Chapter 20
CHAPTER TWENTY
WREN
"This place is amazing." Sinclair looked around Tiger's apartment, her lips slightly apart. "That view. I thought Coast's old apartment was impressive, but this is something else."
Like I suspected, the view of the ocean was stunning during the day. The sun glinted invitingly off the water. A cruise ship slowly sailed past. It was better than a postcard, or holiday photos from social media.
"Tiger has good taste." Elenna seemed more impressed with his kitchen than the view. She might have been picturing Finley cooking in it, even though their kitchen was almost as beautiful.
"Of course he does." Sinclair slipped an arm around me and gave me a squeeze. She even managed to tear her eyes away from the window to do it. "Wren is incredible. How are you feeling? You must have been terrified."
My arm around her, we made our way to the couch and sat down.
"It was strange," I said slowly. "I wasn't scared at the time. What really scares me was thinking about what might have happened. That someone would actually do something like that to me. Drugging me and then breaking in." I shuddered. "Who does shit like that?"
"Someone with a death wish." Elenna sank down in one of the armchairs. "Did they really think they could pull something like that and get away with it? They must have no idea who you are and who you know. And who cares about you."
"I think they know exactly who I am," I said. "That's the point. They could get to any one of us. I'm scared they'll try to come after all three of us."
"They'll have to come through a wall of nine guys," Sinclair said. "Not to mention the rest of the team."
"I wish I could say I thought that would deter them, but I can't." I leaned against the back of the couch and pulled my feet up beside me. "They came after us before. What's to stop them from trying again?"
Elenna's eyes glazed, clearly thinking back to that night. "Everyone who took part in that is dead."
"That's a very good way of stopping people from doing things like that again," Sinclair said. "Unless they're zombies."
I stared at her. "Why would you even suggest something like that? Now I'm going to have nightmares about zombie Sawyer Mancini. It's bad enough knowing Roach, Otis and Gus are out there still."
I had recurring nightmares about the three men holding Sinclair and I at gunpoint. She didn't say anything, but I was sure she had them too.
"Zombies aren't real," she said. "No more than vampires and wolf shifters."
"Wolf shifters aren't real?" Elenna asked sarcastically. "There goes that fantasy." She punctuated her words with a sigh that was both heavy and playful.
"I'll never believe they aren't," I said. "Women everywhere deserve hot guys who can change into wolves. Or dragons. Or gargoyles."
"One hundred percent." Elenna smiled and added, "Listen to us. You'd think we weren't all in relationships with gorgeous men who are crazy about us. Who would do anything for us. I wouldn't trade them in for a wolf shifter."
"Of course not, but a shifter could be a fourth boyfriend," I said with a grin. "They'd keep Aidan, Finley and Orion on their toes."
"When you put it that way…" She grinned.
"You guys are crazy," Sinclair said. "My ideal book boyfriend is a billionaire. Although the players in hockey romance are hot too. Not as hot as the real thing, but they're fun to read about." She fanned herself.
"So, you'd be here for a billionaire, hockey playing wolf shifter?" Elenna asked. "Just in case someone was going to write that."
"If you wrote it, I'd read it," she said. "You know I'll read everything you write."
"Me too," I said.
Elenna was a very talented author, even if she didn't believe in herself and her own writing too much of the time. From what I could gather, that was typical of most authors. They were never sure if what they were doing was good enough.
"That's very sweet of you," she said modestly.
"I just realised I haven't offered you coffee." I grabbed my phone from the coffee table, opened the app and started the coffee machine in the kitchen.
"Tiger has a voice or app that activates everything around here. The toilet is even one of those that flushes automatically when you stand up. It scared the shit out of me the first time. Figuratively."
"I wouldn't have picked Tiger as a tech geek." Sinclair watched the machine over the back of the couch.
"He's full of surprises," I said. "The more I get to know him, the more interesting things I uncover. Same with Lex. There's more to him than a superhero nerd."
"What about Bray?" Sinclair turned back to me, an eyebrow raised.
"Don't tell him I said this, but he might not be as big an asshole as I thought he was," I said in a loud, dramatic whisper. "Close, but not quite that big."
"You look smitten to me." Sinclair smiled softly. "With all of them."
"I am," I said. "I'm falling for them. And I think they're falling for each other. Lex and Tiger anyway. I don't think Bray swings that way."
I was almost certain he didn't, but up until recently, I didn't think he swung my way either. Whatever made him happy, I was here for it.
"That's adorable," Elenna said. "It's nice to see guys like that embracing their true selves. Orion and Finley are the same. Orion is such a masculine man, but when they're together they get along so well. It's sweet and hot at the same time."
"Amen to that," Sinclair said. "Coast, Javey and Phoenix… I don't know how they haven't set the house on fire." She fanned herself again.
"Better than a wolf shifter any day," Elenna said.
My phone pinged and the coffee machine filled three cups of the steaming brew.
I pushed myself to my feet. "The only thing we don't have here is coffee cups that bring themselves to you."
I hurried over to the kitchen and carried their cups to them before grabbing up my own. In my other hand, I grabbed a box Elenna had left on the island. I carried it over to the coffee table and placed it where we could all reach.
"It's sweet of Finley to bake us biscuits." I picked one up and nibbled on the side.
"We figured it was safer than buying any," Elenna said. "Besides, they always taste better when he makes them." She picked up one of her own and dipped the side into her coffee before popping it into her mouth.
"I love his baked goods, but it sucks that we can't trust anyone enough to buy them, until they find out who drugged you." Sinclair sighed. "Even then, I'll be suspicious of anyone selling muffins."
"Me too," I agreed. "I'll be working from here for a while. Dad said he can manage the shop, if I can do the jewellery-making. Bray has already brought everything I need. I’ve taken over Tiger's office. Not gonna lie, the view makes it difficult to work. I keep stopping to stare at it."
"I can't blame you," Sinclair said. "I wonder if I can convince the guys to buy an apartment in this tower." She looked out the window thoughtfully. "We could be neighbours."
"I wonder how long it would be before the guys turned the helipad on the roof into a practice rink," Elenna mused.
I laughed. "I'm surprised Tiger and Bray haven't thought of that already. They could have all the guys over for a practice and a few beers afterwards. With a barbecue up there and everything."
"The ultimate party space." Sinclair grinned. "I'm so in. I might have to work on them. After all, isn't Powell Tower basically the most secure place in the entire city? Where better to live?"
"You just want to pretend you're Rapunzel," I teased.
She laughed. "Nah, I want to wake up to that view every morning. The guys would love it. Especially Javey. He could watch the whole city go by."
"I think you might find it difficult to tear them away from the big-ass mansion you currently live in," I said. "If they want their own rink, your house is big enough for one."
"It is, but I'm not going to suggest it," she said. "If I did, I'd never see them again. They'd spend all their time skating."
I laughed. "That's probably true. No rink on the roof then." The barbecue sounded nice though.
"Are you okay with spending all of your time here?" Elenna asked gently. "We know you like your independence."
She wasn't wrong about that. It was nice of her to worry about me. I'd worried about her plenty of times in the past. Especially when people were after her, wanting her dead. Lucky for us, they were dead now, not her.
I sighed. "Yeah, this birdie likes to spread her wings and fly, but until all of this is over, it's better that I'm here. It's not permanent."
In spite of what Tiger said about not letting me go, I wanted to get back to work in the shop at some point. Or work on expanding Danglies.
I might go on living here, but I couldn't conduct every day for the rest of my life within these walls. As big and beautiful as the walls were. Sooner or later, they'd start to feel like the bars of a cage. Like my wings were clipped. I couldn't let that happen.
If I did, then whoever drugged me ultimately won. Fuck that. I wasn't going to let anyone do that to me. No way.
"We'll come and visit you as often as we can," Elenna said. "I'm thinking of concentrating more on my writing than working with the Demons."
"Yes!" Sinclair pumped the air in excitement. "More books from you."
Elenna smiled. "That's what I'm hoping. Aidan keeps saying he'll find someone to turn one of my books into a movie, but I want that to happen on merit, not because of someone he knows." She wrinkled her nose.
"He has enough faith in you to know that'll happen without his help," I said. "It is sweet of him to suggest that though."
"It is," she agreed. "He only wants what's best for me. I told him that's for me to keep working my own way and write something readers will love enough that a studio will want it."
"You're so nice," Sinclair said. "I would have told him to back the fuck off." She grinned.
She'd do that if one of her guys tried to get too pushy about something she was working on.
Although, considering she tended to arrange photo shoots for calendars, and ice dancing dance-offs for charity, they might be justified in keeping an eye on her and her work.
Who knew what she might come up with next?
Elenna laughed. "I might have done that too. The point is, he respects me and he's giving me space. Finley and Orion too. The support they give me is everything."
"You deserve it," I told her. I meant that. They both deserved a butt load of happiness. I was genuinely pleased they both found families that adored them as much as I did.
Didn't everyone deserve to feel that kind of love?
"So it won't be long until we see a movie about a billionaire, hockey playing wolf shifter," I said. "I can't wait. Maybe they could cast one of the guys as the lead role."
"Or three guys," Sinclair said. "The world needs more reverse harem movies. I'm sure Coast would be more than happy to be in it."
Elenna laughed. "I don't think I'd have that much say in it, but I can suggest them if it ever happens. It could be fun to make a movie with half the team."
"You should write a hockey reverse harem," I said. "Then the whole team could be in the movie. They could play themselves."
We all laughed at that. If they made our lives into a movie, no one would believe it.