Chapter 2
Chapter Two
Lincoln
“ S kal!”
The cheer penetrated the air as the private elevator doors opened into Erik’s luxury penthouse.
“Looks like they started without us.” Jared and I shared a grin as we stepped out.
I was a lucky man to have friends like these. We’d all met in college and after over ten years and a lot of shit later, we were still close. It wasn’t just that we owned several BDSM clubs together, we were family.
“Is it really a party before we show up?” Jared smirked.
Everyone but Gabriel had arrived and was seated at the dining room table, except Colin, who was standing at the railing of the massive deck. Ever since his return from his last job, he had been distracted and standoffish. When he was like that, it was a good idea to give him space.
I tore my gaze away from my troubled friend and took a moment to appreciate Erik’s castle in the sky. For a man who’d grown up poor, he made up for it in spades with this place. It should be added as the eighth wonder of the world and have tours.
The foyer was marble, with twenty-foot wooden beams and posts that made you feel like you were in a Viking Hall. The entrance hall led down into the living space, where a spring-loaded, plexiglass floor covered an underwater universe.
Fish of all sizes swam peacefully, and I never tired of watching them. When we’d returned from active duty, I’d spent a lot of time at the local aquarium. Looking for a little peace and diversion from the visions that seemed to haunt me suddenly, anytime, day or night.
When Erik bought this place, I’d made recommendations on what fish to purchase based on my hours of observations at the aquarium. He didn’t know that I’d named them all, not that he’d care, so coming to his place was always a therapeutic experience for me.
Erik and Noah sat at the hand-carved dining table that was fit for a king. Raia and Shelby were seated on their laps and giggling at each other about something. I loved seeing the four of them.
The elevator pinged and Gabe stepped out. Our fearless leader was the last to arrive. We all were in the service, but Gabe’s time had ended two years prior to mine and Colin’s. He returned to the States and started a small protection company called G&H security. In Norse mythology, Heimdall, which is Gabe’s club name, was the guardian of the realm of Asgard. Fitting, considering he’d outfitted our three clubs with the best security money could buy.
The G stood for Gjallarhorn a mighty trumpet and the H was for H?fue the war sword. It was a blatant statement for anyone who cared to inquire as to the origins of the name. He brought in Colin and I on our return, and the company had grown ever since.
Gabriel’s expression was pinched. Bags under his eyes told me he was still recovering from the hectic month. First, losing an employee who decided traveling through Greece with his lover was more important than a paycheck. Then hiring Rose and dealing with her kidnapping. Finally, the building of their relationship. It was enough to exhaust anyone.
I was about to go and speak with him when I saw him and the only female member of our friend group, Marissa, make eye contact. She followed him out to the patio, where Gabe collapsed onto a deck lounger.
Hell, ever since we left the service, I’d had my bad weeks or sometimes months, but he was usually the one pushing me away from my computers and back into life. But if things were so terrible he couldn't even relax at the weekly dinner, it was time to push him to talk.
Colin was leaning against the deck railing, looking out over the city as if completely lost in thought. I grabbed a drink and headed toward him and had to dodge Erik as he snatched a tray heavily laden with appetizers from his housekeeper, Mrs. Goodwin. The woman was more akin to a mother to most of us than an employee and Erik spoiled her rotten.
I shook my head at the antics of my friends as they descended on the food like the rabid animals they sometimes resembled.
“Are you ready to talk about it yet?”
“Good seeing you too, Linc.”
Whenever Colin’s Scottish accent slipped out, I knew he was either worried or trying to pick up a girl. As there were no girls in our vicinity except for Mari, and those already in a relationship with our friends, it had to be the former. The corner of his mouth tipped up in the ghost of a smile. “Ever wonder if you’re going crazy?”
“All the time, brother, but I think you are alluding to something specific. What is it?”
He knew about my PTSD. All my friends did, but none of them knew how often the guilt and horror of what we’d seen and done affected my actions. My therapist told me that it was impossible to know every contingency, but it didn’t stop me from trying. It was why I preferred working on the digital side of G&H security. Making sure we had access to all the necessary information legal or not, was my obsession.
“I’m not sure if something is really wrong, or if my mind is playing tricks on me.”
“Just because you’re paranoid doesn’t mean they aren’t out to get you.”
Colin laughed and tilted his glass toward me in a salute. “True.”
“So, what has you worried?” I mentally reviewed the different contracts the company had been working on recently. Other than the attempted kidnapping of one of our clients that ended up with us having to rescue Rose, things had been pretty quiet.
“The Aziz account.”
I hadn’t worked that one with Colin since it had been a simple review of their overseas office locations and physical security recommendations. We wouldn’t be providing staff or anything on the digital side, so none of us thought a deep dive into them was necessary.
Damn it, had I fucked up?
“Tell me.”
“There was a woman.”
I took a drink, trying to hide my grimace. There was always a woman. Ever since our college days, Colin and I had enjoyed sharing our partners, and due to our time in the service, being a trio had become necessary for anything that involved an overnighter. Sometimes it was hard to decide which one of us had the more disabling PTSD.
Colin was definitely more affected while he slept and his monsters came out to haunt him in his dreams, which were often violent, with flailing limbs that could hurt someone if I wasn’t there to do damage control.
We both avoided talking about his episodes and my debilitating need to not be in public, where the busy sounds of the city could throw me into a tailspin. Shit went down where we were stationed, and I knew he felt guilty about some decisions he’d made. Jared was my best friend, but Colin was my brother in every sense of the word and for as long as I’d known him, he’d struggled with following the status quo. Was he feeling guilty for an obsessive hookup, or was it something more?
“Was she hot?”
“Unbelievably so, but that is beside the point. I think she’s in trouble.”
I took a deep breath. “You know a foreign girl trying to give a sob story to a rich American she slept with is not uncommon.”
And something we were both vulnerable to, given our history. But even as much as I wanted to believe it was just a case of someone attempting to fleece my friend, the uneasy feeling in my stomach didn't agree.
“Zara Parker is an American”—he tossed back a swig of his drink–“and I didn’t sleep with her.”
“Zara?”
Colin sighed. “Mihal’s PA. Did you read my report on the job?”
“No. Didn’t think it needed my input.”
“It doesn’t. The guy was an asshole with delusions of power. I gave him the recommendations we were hired to give him, but there isn’t enough money in the world to make me work with that guy again. I recommended we not accept any future work.”
I took another sip of my drink, trying to fit what little I knew into a picture that would explain why my friend was so worked up. “Because of something his assistant said to you?”
“No. I barely said anything to her. It’s just a feeling I got. She looked like a trapped rabbit trying to survive among wolves. I overheard him saying something about keeping her passport safe and threatening her if she broke her employment contract.”
My pulse leapt into my throat, and I had to take a moment before speaking. “You heard him threaten her and didn’t do anything?”
“It wasn’t exactly a threat.”
“Then what was it?”
Colin knocked his fist against the railing. “I don’t know. It could have just been a reminder about penalties. See, this is why I don’t know. I offered to help, gave her my card, and she blew me off and didn’t call. But it doesn’t feel right.”
It was hard to think straight. Both Colin and I were sensitive when it came to leaving women in danger. We failed once and neither of us were willing to risk that happening again. But what could we do? Without more information, we might be blowing things out of proportion, or be putting a young woman’s career at risk.
“You should talk to Gabe about taking a trip back. We can call it a follow-up visit.”
Before we could start a plan, Mrs. Goodwin called everyone inside for dinner. I knew both Colin and I were thinking about what to do with his concerns. From the look Gabe and Declan exchanged, they knew something was up. Colin’s older brother was always up in our business, but with his brother, he tried to be more subtle about it. So, it didn’t surprise me when it was Gabe who spoke.
“Hey. What’s going on?” He nudged Colin. “You’ve been off since you arrived.”
“This is my problem.” Colin passed a card over. “I met her at my last job, just before I packed up to come home.”
This must really be bothering my friend if he was willing to talk about it where everyone could overhear.
Gabriel studied what I could only assume was Zara’s business card, a puzzled expression on his face. “What’s the problem?”
Even though I knew what he was going to say, the stress in his voice as he spoke surprised me. “I think she’s in trouble, but when she tried to talk to me, she was hustled out of the room by their in-house security. Anyway, I gave her my card before she was removed, but I didn’t hear from her before I left. I can’t help feeling that something is seriously wrong, Gabe, and I’m not sure what to do about it.”
“I think you should go and check on her, but not alone. Let’s talk about this more after dinner and we can make a plan.” I was happy to hear Gabriel was on board. Hopefully, with both of us we could keep Colin from running off halfcocked.
Dinner seemed to take forever, but when we moved outside to talk, I wasn’t surprised when everyone joined us. It was nice to have the support of our friends, even if they could be a little overbearing. That was the price of being friends with a bunch of Dominants.
“What’s going on?” Unsurprisingly, it was Declan, Colin’s very protective older brother, who spoke first.
“It’s work related, no need to worry.” Colin tried to blow off his brother. The two of them had a rocky relationship at the best of times, but no one doubted they would have each other’s backs.
“If something has my brother this down, then it isn’t just work related.” The frustration in Declan’s voice was evident as was the irritation on Colin’s face. This was a constant with the two of them. They had been tight before we’d been shipped off and it annoyed the hell out of our group leader to not be in the know regarding his younger brother.
“Is that true?” Gabe asked. “Do you have a personal stake in this?”
From the moment he’d described her as unbelievably hot, I’d known this would be personal for more than one reason. Even if he hadn’t any romantic intentions or otherwise with the woman, neither of us was detached enough to not help if we could. “I don’t know yet. I told you it’s my gut talking, not my head. Something is wrong with that woman, and I feel bad I couldn’t find out what, but I know somehow that she is in trouble.”
And those were the magic words… gut. This was the struggle my friend faced, the balance between gut and logic. A play partner at the club had once joked that Colin was the very epitome of a Libra, whatever the hell that meant. Something about always trying to balance the unbalanced.
“I’m going with you.” My words probably surprised everyone. I avoided traveling, but this wasn’t something I’d let him do alone.
“I’m going too.”
Jared’s declaration surprised me. Our playboy friend wasn’t usually the type to volunteer for things, and we hadn’t even said we wanted volunteers, nor that we’d welcome any to join us. Jared would have been the least likely of everyone here, being the resident jokester and rarely taking anything in life seriously. I loved him like a brother, but when things went down, his wasn’t the first name that came to mind.
Gabe cocked his head as if trying to puzzle something out. “Jared, you’re not even in the company. There are no civilians on this trip. What makes you think you should go?”
“Because these two need someone with a cool head in case they run into any trouble and because I’m not part of the company, I’m free to gather intel, or worm my way in somewhere. I wouldn’t be recognized.”
It was a good argument, though I wasn’t sure how much help he’d be.
“No. I don’t need you sticking your nose into my business.” Colin snarled.
The tension between the two went back to our college days, and I hated it. Jared used to tease him for being a tag-along and my friend had resented him ever since.
“Then it should be me.” Declan’s calm voice dared any of us to argue. “I will spearhead this rescue team and stay in direct communication with Gabriel to make sure you knuckleheads don’t get out of control.”
As much as I respected the man, he was an idiot to believe that him being there wouldn’t cause more problems than it solved. Colin jumped into situations because he was afraid to ever hesitate again. I could usually hold him back, but with the addition of his brother it would be impossible.
Friction built between the two brothers until Gabe cleared his throat. “Listen, I love you both for offering, but unless an issue arises that, for the first time since the inception of G&H, we can’t handle with our own staff, I won’t call on either of you to fill in. We don’t know what is going on or if anything even is. Lincoln and Colin will go with four more and set up a reconnaissance mission until we can gain more intel. Rose will set up the mission parameters and I will be the one in charge of this mission, making sure they have what they need.”
Before Declan’s smile could piss off his brother, I tried to end the conversation so we could start actually planning. “Let’s get the show on the road.”
“They can use my private jet,” Jared offered. “It’s registered to a shell company that is connected with some of the top businesses in the country. If anyone looks into who owns it, they’ll never find out the answer.”
Why did he have a private jet not registered to him?
“That would shorten the timeline,” Rose said gently, pressing her hand onto Gabe’s forearm.
Maybe it was just my contrary nature, but the more everyone offered to help, the more cautious I became. When we all agreed to meet up in the morning, I decided I would take the rest of the night and find out just exactly who Zara Foster was and if she was really in trouble.