Chapter Twenty-One
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
LEENA
W hat’s wrong with me? I dig through my office drawer and try to decide what I might need while we’re out of town. I still have to pack before dinner with my sister, and I’m a little frustrated she hasn’t texted me back to confirm the time.
Maybe it was the sweatpants.
That’s it, it was definitely because he was wearing Luke’s sweatpants. That’s the only reason I found Colton Fisher attractive this morning. And this entire past week. He’s slept over before, and I’ve never had this reaction in the past. Well, I’ve never denied he’s attractive, but it’s never been… like this.
Sweatpants. Definitely.
It doesn’t help that he was so sweet to Luke after delivering the news about Asher. Or how it makes me laugh when he’s obnoxious to Sebastian. Or the quiet moments we have in the morning over coffee. Doing the crossword together… Luke usually has the damn thing finished before I even wake up. I have to admit, I was getting used to having him around on this last job. It was nice to have that back, at least for a few more mornings.
I think about how he surprised me with the Nerf guns, how we spent hours laughing, tying yarn to every surface. How he helped me handcuff the guys so I could give them their well-earned lecture. How it felt when his hands cupped my face, his fingers brushing against my cheek… the way he looked at me–
Stop.
It’s okay that I won’t see him tomorrow. I don’t need that, I don’t need him. I have two wonderful, amazing men to wake up to every day. They don’t like sitting and chatting first thing in the morning… but that’s totally fine. We do other things together. We talk other times.
Ugh, there’s absolutely no reason that he should be getting to me like this. No reason at all.
Maybe being around this much man is affecting me. I’m horny all the fucking time, because they’re horny all the time.
Not that I’m complaining.
Still, this can’t be normal. Can it?
I take a deep breath, squashing that obnoxious little thought stumble that’s been nagging at me all day, and focus back on shoving files into my briefcase.
A few minutes later, the office phone beside me lights up, signaling it’s from the admin desk that fronts all the offices on this floor.
“Hey, Leena. Someone is here to see you,” Sandra says.
“I don’t have any appointments today, who is it?” I ask, flipping through the notes on my desk, making sure I didn’t miss anything.
“He says he’s your dad… William Ward?” Her voice trails off. My entire body halts. “Leena? Should I…” she prompts when I fail to say anything.
“Um, send him in,” I stutter, not knowing what else to say. I quickly shoot a message to the group text I have with Sebastian and Luke and unlock the drawer that contains my loaded weapon. I start to fidget with my necklace just as the door begins to open.
My father steps into the room in a fucking suit, as if he’s the head of a large corporation and not running the underbelly of the city. He seems older than the last time I saw him, and I honestly can’t remember when that was. He chose his life of crime over me, and I’m fine with that.
I don’t need him anyway.
“Leena, honey. It’s so good to see–” he starts, but I’m not interested in hearing his fucking bullshit. If he wanted to see me, or hell, even talk to me, he could have called.
“Why are you here, Ward?” I interrupt, walking around to lean against the front of my desk, crossing my arms. He steps forward, just as the door behind him opens again and Luke and Sebastian step inside the room, looking pissed.
Good.
They come to stand on either side of me in a protective way, and I already feel better about this whole situation now that they’re here.
My father looks between the three of us, as if trying to figure something out. Then he looks annoyed that this isn’t going as amicably as he probably imagined.
“I have a job for you,” he says.
“No fucking way,” Sebastian states, crossing his arms.
“You know what’s been going on?” he asks.
This time Luke answers, “Yes. We’re aware.” His tone is clipped.
“Then you know it’s getting bad. I don’t have any extra hands to spare for this. Not anyone I trust for it, anyway. If I did, I wouldn’t be here,” my father says, getting increasingly frustrated.
“We’re not working for you again, Ward. And whatever shit the King of Hearts have with the other Cards is none of our fucking concern,” Luke says as he and Sebastian start walking toward him.
“If you’d just listen,” he pleads as they begin escorting him out of the room. They have him halfway out the door when he calls back to me.
“Leena, it’s Kathryn. They took her.”
The room goes silent.
I stare at him, my breath stalled.
“What do you mean, they took her? Who took her, dad?” I say through gritted teeth.
But I’m terrified I already know.
The guys let go of him, closing the door as my father makes his way over to sit in one of the chairs in front of my desk. He runs a hand over the gray stubble at his jaw.
“That’s the problem. I don’t fucking know. It’s someone from the Deck, but no one is talking. All of my guys are tatted with our card, so it’s not like I can just send someone in for intel. With everyone switching sides, no one trusts anyone anymore. New members are being strip-searched for tats. My guys would be killed on site.” He shakes his head in absolute sorrow and utter defeat.
Kat has always been his favorite, it makes sense he would be this upset over her being gone. I wonder for a moment if he was ever this upset when I was taken. And if he was, why didn’t he do more to stop it? Or come and collect me sooner? Because it happened too many times for me to believe that he cared.
“Please. There’s no one else I trust. No one else can do this,” my father pleads with Sebastian and Luke before turning his gaze on me. “If you won’t do it for me… please, Leena, do it for Kat. We need to get her back.” He’s practically shaking now.
He’s scared, I realize.
I’ve seen this man be a lot of things, but scared was never one of them. He knows what they might do to her. So do I.
“Can we have a minute?” I say without looking at him, my teeth grinding. I gesture between him and the door. He silently gets up and leaves the room.
The second he does, I crumple to the fucking floor.