Alex gives me a grin and holds up two bottles of wine. “Just so you know, I’m not working tonight. Like, at all. Hadley and I are getting shitfaced.”
I chuckle, moving out of the way so she can enter. “Good. You’ll both entertain me.”
“No, we won’t, because when you get back, you’re getting shitfaced with us, too. After all this, we deserve it.” Alex steps forward, but stops then reaches into her pocket and hands me a note. “You’ll need this tonight.” Then she moves into the kitchen and both women hastily ignore me, chatting about the gorgeous Gabriel Macht, whoever that is.
I smile, pleased that Hadley didn’t fight letting Alex inside. Because her being there made me feel better, and I’m glad to see them getting on so well. I guess I’m not ready to leave her alone yet. And it’s true that I want Hadley to meet those who mean a lot to me. And Alex is one of them.
I glance at the note Alex gave me, reading her handwriting and sighing to myself. Then I look up again. Hadley lifts her very full wineglass to her mouth and gives me a little wave.
I smile in return.
Determined to return to her fast, I leave my loft through the front door. Two of my favorite people are back at my place, and there’s something pretty damn great about that, I decide as I move into the parking lot.
Right away, I spot Darius, Gabe, and Micah waiting for me outside headquarters.
When I reach them, I wave them forward. “Come on.” I get us inside and past my security quickly, and then I lead them into the command center, which is empty tonight. My team deserved a couple days off after the last few days, and they got it.
I move into the briefing room and flick on the lights, and once everyone takes their seat at the table, I get right to the point of why I’ve called them here. “Earlier tonight I gave away my club.”
“Come again?” asks Micah, giving me a puzzled look.
I laugh softly and explain, “I contacted the manager I’ve had running Impulse for some time now. I told her I wanted to wash my hands of the club and asked her if she wanted the title of the building transferred to her to accept full ownership of the club, and she happily agreed.”
“Well, of course she did,” says Darius, exchanging a long look with the others before addressing me again. “You honestly walked away from all the money you put into that building?”
“That’s right. I’m out,” I reply, glancing among them. “This is the last time we’ll meet like this. The next time we meet, I want Hadley to be introduced to your women and for us to do what we should be doing, spending time together as friends. Not dealing with tabloids, and not discussing sex clubs that three out of four of us no longer have any interest in.” Our priorities had changed. Our lives had changed. We didn’t want lots of kinky sex with plenty of women. We wanted lots of kinky sex with one woman. “Tonight I proposed to Hadley,” I continue, knowing I was dropping a lot of information on them at once. “That means the past needs to be cleaned up neatly and put to rest for good.”
Gabe slowly shakes his head, as if confused, then frowns at me. “Let me get this straight. The Dominants’ Council, which had four members a little over a month ago, is now nonexistent?”
“Yes,” I confirm.
He curses, then adds, “How in the hell did this happen so fast? You’ve all been domesticated.”
Micah scowls at Gabe before he turns to me and asks without the scowl, “I’m still stuck on something else you said. You proposed to Hadley? The last time we saw you, you wanted nothing to do with her.”
“Well, a lot can happen in a handful of days.” And a lot had happened.
“Apparently that’s true,” he goes on. “Well, then, let me be the first to congratulate you and Hadley. This is wonderful news.”
“It is. Thank you.” I smile.
Micah adds, “But please explain what transpired that has you doing something so very unlike you?”
I draw in a deep breath, not wanting to relive what Hadley and I had been through, but the guys need to hear it all. Knowing that, I begin, “It all started when Hadley received a video…”
There’s not a detail I leave out, because there is nothing I don’t share with these men. That’s our oath. That’s our friendship. Whatever is said here won’t leave this room. They need to know what they’re facing now. Because for me to step away, they need to take control of this.
I finish with, “Which brings me to now. Tobias Harrington and the other crony are in jail. Viktor Sokolov is dead.”
Darius’s brows furrow over his intense eyes as he scrubs a hand across his stubble. “Just to be clear, so there’s no misunderstanding here: the governor, our governor, is the reason our stories have been told to the tabloids?”
I nod, understanding his surprise. “In part, yes.”
Micah asks, “What’s the other part?”
“Harrington hired someone to plant the bugs in your pub,” I report to Gabe. “They didn’t do it themselves, and it’s that person who’s selling the information to the tabloids.”
Gabe thrusts a hand through his hair, a familiar frown marring his face. “Why do I have a feeling I’m not going to like this?”