Chapter 17
Sebastian
“You scream, I shoot. You try to fight me, I shoot. You do anything I don’t tell you to do, I shoot,” Gray said, his pistol pressing against the woman’s throat. “Understand?”
“Yes,” she whispered, nodding frantically.
“Good. Get up.”
Getting into Paige Brewer’s apartment had been ridiculously easy. The apartment next to hers was being renovated, and because there was a doorman and security, no one had bothered to lock it up.
Paige didn’t lock her balcony doors.
Rumi was pissed he didn’t have the chance to use his lock picks and had been grumbling under his breath for the last five minutes.
“Walk over to the computer,” Gray ordered.
“I have money,” Paige said, stepping carefully across the room. “Jewelry. There’s a Range Rover in the garage. Take it.”
“Don’t want your shit, bitch,” Rumi said boredly. “Stop talking.”
We’d agreed that I wouldn’t say much. I was too angry, and angry men made mistakes. It was important that this went off without a hitch, and if Paige realized that Harper had a man, it could fuck with that. Better for her to know nothing.
“Sit,” Gray ordered.
Paige’s hands were shaking as she sat down at her computer, Gray at her back.
“Now,” he said, leaning down by her ear. “You’re going to cancel that contract you put on Harper White.”
I saw the instant that realization dawned for her.
“Now,” Gray said.
He never raised his voice, never lost patience. His voice was all the more terrifying for its lack of emotion. Of course, the pistol pressed against her throat helped.
Without a word, Paige started typing while Gray watched over her shoulder.
A few minutes later, he gave us a slight nod.
“It’s done,” Paige said, pulling her hands back from the keyboard. “There, it’s done. You can see it’s done. It’s gone.”
Gray didn’t reply—just stood there, holding the pistol steady. For a moment, I wondered if he’d kill her anyway.
I wasn’t even sure if Gray knew what he was going to do.
“You understand how easy it was for us to get into your home while you were sleeping?” Gray asked, his voice soft.
“Yes,” Paige whispered, tears beginning to drip down her cheeks.
“It’s that easy for us anywhere. Your car. Your office. The grocery store. The gym. We could even walk past you on the street and kill you where you stand, and no one would even know it was happening until we were long gone.”
She nodded frantically.
“You’re going to forget that Harper White exists at all,” he said, pressing the pistol harder against her throat. He leaned closer. “Because if anything happens to my baby sister, I’ll come for you, and I won’t use a gun. I’ll gut you and watch you bleed out. Nod if you understand.”
Paige’s eyes had widened in horror when she learned who Gray was. She nodded weakly.
“Maybe when you reminded Harper where she came from,” he said, whispering into her ear. “You should have given yourself the same reminder. Doesn’t matter if I’m gone—there are too many of us to count, and each of us has a bullet with your name on it. Act accordingly.”
He rose back up and pulled the pistol away from her neck. As he walked toward us, Rumi spoke.
“You’ll sit in that chair for an hour. Hands on the desk. After that, you’ll go about your night. You won’t tell anyone we were here. I’m sure you can imagine what will happen if you do.” He used his thumb to mimic slicing his throat.
We left through the front door and made our way down to the service entrance, where a cleaning lady was waiting to let us out.
Strolling down the block, we pulled down the masks that were covering us from the nose down and made sure that any weapons were hidden.
None of us spoke until we were in the truck.
“You think she’ll talk?” Rumi asked from the back seat.
“No,” Gray replied. “She’d only fuck herself, and that woman has the self-preservation of a rat.”
“Easy as gettin’ on her computer,” I said, scoffing. “All that shit, and all she had to do was press a few buttons.”
“The way the world works,” Gray said grimly. “Who’s hungry?”
“I’m always hungry,” Rumi replied instantly.
“Okay, when we stop, get out and take a piss. I wanna get home, and I’m not stoppin’ fourteen times so you can empty your bladder.”
“If you’d let me piss in a bottle—”
“You’re not whippin’ your dick out in the back seat of my truck,” Gray cut him off.
“You have the bladder of an eight-year-old,” I told Rumi, dodging when he tried to smack me.
“I’m well hydrated!”
“Hydrate less,” Gray ordered.
It took us two days to get home from Texas because Gray wouldn’t let either of us drive, and he had to sleep at some point.
By the time we rolled into Eugene, we were all sick of each other, and Rumi had been blowing up the car with his gas since we’d grabbed breakfast that morning.
We left the windows down, but I swore it was permeating my skin.
We’d eaten the same breakfast sandwiches. I had no idea why the man smelled like hot garbage.
As soon as Gray dropped me off at home, I took a quick shower and then left again.
I was dying to get to Harper. We’d been texting during the trip but only had the chance for one phone call.
I hadn’t been willing to have Rumi listening in on our conversation, and Harper had people around her all the time.
I was glad that she’d had company. After the incident at Casper’s, I was worried that it was only a matter of time before she started dealing with the aftereffects. Being surrounded by family was good for her, and I knew that Leo and Lily were keeping a close eye.
When I parked outside of Leo and Lily’s, Hulk stood up from his chair on the front patio and walked over to meet me.
“How’d it go?”
“Smooth,” I replied, on the move. He fell into step beside me. “No fuckin’ clue if she’ll pop up again like herpes, but I doubt it.”
“And the contract is gone?”
“Gray watched her cancel it.”
“Thank fuck,” he said with a sigh. “Be careful in there. They’re watchin’ a movie, and when I opened the door, they screamed at me to go away.”
I laughed but opened the door cautiously.
Lily, Frankie, and Harper were lined up on the couch, covered in blankets. On the coffee table were empty cans of soda, crackers, chips, and various candies. They didn’t even turn to look when I stepped into the house.
“This a private party?” I asked.
Harper jumped off the couch so fast she got tangled in the blanket and nearly tripped over the coffee table. Within seconds her body collided with mine.
“Hey, baby,” I murmured into her neck.
“Is it over?” she asked, her arms like a vise around my neck.
“It’s over.”
“And I won’t have to press my boobs to any glass?”
“You won’t have to press your tits to any glass,” I confirmed.
“Thank God.” She held me for a long time, and when she finally let go, it was only to kiss me long and wet.
“I’m free!” she announced, throwing her arms in the air as she spun toward the women. “You’re free! We can go shopping! We can go to a restaurant! We can go to that little place where you drink and paint!”
“Which one do you want to do first?” I asked, chuckling.
“Your house,” Harper replied, wiggling her eyebrows.
“I’m going to call Gray,” Frankie said, folding the blanket she was using. “Then I’ll help clean all this up.”
“Don’t worry about it.” Lily waved her off.
“I’m going to pack a bag,” Harper said, spinning toward the stairs. She raced up them like her ass was on fire.
I walked over to help Lily gather up the garbage.
“It went okay?” she asked.
“All good,” I replied. “Harper’s safe.”
“Thank God,” she said with a sigh. “I knew you’d do it, but the waiting was starting to get to me.”
“It’s always worse on the waitin’ end,” I commiserated as we carried the trash into the kitchen.
“But now everything can go back to normal,” she announced with a small smile. “Except I hear my daughter is moving out again.”
I winced. I thought we’d agreed Harper wouldn’t say anything until I was back. You know, after I talked to her dad and convinced him that it was the right move.
“You’re lucky she told me,” Lily said. “Because I had a chance to convince Leo that it was a good thing.”
“Thanks for that,” I said, rubbing the back of my neck uncomfortably.
“We like you, Bas,” she said, smiling. “We’ve always liked you. The fact that you love our daughter only amplifies it.”
“Good to know.”
“Of course, her staying in Eugene for good also helps us like you even more,” she joked.
“I bet.”
“I haven’t noticed that any of the last few weeks is bothering her, but you’ll keep an eye on it, right?” Lily asked, grabbing a rag to wipe down the already clean kitchen counter.
“Of course.”
“It could pop up at any time.”
“I know.”
“And we don’t do that bullshit toughing-it-out stuff in this family. We see therapists when we need to.”
“Understood.”
“Good.”
“I’m ready,” Harper said, jogging down the stairs. “Mom, I’ll see you in a couple of days.”
“You better go say goodbye to your dad first,” Lily warned. “Where’s Frankie?”
“Already said goodbye to Frankie,” Harper replied. “She’s packing her bag. Gray’s already home. I’ll go say goodbye to Dad now.”
She practically flew out the back door to find Leo.
“I should be offended,” Lily snickered. She turned to me. “Family dinner once a week. You’re expected to attend and bring Harp.”
“I can do that.”
“I’m going to make Gray and Frankie come, too.”
“Only fair,” I replied, my lips twitching.
“Take care of my girl,” she said, her eyes on mine.
“Always.”
“Said goodbye to Dad,” Harper said as she flew back in the door. She hurried over to hug Lily and then turned to me. “Let’s go.”
An hour later, I was lying on my back in the middle of my bed, Harper draped over me like a blanket, trying to catch my breath.
“It just keeps getting better and better,” she said, patting my arm. “Maybe you should go out of town more often.”
“Nah,” we both said at the same time.
Eventually, she slid to my side and propped her chin on her hand, her other arm thrown across my stomach.