21. Raegan
Chapter twenty-one
Raegan
The sound of a motor grabs our attention and Kellan quickly shifts between me and the alleyway entrance. I’m about to push him aside, but he moves before I can touch him and howls with laughter. He claps his hands like he’s enjoying a performance.
A sleek black car rolls down the alley toward us and stops a few feet away from Kellan. His hand is already gliding across the hood as he approaches the driver’s door that opens, then he grabs the top of the door. “You ask him first or just steal it?”
Jackson emerges from the low-profile car. His hood is up, but I can still feel his gaze on me before he answers Kellan. “Stole it.” He shrugs like it’s no big deal. “He wasn’t using it, and I don’t have a car.”
He steps around the door while Kellan is busy cackling and taking a seat behind the wheel. Jack pushes his hood back and stops in front of me. My breath stalls at the intensity of his blue eyes as they run over me from head to toe. Then they flick over to the trashed car and his body tenses .
His exposed fingertips flex and reach for something under his hoodie, and I grab his arm to stop him.
I don’t know what he’s about to do, but it can’t be anything good with the look in his eyes. “I’m fine,” I rush out. “I don’t even have a scratch on me.”
“What happened?” His tone is relaxed, almost sounding bored, but I know from his body language that he’s anything but that. Does Kellan even realize how pissed Jackson is right now?
“We were chased by the cops, and we were going to hide out here, but the brakes weren’t working. Kellan shielded me.”
Jackson’s hand collars my nape and he pulls my forehead to his. “Reckless as always,” he murmurs; a smile tugging at the corner of his lips.
A huff of laughter escapes me. “Guess so.”
He inhales deeply, and I jump back.
Shit. Do I smell like sex? Would he know? Does it matter if he knows?
My chest clenches, and yes, it matters.
He holds his hand out to me, and I stare at it like it might strike out at me. He waits there with endless patience for me to take it. Like there’s no doubt in his mind that I will.
It’s that confidence that has me reaching for it. Because when he has zero doubts about it, how can I?
His hand wraps around mine and he tugs me next to him, then his fingers split mine apart until we’re holding hands. My heart somersaults in my chest and then burns at my selfishness. Without another word, he walks us over to the car he brought that Kellan’s still pawing at.
“Get out. I’m taking her back to her apartment.”
Kellan’s head pops up and his brow furrows. “And what am I? Chopped liver?”
Jackson slips his free hand into his hoodie pocket and tilts his head while still smiling at Kell. “You made this mess. You can clean it up.”
How easily I forget that Jackson’s just as much of an asshole as the others. He just never directs it toward me.
Kell stands, and his height forces Jackson to angle his face up to maintain eye contact. He’s definitely the tallest of the bunch and at least three inches taller than Jackson. Which says a lot about me, considering I have to look up to see Jackson.
Jack’s gaze moves down Kellan like he’s cataloging every detail and piecing things together. He’s always been exceedingly observant, and I know that he sees evidence of what happened between Kell and I.
My hand squeezes his, and he turns to look at me without hesitation.
“Jack, he literally broke his body to save mine. I won’t leave him here.”
“All right,” he concedes smoothly, then his smile sharpens into a smirk, and he presses a kiss against my cheek. Kellan growls behind him, and I swallow roughly.
I’m in so much fucking trouble.
This is why I should have just kept sex to a nameless stranger at the club.
Would it have been as mind-blowing as what I had with Kellan? Absolutely not .
But what the fuck am I supposed to do with this?
I sigh when Jackson pulls away and Kellan doesn’t stop glaring at him. Time to put on my big girl panties. “Enough with whatever the two of you think is going on here.” I pull my hand away from Jack’s and walk around the car to the passenger seat. “I’ll make one thing perfectly clear. I don’t belong to anyone.”
I shut my door and am pleased when the other two pile in without another word. Jackson climbs behind the driver’s seat in the back and Kellan takes point, as expected, being the street racer.
The ride to the club is quiet, save for Kellan touching every possible button in the car like a kid in a candy shop.
“So, whose ride is this?” I finally ask.
“Aiden’s,” Kellan replies with a wolfish grin. “He never lets us drive it. But he hardly does either, so fuck knows why he doesn’t share.”
Ice slides through my veins. It’s okay . There’s no way he’ll be able to tell I was in his car.
“How are you guys going to get the smushed-up car out of the alley?”
Kellan checks the rearview mirror to look at Jack. “You up for flying it back to the shop?”
“Aiden’s car can drag it back. I’ll keep it light,” he answers, which means he’ll use his gift to float the car while Aiden’s moves it.
Kell snickers and swings the wheel to the right, only for the car to peel that way in a tight turn. He whistles and then guns it. “The control on this car is insane. Let’s see what else it can do while we have it. ”
Jackson chuckles in the back seat, and I roll my eyes. “No cops this time, Kellan. I doubt Aiden will appreciate his car returned in the same shape as yours.”
Somehow, we make it back in one piece to the club.
“Thanks for the ride and the night out,” I say while unbuckling my seatbelt. Then I hear the other car door open, and both Kellan and Jackson get out. “What are you doing?”
“Walking you up,” Kellan answers with a grin. Jackson slips through the shadows around the back of the building and Kell adds, “And scouting out that your apartment’s clear.”
“I lasted five years on my own, Kell. I don’t need you guys looking after me.”
He steps up onto the sidewalk and wraps his arm around my back, pulling me close. “If I’m being honest, I’d hoped we could continue our night here.” He nips at my ear, and I gasp. “Since I need to go back for my ride, we’ll rain check. But this is the end of our date night and the proper thing to do is to walk you to your room, isn’t it?”
I’m about to argue again that this wasn’t a date, but I’m so tired from everything that happened that I just sigh instead.
Kellan’s hand drops to my waist. We walk inside together and up the stairs to my apartment. Jackson’s nowhere to be seen in the hallway, but I’m sure he’s nearby.
“Well, good night—”
Kell grips my hips and backs me into my door and kisses me.
His mouth and tongue are scorching as he burns me from the inside out. My hands are forced to cling to his shirt while my knees wobble and threaten to give out. I can feel the outline of his dick through his pants against my stomach, and I clench my thighs when my body dampens eagerly for it like the thirsty bitch it is.
I shove him back, and he chuckles, then licks his lips like the prick he is.
I get even wetter.
“Sweet dreams, beautiful.”
I flip him off and push the code into the door so I can slam it in his face.
I take a deep breath and then turn to face my apartment. I’m expecting Jackson to be standing somewhere, but after checking my bedroom and the bathroom, there’s no sign of him.
Well, not completely.
On the kitchen counter are multiple guns, magazines, knives of different shapes and sizes, and a first-aid kit.
There’s a folded note lying in front.
The note reads, I’ve got your back . Always.
My phone rings on the counter next to me while I’m reviewing my notes on Joe. It’s the standard ringtone, which tells me immediately that it’s not Portia, so I pick it up to check the caller ID.
It’s an unknown number.
The only numbers in my phone are Elias, Portia, and Jackson anyway, so that doesn’t mean a whole lot, but they’re also the only ones who have this number.
Wait. Except for Joe.
I’d called his office, listed on his website, and left a message with the secretary when I’d gotten back to my apartment the next day. I’d pretended to be freaking out and checking on what happened to the congressman. The secretary had been confused and said nothing was wrong, but she would pass my message on to him.
That was two days ago.
Since Aiden and the others won’t be sharing any information they gathered from him, I needed to keep up the charade as Rebecca and get back to work on the assignment Elias gave me. As far as Joe is concerned, we were both attacked and I disappeared.
At least, that’s what I hope he’s thinking since I had nothing to do with the interrogation that followed, as much as I wanted to.
“Hello?” I answer softly, pretending to be Rebecca just in case.
“Rebecca? It’s Joe Tabershire.”
“Oh, Congressman! Are you all right? What happened?” I ask, feigning breathlessness for the innocent act.
“I’m more concerned with what happened to you. Are you okay, my dear?”
“I’m fine. Just a bit shaken up. I remember talking with you about the internship and then smoke, and the next thing I knew, I was waking up in the woods. I had to walk to a bus stop to get home and then I called the police. But when they said they checked in with you, nothing was wrong.”
He chuckles through the line. “Just a prank from a friend. He didn’t realize I’d had anyone with me, so I’m sorry you had to experience that.”
I freeze at the lie. Is he trying to keep up appearances for Rebecca and the press, maybe? “Oh,” is all I can think to say back.
“Please, let me make it up to you. I have some time this afternoon and we can pick up where we left off. I can have a car pick you up from the university around 2:30?”
I check the time on my phone. That should give me enough time to make a quick pit stop at the drug store and then bus hop my way to the university for the pick-up. “Okay. Yeah, that would be great. Thank you.”
“I’ll see you soon, my dear,” he says and ends the call.
I hop from my seat at the kitchen counter and grab the cash I have. I’m not going in empty-handed this time. Before things can get too bad, I’ll slip crushed up sleeping pills in his drink. We need to have enough alcohol before that so I can convince him we’d slept together and I had to leave to get back to the dorms. That’ll give me a small window to snoop for information.
The butler greets me at the door again with a polite smile. There’s no sign or tell from him of what happened the last time I was here. He doesn’t seem flustered or upset in the least that he’d been made unconscious a few days ago by unknown assailants.
Was this sort of thing not unheard of for public figures? Or do they always keep these events quiet from others ?
He leads me to the same lounge as the last time. Congressman Joe is leaning back in his chair behind the immaculate and carved desk in the corner, his feet crossed at the ankles, while laughing into his phone as music plays softly in the background.
“Excuse me, it looks like my guest has arrived. I’ll call you back.” He hangs up and places his cell phone on the desk.
“Rebecca! I’m pleased that you did actually come back here.”
“Well, I’ll admit I was a bit nervous.”
Joe grins, but it’s darker than the ones he’s given me before. “Of course, you would be. I’ve decided this time to cut to the chase so I don’t miss you again.”
Miss me?
My gut tightens.
Something’s wrong.
I tuck my hands behind my back and start calling on my gift, hoping that I’m wrong but making sure I’m prepared if I’m right. My gut usually is.
The double doors to the room close behind me, and I hear the firm click of a lock.
“What’s going on?”
His eyes practically twinkle when I ask that. “Please, have a seat.” He waves his hand at one of the seats in front of him.
“No thanks,” I reply bluntly. I can’t keep up the act when all the red flags and alarms are going off.
“Oh? And where are you going after this? I must say, we have a lot to catch up about. But which one of us will have more questions?” His grin twists to something ugly. “I’ll start, since you seem confused. I know your real name is Raegan, and that you belong to Gifted Enterprise.”
I freeze.
“I’m sure you’re wondering how I found that out. Well, you could say that bringing you in has been my assignment for a few weeks now. I had no idea how I was going to find a single girl in this city, and yet who would have guessed that you would show up in my sights at the mayor’s party?”
The volume of the music goes up and I realize there’s someone else in the room with us. I look around, then move to the side of his desk where a child is chained by the neck to his desk. And she’s singing.
I raise my arm to grab at her chain, but it feels heavy and warm and barely moves. “What the—” My lids droop for a second and then I snap them back open. Joe’s grinning at me from his chair, his chin propped on his fingers as he watches me like a shark waiting for me to tire of swimming.
“I got a bit of insurance from GE when they learned who had broken into my home and questioned me. I had to tell them some things, of course, but nothing that GE can’t get around. This little girl is trained to put anyone to sleep who’s a threat to me. Not that we won’t fix that, my dear, but I think it’s better we have this conversation when your gift is a bit more…settled. And yes, I know about that too. Quite a terrifying one, but useful if it’s in the right hands.”
My lids close again, and I stumble into one of the chairs.
He stands, towering over me where I’m leaning on the chair to stay upright. “It’s nothing personal, dear. You see, I need to bring you in as my first test to Gifted Enterprise in order to earn my spot on the board. Apparently, there’s someone there who really wants you back. But now that I know about you, I promise, I can look out for you.”
He moves around the desk toward me, and I stumble back, grabbing onto each piece of furniture I can to keep me upright. “Thankfully, GE has the resources available to fix my home security footage that had been tampered with. They know exactly who interrupted me last time, and they’ve assembled a team to exterminate them now, so there will be no more interruptions for us.”
My eyes fly open and adrenaline surges through me, trying to shove the drowsiness from my limbs. He checks the watch on his wrist and hums. “Should be about done now, so we’ll have plenty of time to chat once I’ve moved us to a new location.”
No!
I reach into my gift and yank it out, not caring where it sits so long as it overpowers the sluggishness and disintegrates anything I touch. I run for the large window and slap my hands against it. It turns to dust at my fingertips in seconds and then I’m launching myself through it and sprinting as fast as I can to a running car so I can force the person to drive it back into the city. I can only hope they’re at that big tower that Jack had pointed out to me and not somewhere else.
Please. Don’t let me be too late.