Chapter 22
WOODY
"You guys didn't believe she'd voluntarily walk away from us, did you?" I asked. The accusing expression on my face wasn't very convincing. Even I knew that and I couldn't see it.
I didn't think Forrest or Leif bought Benjamin's spin.
No, I was the dumbass who bought it. Hook, line, sinker and old boot fished up from the bottom of the Hudson.
"I could say I took your word for it when you said she left because she wanted to leave," Leif said, checking his gun before slipping it into the waistband of his jeans. He already had a knife in his boot and another up his sleeve.
"Since when have you believed anything I said?" I asked, checking my own gun.
"You have a point there." Leif actually grinned at me.
Prick.
"I'd flip you off but my hands are busy," I told him.
"A common occurrence with you," he teased.
"Ha fucking ha," I growled. "Do you see my hand around my cock?" My hand was around the barrel of a gun, pointed roughly in the direction of his balls. If he wasn't careful, he'd tempt me to pull the trigger.
"Not yet," Leif said. "I thought you might do that while Forrest and I go and save our woman."
"First of all, you're not leaving me behind," I said, glaring at him, then at Forrest, who hadn't said a word yet. He was too busy getting his weapons ready while looking a million bucks in an expensive suit.
"Second of all, if I let you leave without me, I wouldn't be getting myself off. I'd be plotting your doom." It would involve a whole lot of ice, hotdogs and a few spiders. Don't ask.
"We better not leave him behind then, right Forrest?" Leif asked over his shoulder. "We don't want Woody plotting our doom. That sounds like a bad movie. The Woody of Doom. Tell me, do you have a woody of doom?"
"I've got a woody of fuck you," I said.
Did this conversation make any sense? Not really. Did we care? No. I didn't anyway. Whatever, it didn't matter, it was helping us to blow off steam.
"Correction," I said quickly, "I have a woody of 'Fuck Sable, not either of you.'" My cock was a one-person kind of guy, like me.
Besides, they were my brothers. Fucking either of them would be weird. Also? Leif would probably crack jokes the entire time, then I really would shoot him in the nuts. I'd share her with him, but that was as far as it went.
I was kinda lucky in a way. If I was going to share a woman with anyone, it'd be these two clowns. They were pretty all right, most of the time. Yeah, go on, point out the fact they tolerated me. Gold stars for their foreheads.
"Are you ready?" Forrest asked, looking at both of us like we were a pair of children. "If you're not, I'll leave both of you behind."
So much for being lucky.
"I'd say I was born ready, but that's a cliché and doesn't make any sense," I said. I was born naked and crying, like everyone else.
"I'm ready," Leif said, without adding any smartass remarks for once.
I glanced at him to make sure he was feeling okay. He looked well enough. Maybe he was thinking of Sable, saving a few jokes for her. She'd appreciate it. Right?
Forrest nodded and strode out the door, leaving us to hurry to catch up.
While we made our way out of the building, Forrest pulled out his phone and tapped at the screen. "It looks like everything is in place."
"Are you sure this is going to work?" Leif asked.
"I mean, I hate to say this, but what if Boner is wrong?
What if she really left like her father said?
What if this isn't going down at all? What if this is some kind of trap?
What if we're about to make a fool of ourselves?
" He spoke faster and faster with each sentence.
"What if you stop saying 'what if'?" I asked when he took a breath.
He let the breath out. "You know what I mean."
"I trust Boner," Forrest told him. "I trust my sons, and I trust Harlow St. James. If they say this is going down, then this is going down. If it makes you feel any better, worst case scenario, we walk in there, see everything is as Benjamin Kohl said it was, and we walk out again."
That wasn't the worst case scenario I could think of, but I wasn't going to say so. We all knew. This wasn't anyone's first rodeo. Besides, his worst case scenario was easier to swallow than mine was. His didn't end up with us dead.
We climbed into the waiting car and sat in silence while the driver took us the few blocks down to the address Boner gave me.
A fancy-ass neighborhood on the Upper East Side.
Somewhere that screamed 'money.' The kind of place I never could have afforded to buy.
Didn't want to, if I was honest. Not unless Sable was there too.
She belonged in places like this. Me? I was just a guy who worked on the subway, fixing stuff.
I had no aspirations to be anything more.
Let the rich folk be rich folk. I was going to be me.
We climbed out of the car in front of the old firehouse. That's what it was when I was a kid, if I remembered right. It closed down so long ago, the memory was vague.
Now it was swanky. How many years of income would an apartment here be worth?
My guess? Approximately a hundred.
Forrest and Leif both seemed at home stepping out of the car in their wool suits. They could have owned the place, looking the way they did. Okay, I admit to looking good too, but not the way they did.
No one would question their presence here. No one did as we strode into the building. The doorman even nodded his recognition.
"Everything looks new," Leif remarked, looking around the foyer and the shiny elevator. "My guess is it was renovated within the last twelve months."
"Not one of your jobs?" I asked. Clearly it wasn't, since he didn't seem familiar with the place.
"No, so it doesn’t look quite as good as it could have." He smirked like a smug bastard.
I rolled my eyes. I'd walked into that one. Whatever, I'd humor him for a while by not telling him to fuck off.
"Third floor?" Forrest said, checking with me before he pressed the button.
"Yep," I said.
The elevator gave a happy little ping that made me want to punch it. What gave it the right to sound so cheerful? Did it realize what was going on upstairs?
Probably not, since it was an elevator. A piece of machinery like the subway. I should be more appreciative. After all, without elevators, we'd be walking up a fuck ton of stairs. I liked being fit as much as the next guy, but not when I was dragging heavy things upstairs.
Or dragging them back down, for that matter, like the occasional corpse. Don't ask me how many times I've had to drag a corpse into an elevator, because I couldn't tell you. The truth is, I couldn't remember. Yeah, it was that many.
We stood in silence until we reached the third floor. The elevator gave another happy ping.
I glared at it as I followed Forrest out across the corridor to the only apartment on this floor.
Forrest pushed the door open and led us inside.
"Starting without us?" he asked.
"Rude," I grumbled under my breath.
"Looks like we got here just in time," Leif said, sounding even more cheerful than the fucking elevator. "Good to see you all again."
He strode over to Sable's father and actually offered his hand, shaking it vigorously.
"Benjamin, long time no see. And Gregor Quinn. Aaron Martinson. You, I don't know." He pointed a finger gun at the man near the window, before turning to the woman.
"Imogen, darling, how have you been?" His tone was borderline acidic. Sickly sweet, but it would probably kill you.
So could the look she gave him.
"Leif Larsen," she said flatly.
"The one and only." He grinned. "Now don't let us interrupt. I think I heard something about starting the bidding." He looked over at Sable, his fake smile in place, as though he barely recognized her.
She stood between two of Benjamin's thugs, looking small but fucking gorgeous. I wanted to grab her, throw her over my shoulder, and take her out of here. Instead, I held my ground. For now.
Leif didn't even glance at Noah or Urban, nor did they spare us a glance. If they had, the lack of surprise might have been obvious.
"I didn't realize Forrest Cross was invited," Quinn said, his lip curled just slightly before he schooled his expression back to a pleasant smile.
"Neither did I," Benjamin said.
"I'm sure the invitation got lost." Forrest seemed indifferent. "I was curious about the proceedings." That was as close as he might get to calling out Benjamin on his bullshit.
It was close enough, we all understood. Benjamin in particular, from the irritation that crossed his face.
"I suppose you can stay and watch," Benjamin said. "As long as you don't intend to interfere."
"Why would I interfere?" Forrest asked, spreading his hands to the other side. "You made the situation clear last night."
"I did indeed," Benjamin agreed.
Was it too soon for me to rip his head off his shoulders?
"Let's continue," Imogen said, as if somehow she could salvage the situation. "Did we have an opening bid?"
"Not yet," Noah said. "Would anyone like to get us started?" A slight hint of mischief in his eyes; he included Forrest in that question. He better be careful not to stir up too much shit. He might dump all of us straight into it.
"Ten million," Gregor Quinn said with no shame at all.
Prick. What sort of person bid on another one like that? Oh, right, a prick like him.
I couldn't decide who was more disgusting. Him or Sable's father. He had no right to call himself that, as far as I was concerned. He didn't deserve to be related to her. Hell, he didn't deserve to be in the same room with her or breathe the same air.
I forced my gaze away from him and watched the expression on Sable's face. The fear in her eyes. She wasn't looking at Quinn with terror. Her eyes were on her father. Then on us: me, Forrest, and Leif.
Was she scared of us? It took a moment to click. No, she wasn't. She was scared for us. Why? Had Benjamin said something to her? Threatened her?
I caught her eye. She swallowed visibly.
Yeah, that was exactly what happened. Benjamin had threatened to do something to us if she didn't go along with his bullshit.
That was why she walked away last night.
That was why she looked as though she'd made her own choice.
She thought she didn't have a choice. She thought if she didn't leave, we'd be dead.
Could I love this woman any fucking more? Why hadn't I told her that? I should have. I should have said it a million times already.
No, be quiet, that wasn't too excessive. It might not be enough. Whatever. Either way, I should have said it.
I managed to give her a slight, what I hoped was reassuring, smile. We had this. We weren't going to be killed that easily.
She responded with a faint, tight nod before turning her attention to Aaron as he said, "Eleven million."
These so-called men were a fucking joke. How dare they make bids like that for this woman? She was worth so much more. More money than I'd ever have in my life. Maybe more money than Forrest and Leif put together.
"Twelve million," Quinn said, his confidence not slipping slightly, or should I say arrogance? Aw hell, both.
"Thirteen million," Aaron said.
I glanced over at Forrest. He briefly frowned at Sable before a flicker of anger crossed his features. He'd come to the same conclusion I had. She was only here because they'd threatened her.
"Can I make a suggestion?" he drawled.
Benjamin looked pained. "Perhaps you can wait until we are done here."
"No, I don't think it can wait," Forrest said. "I suggest both of you make sure you have the money to pay before you bid any higher."
Aaron and Quinn both stared at Forrest before pulling out their phones and tapping on screens.
"What the fuck did you do?" Quinn growled.
"I didn't do anything," Forrest said. "I guessed you were overreaching. It seems I was right."
Quinn's face turned red. "This isn't… How did you…" He stammered.
"My son, Cassius, is very good with technology," Forrest said. "Various charities are very grateful for your generous donations."
I liked his version of a smug smile. It was a good look for him.
Noah was grinning now, and even Urban looked amused.
"How dare you interfere?" Benjamin roared, his hands in fists.
"How dare you try to sell your own daughter?" I retorted.
"Silas, Conrad," Benjamin snapped. "Noah, Urban."
Before they could move a muscle, Sable pulled the gun out of the top of her skirt, flicked off the safety, and aimed it at her father's chest.
"I think it'd be a good idea if nobody fucking moved," she squeaked.