives me a dark look. “Does this mean Michaels is worth forgiving? Because I will beat the snot out of him if he steps out of line. No one fucks with Fi, goddammit.”
I give him a wry look. “Yeah, they talked it out.”
“Sure,” Lincoln says with a sly wink. “I’m sure they talked. Are you talking with her too?”
I ignore his comment. “I’m hanging up now.”
“Wait, one more thing, Sebastian.”
“Yeah?”
“You know that I’m going to have to tell Charlie about this, right?” I nod reluctantly, and he gives me a hard look. “And I want you guys to come stay here. You can sleep in the extra room at the theater.”
“Are you sure? Dennis is still around, and I doubt he’ll just let Fi off the hook—especially after Michaels killed his son. I’m guessing it’s even more personal now.”
He sighs. “Yeah, I know, and I hate putting Charlie and Trey in harm’s way, but you know what will happen if I ask them to stay out of it?”
“They’ll show up anyway.”
“Exactly. At least here I can keep an eye on them.”
“I get it. Thanks, Link.”
“Always,” he replies stoically. Then, the phone goes dead.
I stand on the porch, shaking with cold as I stare out into the woods and wonder if we’ll just keep doing this—running from place to place. I have a life back in Vancouver, a business. I can’t stay gone forever. I’m already pushing it with having been away these past few weeks.
A little pain stabs into my chest. “But I’m still going to miss all this,” I say to myself quietly before turning to walk back inside.
Fi’s laughter fills the whole room when I enter, warming it more than any fire could.
She’s sitting in Michaels’s lap while he chuckles, both of them still completely naked with the colorful quilt pooled around their waists.
Her cheeks are flushed, and her bright emerald eyes meet mine when I close the door behind me.
I narrow my gaze at them. “Did you guys just fuck?”
“Of course we did,” Fi says matter-of-factly. Michaels at least has the decency to blush. “I literally woke up with his cock in me. What was I supposed to do?”
“I don’t have any control over that thing in the morning,” Michaels protests.
“Jeez, I was outside for like five minutes.”
“I think you underestimate how long it takes me to orgasm,” Fi says with a smirk, and then she tweaks Michaels’s nipple.
“Ow,” Michaels whines, rubbing his reddened skin with a pout.
I snicker.
“Did you get a hold of Lincoln?” Fi asks. “I’m surprised you got a signal. Conveniently, my signal only works when I’m not running from a psychopath.”
“He’s sending his guys to clean up today, but he wants us to leave ASAP.” I give her a pointed look. “And he wants us to stay with them at the theater.”
“What?” She huffs an auburn strand of hair out of her eyes. “No way! Dennis will expect us to go there.”
“I get where you’re coming from, Fi, but I agree with Link. Michaels”—I give him a questioning look, and he nods. “agrees too.”
Fi lowers her brows in frustration. “I know we have to include them in this, but that doesn’t involve leading him to their doorstep.”
“We all need to stick together,” I say. “Dennis probably isn’t going to make a move at the theater. He’d be severely outnumbered.”
“As I recall,” Fi argues. “Matt had no issues sneaking into that theater when it was full of people to attack Charlie.”
“She kind of has a point,” Michaels says.
I give him a hard look. “Regardless, we’re leaving today. Pack your bags. Now. We can argue about the logistics in the truck.”
“So bossy.” Fi’s bratty tone is making my dick hard again, and I covertly adjust myself. “Wait,” she says, standing quickly. “What about my car?”
“We’ll have to leave it here until the snow melts,” I say.
I barely got it back here yesterday without sliding into another ditch.
” I glance at Michaels. “Is that okay?” He nods.
Fi crosses her arms angrily, but all it does is push her bare breasts out, and I look away, my neck and ears heating.
“Also, please put some clothes on before I fuck you into next week.”
“Is that an offer?” she says hopefully.
I turn and stalk down the hallway to the bedroom. “No,” I growl. “Get dressed.”