Chapter 37 Drive
Drive
The jet landed an hour ago, and my body was vibrating like I was still inside it, my nerves rattling me to the core.
Everything inside me hummed with anticipation knowing what I had miraculously managed to do—line us up for a full-scale combative assault.
My mind was running up the walls with ideas of what could happen in the next few days.
Destruction.
Death.
Freedom?
Maybe. It seemed way too easy. Could I really just bench myself and assume that everything would go according to plan?
Fuck no. I wasn’t going to let anyone fuck this operation up.
I had to be there to make sure the agenda was met.
Hell, maybe I’d finally get the chance to kill Darren myself if the opportunity presented itself.
No one would give a fuck about me if they thought Darren had been killed from all the fighting. I could just quietly disappear, especially since Darren had just told me that was exactly what I was supposed to do now anyway.
But what if Jason was planning on engaging in the fight?
Matt couldn’t confirm if he was, so there was only a chance that Jason would be there.
Although I couldn’t imagine Jason would want to sit out on any operation that would lead to my rescue.
He’d want to be right in the middle of it.
So that was where I would be. Front and center.
And then I would find him.
My plan decided, I figured I would need to take the edge off and have some fun with my dog before the shit finally hit the fan.
I needed something to distract me before my anxiety literally ripped me apart.
But as I got closer to the back parlor, I overheard Darren speaking to someone with enough aggression to make me halt in my tracks.
“What the fuck are you talking about, Daniel?” Darren growled, his elevated voice making me cringe back against the wall.
“I don’t know how it happened, but as of this morning, the money is gone,” a voice said from what sounded like a cell phone. Daniel’s voice, I suspected.
“How the fuck is that even possible?” Darren growled.
“Still trying to figure that out.”
“Were you monitoring the system? Watching the accounts?” Scott asked.
“Of course, I was!” Daniel shouted back. “But then…”
“But what?!”
An audible sigh full of exhaustion and hesitation filled the air.
“Toward the end of the night, one of the buyers got sick in the viewing room. He was throwing up blood all over the place and then started seizing on the floor. He fucking died. And the whole thing probably cost us about twenty minutes to assess if we were all next or if it was just Ronald. It could just be a coincidence but considering what happened with you around the same time, I’m just not sure. ”
Sighs, groans, and curses quickly overwhelmed the room, Daniel still trying to shout over everyone to quiet them down.
“Look, I don’t know how they managed to hack our auction last night, but they did. We’re doing everything we can to handle it.”
Holy shit. Someone hacked Darren’s auctions? I didn’t know if he was referring to the one I’d been a part of or if this was something different, but either way, this was huge.
Darren sighed with frustration. “Fucking hell. We’re going to have to rebuild a whole new security system.”
“It’s already being prepared, and Anton and his team are working around the clock to figure out what happened,” Scott added.
“Good. I want to be informed the second they know something,” Darren said.
Carefully backtracking into the hallway, my mind raced over what it all meant. Whoever managed to circumvent that firewall had to be one hell of a hacker to pull that off.
Matt hadn’t mentioned anything about the auction or any other plans, but it wouldn’t surprise me if he had found a way to disrupt it. I wondered what kind of implications this would have.
An approaching guard had me moving my feet again, back into the room as if I hadn’t heard a damn thing. Grabbing a Frisbee out of Camaro’s toy trunk in the sunroom across the hall, I quickly headed for the door leading into the backyard.
“Where do you think you’re going?” Darren’s hard voice came from the parlor.
Ah, fuck.
Stopping in place, I turned my head to find him sitting at a large round table with Scott and four other men, weapons and maps laid out all across the surface. Clearly, Daniel had hung up.
“I was just going to play with Camaro outside for a bit,” I answered innocently. “Maybe go see the horses if Camaro can keep her shit together.” Last time had been a total fucking disaster, and I did not need a repeat of that.
Darren studied me for a moment, his eyes darkening with disapproval.
“No,” he said dismissively, and turned his attention back to the maps and papers on the table.
I stood there stunned.
No?
“What? Why the hell not?”
He didn’t even acknowledge me with a response. Just continued his discussions like I was no longer there.
I continued to stand in the doorway, slightly dumbfounded at Darren’s quick dismissal. My thoughts shifted to the last time I had argued with him after being denied outside access.
It hadn’t gone well for me then, and my fear of the basement was still affecting my confidence, especially when my arsenal was low on ammunition for reasoning or emotion for the occasion. Darren was clearly already in a bad mood, and my wants were childish at best.
I almost considered turning away to sulk in the library when Sid’s voice suddenly snuck into my head.
Drive the fucking car, Jaden.
I could feel my shoulders squaring up as liquid steel started to straighten my spine. I drove that fucking car the other night when I fucked him in that club. I drove that fucking car when I manipulated him this morning into taking me here. And now, I would damn well drive it again.
Placing the Frisbee down on the nearby couch, I carefully made my way over to him, noticing how his eyes stayed planted on the maps while two of the men continued their conversation with Scott.
When I was close enough, I slowly wrapped my arms around Darren’s shoulders and leaned my mouth to his ear.
“Please,” I whispered, my plea coming off as sweet and sultry as I could manage.
I felt his shoulders tense while his back leaned into my chest. “A change of scenery doesn’t really help when you’re still stuck inside.
” My hands traveled over his muscled shoulders and across the expanse of his chest, my touch slow and deliberate.
“And I’ve been cooped up for so long,” I drawled, letting my breath tickle the back of his ear and along his neck.
I watched as his right hand clenched into a tight fist, his chest expanding into my touch.
“A storm is coming,” he finally said. “I don’t want you getting caught in the middle of it.”
He had no fucking idea.
“I know, and it’s supposed to last the entire rest of the day.
This is my only shot,” I pleaded. He grunted his disapproval of my reasoning, but I wasn’t giving up yet.
“Please?” I sang, emphasizing the gloom in my voice.
“I promise I won’t go too far. After last night, I really need the air. Just for a little while?”
A heavy exaggerated sigh finally escaped his lips, and I knew I had won.
“Fine, fuck it,” he growled and looked toward Scott. “Put Emmett and Luther on her while she’s outside. She’s got one hour, then I want her back inside.”
One hour was too short, but I would take what I could earn.
“Thank you,” I said quietly so only he could hear and turned for the door.
Darren abruptly stood from his chair, catching my wrist and hauled me back over to him, making my stomach clench as his massive frame towered over mine.
Each muscle of his body was so sharply defined through his black dress shirt, the sleeves rolled to his elbows to expose that beautiful eagle tattoo on his forearm.
The man was designed for ruin, reminding me of all the terrifying things he was capable of, and how it would all come to fruition in less than seventy-two hours.
Taking my face in both his hands, he leaned down and pressed a firm kiss to my lips, the heat of his body making mine melt right into him.
“One hour,” he reminded me as he pulled away. “No fuss.”
I blinked up at him. “Okay, no fuss. Byeee!” I said quickly and scampered around him before he could keep me there any longer.
I grabbed the Frisbee from the couch and called Camaro to follow me out the door. Heading out to the wide-open backyard, I released a massive breath of relief, and then held up the Frisbee for Camaro to see.
“You want it?” I asked playfully.
When she barked and jumped up on her hind legs, I flicked my wrist and sent the Frisbee through the air and across the yard. Like the speeding bullet she was, Camaro raced after the Frisbee, jumped into the air and caught it right between her teeth.
“Good girl!” I shouted, clapping to encourage her to bring the Frisbee back for another toss. Glancing up at the sky, I took note of the gray clouds rolling in and the dark blue ones far off in the distance. And damn if I didn’t love a good storm.
Watching Camaro run, I felt the two new shadows creep up behind me. They remained a respectable fifty feet away, but they were not the comfort I usually got when Clive and Owen were around.
We played like that back and forth for a little while, Emmett and Luther watching from the shade of the patio, looking bored and brooding all over the place.
I’d ask them if they wanted to play too, but I doubted I’d even get a response. It was hard to blame them, though. Not many people ever dared to interact with me for good reason.
Deciding to send Camaro on a good run, I tossed the Frisbee hard into the air, sending it high into the sky and catching the wind. The gust sent the Frisbee far right, and Camaro chased it even after it changed directions until it smacked right into the face of one of the guards.
Oops.