Chapter 15
Chapter Fifteen
Luna
I wake up in a better mood. Now that I’m at the office, buried in work, I put last night’s fuckery out of my mind completely. I’m going to remind Daniil about updating my locks and the new doorbell camera, and tell him what happened, but while I was freaking out last night, I had a thought.
Roger.
The last time we talked, I told him we were over and that I’ve started dating someone else.
He was less than enthused about that. So, the more I’ve thought about it, the more I wonder if he’s behind the weird delivery.
Everything else can be explained away, and I’m going to call Roger about the roses, but for now, my job is stressful enough without adding unnecessary drama.
Meanwhile, I’m pulling up CCTV footage of the streets where Ginger worked last night.
It’s a little heartbreaking when I finally find her, standing on the street corner adjacent to the motel she wound up at.
It’s Oceanside but farther inland, about ten minutes from the beach where Rage and I were and where all the high-priced real estate and shops are.
I watch as she stands there for a while.
Then a guy walks up to her in a dark hoodie.
His face is hidden, but they talk for a few minutes and then head across the street.
From there, I lose them and have to jump around until I find a good view of the motel.
Unfortunately, I don’t get much more because they go inside together, his hand at the small of her back, and disappear.
As far as I know, that’s the last picture of her alive.
This is depressing as fuck, but I copy the appropriate clips and send them to Daniil.
I don’t know if a picture of a guy whose face is covered is helpful, but now I’ll start searching for him.
When I saw Rage earlier, he said he saw a guy in a hoodie who disappeared when they made eye contact.
If it’s the same guy, then I’m pretty sure we have her killer.
Not that we know his name or where to find him but we might be prepared if he tries again.
Daniil is going to send in some of the guys to hang around the area every night for a few weeks, see if we can find patterns or men that look suspicious.
They’ll also provide another layer of protection for the girls.
Silver and a few of his men are coming up here for lunch today to discuss a plan of action to protect the girls, and I’m not sure whether or not I’ll be there.
Sometimes they invite me in, other times they don’t.
Which is fine with me. The guys in the club make me uncomfortable, other than Metal.
He’s such a nice guy, it’s heartbreaking to see what he’s going through.
“Tell us everything!” Allora and Courtney come into my office and make me jump.
“Jesus H. Christ!” I mutter, hand on my heart. “You two have to stop sneaking up on me.”
“Here, have baby cuddles. That’ll make you feel better.” Courtney hands me the baby, and I’m momentarily mesmerized. She’s a beautiful little thing, with white-blond hair that sticks up, bright green eyes, and rosy, red cheeks.
I nestle her into my chest and sigh happily.
Babies are magical.
It reminds me of how badly I want one.
And that Rage volunteered to help me make it happen.
“Now tell us everything!”
“Well, sadly, our evening was interrupted by Ginger’s death,” I say quietly. “So there’s nothing much to tell. Except…he’s a great kisser.”
“You kissed!” Allora claps her hands lightly so as not to startle Celeste, who seems to be drifting off.
“We did. And he’s promised me a make-up date but who knows when that will be.” I pretend to give Courtney the side eye. “Your husband keeps him busy!”
“I’ll do my best to intervene when I can,” she says solemnly.
“Hey, make sure he doesn’t start calling my man instead!” Allora warns sternly. “I may not be ready for a baby, but I have other needs that require his attention.”
“What needs are those?” The quiet male voice behind us makes all three of us jump but Allora just laughs as she turns to Grim.
“You’re very well aware of my needs,” she says sweetly. “But why are you eavesdropping?”
“I was coming to invite you all to lunch. I can’t help that all you ladies ever talk about is sex.”
Courtney sticks her tongue out at her brother. “We talk about more than sex. It’s just that sex is a much more fun conversation than what happened to those girls recently.”
His expression sobers. “That’s for sure. Anyway, lunch is served. Allora, your dad is here.”
Allora nods. “Yeah, I’ll be right there.”
Grim kisses her lightly and then leaves the room. We’re all quiet for a beat.
“How come you only want details about my sex life?” I demand. “Like, I want to hear all about what goes on with that beast of a man!”
Allora laughs. “I’ll tell you anything you want to know. He’s virile and sexy and extremely attuned to my needs. I’ve never had such a voracious or attentive lover.”
“Same.” Courtney grins. “Dan’s a little on the kinky side but nothing over the top.
He’s really into watching other people do it and having them watch us but we decided that wasn’t appropriate in our current situation, so when I’m ready to get back on the horse, so to speak, we’ll probably go to Club Inferno when we want to get our freak on. ”
“Isn’t that in Vegas?” I ask.
She nods. “Yeah. Like I said, he’s not over-the-top. He’s perfectly happy fucking me up against a wall or bent over a counter.”
“That’s going to get complicated with two little ones running around,” I point out.
She shrugs with a wicked smile. “Why do you think we’re interviewing nannies?”
“If I didn’t love my job so much, I would volunteer,” I say, holding Celeste a little tighter.
“We’re so not ready for kids,” Allora says, shaking her head. “We need time for us to be…us for a while. Does that make sense?”
“Absolutely.” Courtney nods. “You’ve been through a lot.”
“Honestly, therapy has been good. For both of us. Maybe in a few years. For now, I’m happy falling in love and spending time together.”
“We should get to lunch,” I say, reluctantly handing Courtney back the baby.
“I’m heading home,” Courtney says, “but I’ll man the phones while you guys are busy.”
“See you later!” Allora calls out.
I pick up my laptop and we’ve just stepped into the hall when Rage comes around the corner.
“Hey.” He smiles at us. “Everyone ready for lunch?”
We fall into step together, and I feel his hand at the small of my back.
It’s both thrilling and a little disconcerting because this type of public affection is essentially an announcement that we’re together.
We talked about it briefly, but our date was so abruptly cut off it’s hard to know exactly where we stand.
It’s not like anything has changed, but we didn’t really talk about anything personal when I picked him up this morning and I don’t know when we’ll next have the opportunity.
It’s going to be a busy day.
“I spoke to Dan this morning,” he murmurs against my ear. “Let him know what’s going on between us so there isn’t any gossip or bullshit like that.”
I glance up. “It’s like you read my mind.”
“Don’t worry, I’ll always have your back.”
I smile in spite of myself. “I think I know that about you already.”
“I didn’t mention the baby thing,” he adds. “We don’t need people constantly asking if you’re pregnant, you know? Especially since it might take a while.”
God, everything is moving so damn fast, but how can it not when he’s absolutely perfect? I’m already falling. Hard and fast.
“You’re sweet,” I whisper as we walk into the conference room. The place smells amazing, and containers of Chinese food line one of the credenzas, along with paper plates and plastic cutlery. I put down my laptop and then we fill our plates, settling in next to each other.
“So,” Daniil says once we’re all seated and everyone is eating. “Luna found footage of Ginger with the man we suspect killed her.” He presses a few buttons and the video clips I sent him come up on a big screen against the wall.
“That’s the man I saw,” Rage says. “But there was no way to chase him without drawing attention to myself, and if there are multiple players involved in whatever this is, we don’t want them to know we’re on to them. Not yet.”
“Agreed.” Daniil nods. “But this begs the question—does he look at all familiar to anyone?”
“He could be anyone,” Silver admits in annoyance.
“But now we have a starting point,” Metal says, leaning back and folding his arms across his chest. “I’ll be watching for this motherfucker.”
“You can’t be out there every night,” Silver says to him.
“Says who?” The two men eye each other and Daniil intervenes smoothly.
“You don’t want to become a target yourself,” he tells him. “We need to stay in the shadows.”
“You and your boys can stay in the shadows,” Metal says firmly. “I’m not letting this happen to anyone else if I can help it. Whoever it is will know that I’m watching.”
“I’ll have his back,” Motor says before Silver can respond. “We’re coming up with a schedule so the girls have protection every night.”
“Our guys can handle protection,” Silver says to Daniil.
“What I need help with is finding whoever it is. I’ve got feelers out but Oceanside isn’t our territory and my boys aren’t trained like yours are.
The girls prefer Oceanside but I’m going to try to talk them into moving to Temecula.
I’m already getting push-back, though. They have regulars in Oceanside. ”
They talk a little more about logistics but I’m more focused on Rage’s hand.
Because it’s resting lightly on my thigh, his thumb moving in little circles.
It’s hard to concentrate on anything else.
He told me he likes a plus-size woman and that’s super convenient because I really like extra-large men. Tall and muscular, with broad shoulders and thick thighs. There’s nothing better than being thrown against the wall and fucked—
“Luna?” Daniil is staring at me.
I start. “Sorry, my mind wandered…what did you say?”
“I need you to run a background check on all the girls. Silver is going to text you copies of their drivers licenses. I want you to see if you can find anything that ties them together beyond the obvious. Where they’re from originally, schooling, arrest records, whatever it is.”
I nod. “On it.”
“Great.” Talk turns to something else and I lightly kick Rage’s foot under the table.
He surreptitiously kicks me back.
I slide one foot out of my sandals and playfully run it along his shin. He has khaki’s on, so his leg isn’t bare, but I note the way his grip on my thigh tightens. Just thinking about those hands squeezing other parts of me makes my tummy—and regions farther south—clench with excitement.
“Five minutes,” he murmurs in my ear. “In the supply closet.”
I chuckle, assuming he’s kidding, but three minutes later, he casually gets up, dumps out his trash and leaves the room. The meeting is over except for those of us lingering to finish eating and shoot the shit.
Before I can talk myself out of it, I get up and follow in the direction he went.
I don’t know exactly what he has in mind, but I’m looking forward to finding out.