Chapter 14 ~
Maverick ~
“Rory’s been gone a long time,” Alec says, concerned.
Luc looks up from where he’s been putting the steaks in a dish to carry out to the barbeque. He frowns when he sees Rory never came back from her shower.
“Don’t girls have a million things they do in the shower?” Mase says.
He’s got that look like he’s thinking about what Rory could possibly be doing in there. He's got a stupidly big grin widening across his face.
Jace shakes his head. “Not Rory. I swear, Dec used to spend longer in the shower than she did.”
His eyes widen as he says this and he clicks his fingers like he’s had an epiphany. “She used to fall asleep a lot though. We, being Dec and I, would yell at her through the door every two minutes just in case she did. Maybe that's why she became so quick in the shower?” Jace ponders, thoughtfully.
I shake my head at him as he contemplates it.
“She falls asleep in the shower?” Dom says incredulously.
“I’m checking on her,” I announce. People can drown by falling asleep in water.
“Just knock and see if she responds first,” Alec suggests.
“Nah, man. I’m gonna burst in when she could be perfectly fine,” I say sarcastically. Not giving him a chance to respond, I walk off, anxious to check on her.
I check her room first then head for the second bathroom. I tap my knuckles on the door. When I don’t hear her or the shower running, I knock again.
I call out, “Rory?”
Panic start to rise when she doesn’t respond.
I try the door and find it unlocked. Pushing it open quickly, I scan the bathroom.
I sigh and shake my head. I can’t hide the relief that fills me when I see Rory asleep in the bathtub, her head leaning against the back of the tub, nowhere near the water.
I take a moment to relax my thundering heart and take in the angelic sight before me.
Rory’s stunning but she’s breathtakingly beautiful when she sleeps. Loose strands of her deep brown hair frame her face—the rest of it pulled back in a messy bun. Those long dark eyelashes are even darker against her smooth light skin.
Lucky for her, the bubbles haven't disappeared yet, despite getting dangerously low so they cover everything. It doesn't keep me from wanting to look down.
I kneel down beside her at the edge of the bathtub.
"Baby."
Her eyes flutter open. It takes everything I've got not to climb in there with her.
Her gorgeous mismatched eyes are sleepy as she wakes.
She smiles, confused. "I fell asleep, didn't I?" Her voice is soft and incredibly sexy as she speaks.
"J said you had a habit of falling asleep in the shower. I knocked but you didn't answer," I tell her and she nods.
"Thanks, Mav," she murmurs.
Hearing her get my name right does two things to me. One, fills me with pain. Two, it makes me want to kiss the fuck out of her.
She must see it because she lifts her arm out of the water, careful not to disturb the bubbles. Her fingers brush my cheek and I wordlessly lean into her hand. She smiles gently, her fingers run up my jaw along my stubble.
I slowly reach up and grasp her hand, pressing a kiss on the inside of her palm.
"Don't fall asleep again." My voice rumbles quietly and I stand.
The emotion that rises in her eyes when I speak almost has me stopping but I force myself to walk out, gently closing the door behind me. Fuck, she's dangerous.
I stop against the wall to calm myself before having to walk into a room full of my brothers. That thought helps. Slightly.
"She fell asleep, didn't she?" Jace says, knowingly as I enter the kitchen.
"Yeah," I chuckle. He shakes his head.
"Did you at least try not to look?" Mase says, grinning. He knows me too well for that shit.
"She was in the bath. The bubbles covered everything." I scowl, disappointed by that. It's probably a good thing—she's not ready for any of us to go that far yet.
Alec shakes his head at me. "You want to try not scaring her off?" He says, dryly.
"Dude, if we haven't yet, we won't," Mason says exactly what I was thinking.
"Alec's right." Luc sighs. "For this to work, none of us can go to far. We're testing the waters, not rocking the boat."
Huh?
"Says the one who's kissed her," I retort.
"Which is why I'm saying she needs to get to know all of us. If we want to put Alec's plan in action we need to make it clear to her that being with all of us is okay. Not everyone would be open to a polygamous relationship," Luc explains. “She’s probably very confused right now.”
Alec's got the look on his face. The one that says he knows something and isn't about to tell us.
"Alec?" I question, crossing my arms.
"What?" He mumbles, his eyes shifting away.
We all share glances. He looks guilty. Come on, dude.
"Alec," Jace says almost sternly.
"I told her I wouldn't tell you," Alec says seriously, not budging.
"Leave Alec alone," Rory scolds us as she walks into the kitchen.
My jaw drops when I see her. Holy fuck.
I can barely hold myself back when I see her in my fucking shirt. The black material barely skims the middle of her thighs, falling one of her shoulders.
"Who's shirt's that, Ro?" Jace asks, struggling to cover the desire swimming in his eyes. We're all in the same problem.
Rory shrugs—oblivious to our struggle.
"It's mine." I bite back back a groan when she turns to meet my eyes through those thick, dark lashes.
"It was on my drawers. My pyjamas were in the other bathroom." She lifts herself up onto the kitchen island in a way that doesn't jostle her injuries.
"Are you wearing anything under that?" Mason chokes out.
Rory lifts my shirt to reveal a pair of shorts. "Yes, Mase. I thought about what I would be wearing in the presence of others." She smirks, digging at us for wearing just boxers in her bed the other night.
"She's got you on that one." Luc chuckles.
Rory in my shirt is apparently very distracting because we all collectively forget about what Alec won’t tell us.
"Are we cooking?" Rory asks. She pinches a chip from Dom's hand heading for his mouth. He cries out in mock outrage.
He moves to tickle her and she slides out of the way, closer to me. I drag her towards me, away from Dom and into my arms.
"Yeah," Jace answers her question. "Does anyone want a drink before we go out?"
We all call out our requests. J rolls his eyes but goes through the fridge to pull out our acquired tastes.
"What do you want, baby?" I play with a stray lock of her hair.
She thinks for a moment. "Surprise me," she says, looking up at me through her eyelashes. I linger on her lips before I pull away to join Jace at the fridge.
My gaze scours through the fridge until I find a bottle of white wine.
I hold the glass of wine out to Rory. She sips it and makes a humming noise in the back of her throat.
"It's good," she tells me.
I grab her hand, tugging her off the bench. Her small hand slips into mine. My hand feels fucking huge compared to hers. Even something small like that makes me feel even more protective of her. Her hand fits perfectly in mine.
We stand around the barbeque as Luc cooks. Rory leans against the post, holding her glass.
Luc asks Alec if he's found anything that they could use against Hades.
Alec shakes his head. "He covered his tracks well but someone has to know something. I'm going through all ex-employee records to see who handled the club's illegal records."
"If anyone knew too much, Hades would have had someone take them out. Probably me," Luc tells Alec. Luc's eyes flick over to Rory, still concerned about her knowing I imagine. She's fine with it though, hardly reacting to Luc's words.
"What if they're not online?" Rory asks, hesitantly. "If Alec can't find it online then someone must be spending a shitload of time doing everything on paper. There has to be files somewhere."
My eyes grow wide.
"She's right!" Alec snaps his fingers. "What if I can't find anything online because it's run separately to Hades’ legitimate business? We thought that his legit business was to cover up the illegal payments but what if it's separate all together?"
"The ACIC stormed the place. They had maps with every secret room and underground tunnel there is," Luc says, shaking his head.
"What if it's not at the club or Hades’ private residence but with the person handling the financials?" Rory asks.
"It would have to be someone who's been there a long time.
I don't know anyone Hades would trust so much with something like that.
The one person I think he would trust disappeared off the face of the earth years ago.
It was an inside job. He doesn't trust anyone. " Luc turns away to flip the steaks.
It grows quiet again. The music constantly playing in the house is turned up. Dom hates silence, he's always got some country artist playing.
I don't know what we're going to do when we go back for the trial. It's too dangerous to take Rory back with us. If someone got their hands on her…
We can't leave her here alone though. Her father's house is right fucking there, we're practically neighbours. Once this trial's over, we need to leave. Something tells me Rory's father's not done yet. That fucker will be dead when we get our hands on him.
I was surprised when she had no problem showing her scars. Luc is like that though. He wears his battle scars like a badge of honour. It's good Rory does too.
"Where were you going to go when you left?" Dominic breaks the silence.
I look around confused before realising he’s talking to Rory.
She shrugs. "Anywhere but here. I tried to plan it but I never found the right place so I just thought I'd know when I got there. It happened a lot sooner than I thought," she jokes. We all laugh and it lightens the mood.
"Steaks are done!" Luc announces. We wait for Luc to put them all in the container before heading back inside.
When we get in there, Mase and I start making a salad. Apparently Helen, Jace’s mum, has taught Rory more than how to make spaghetti because she whips up a homemade salad dressing.
Jace scowls the whole time she’s making it.