Hiding in it.
Her gaze lands on something behind me at the same instant I feel it—the prickle of awareness moving down my spine as I catch the scent of soap and leather.
Marcus.
He steps up beside me, and a tingle of heat brushes over my back. Without even looking, I’m almost positive Theo and Ryland are here too, flanking me. I can practically feel the tension radiating from all three of them.
How did they all get here? Why are they all here? I left Marcus outside just a few minutes ago, so he probably never even left. But where did the others come from? Did he call them in? Or were they already here?
“What the hell is this, Carson?”
Marcus’s voice is flat and controlled, but anger pulses beneath it. My head whips to the side as my eyes widen. I don’t think he was here when Natalie said the guy’s name. And even if he had been, the way he just spoke didn’t make it sound like he was talking to a stranger.
Does he know this man?
“Nothin’ at all.” The man named Carson gives an easy smile, grinning down at Natalie as he drops his hand to rest just above the swell of her ass. “Just taking care of my girl here. Don’t worry about it.”
He shifts his gaze back toward us, and Ryland shoves past me, stalking down the hall toward them. “You son of a—”
Carson lifts a hand just as Marcus moves forward to grab Ryland’s arm. The two friends are almost the same size, but Ryland seems bigger right now, puffed up with a rage I can’t quite understand.
“Ah ah ah.” The gap between Carson’s teeth flashes again as he chuckles, shaking a finger at Ryland as if he’s a naughty little kid. “You don’t really want to do that, do you?”
“You have no fucking idea what I want,” Ryland growls.
Carson’s gaze flicks from the man in front of him to me and back so fast that I’m almost sure I imagined it. “Oh, I think I do.”
Ryland’s body jerks again, like he’s about to haul off and punch Carson. But Marcus tightens his grip, hauling him back and muttering something in his ear. Natalie is still draped around her new boyfriend, clinging to him like a barnacle on a rock. She’s cowering slightly, shielding herself with his body, but she also seems pleased, as if she likes seeing her new sugar daddy stand up to the three men who once threatened her.
Theo steps up beside me, his face a mask of anger too. “You’re making a big fucking mistake.”
Carson chuckles. “Chill, dudes. I told you, it’s nothing.” He cocks an eyebrow. “You really want to start some shit right now? Is it really worth it? You’ll get your chance soon enough.”
Ryland still looks like he’s about to fly off the handle completely, and even as Marcus holds his friend back, rage fills his posture too.
I have no idea what the hell is going on here, but it’s impossible to mistake the tension that fills the cramped hallway.
It feels thick and heavy. Old.
Incrementally, Ryland’s taut muscles relax. He shakes off Marcus’s grip and crosses his arms over his chest, still glaring at Carson. “This isn’t over, Purcell. You know it’s not.”
The new man laughs, holding up one hand innocently as he shakes his head. “Hey, it’s just an apartment, guys. Calm the fuck down.”
Two men I don’t recognize come through the fire escape door carrying a glass-topped coffee table, and at the sight of all of us gathered in the hallway, they stop, seeming to sense the tension crackling in the air.
“Oh, hey. Babe, where do you want that?” Carson gives Natalie a little pat on the ass, then waves his hand at the men. “Bring it in and set it down. We’ll be right there.”
He gives her a little push toward the apartment door, and she follows the movers inside. With the same easy stride he had when he emerged, he heads down the hallway after her, looking back over his shoulder at the three men. “We’ll catch up again soon, yeah?”
He grins, then disappears into the apartment and closes the door.
For a moment, the hallway is utterly still. I can hear the murmur of voices from inside as Natalie tells the movers where to put her coffee table, but it barely seems to penetrate the silence that’s fallen around me.
A dozen questions sit on the tip of my tongue, but before I can utter a single one of them, Marcus turns and stalks back toward me and Theo. He barely breaks stride as he grabs my hand, pulling me along after him.
“Come with me.”
Chapter 15