As the first wave of nausea hit me, I kicked my heels off and made it to the toilet to throw up. I knew this was just the beginning since morning sickness was a fucking bitch. Just then, my phone beeped again with another text message.
Private number:I cleaned up the mess you left behind, and I saw your message.
Private number:I’ll be in Boston tonight.
Well, this was going to be fun. I wasn’t sure how to give Emmerich and Blake a heads up about the company coming our way, so I decided to not say anything at all. Might as well keep everyone on their toes with the amount of favors I was prepared to call in to save Thomas and get rid of my stalker. I wanted my life back.
Lightly, I rested a hand on my stomach as I heaved again, bile making my mouth bitter. Tears ran down my cheeks, the privacy of the room meaning I could let my walls down. I wished the guys were here, so I didn’t have to do this alone. Sacha and Alexei wouldn’t care about holding my hair out of the way. Vas would be overprotective to the point of annoying, while Oli and Bodhi would be trying to figure out how they felt about all this. Maksim and Rhodes would be practical to a fault when it came to helping me with pregnancy stuff, but I thought they would appreciate the added curves that would be coming thanks to my changing body.
Well, that’s how they would react if they took the news well. What did they think when they figured out I was pregnant? Did they understand why I left? Did they hate me? I wasn’t sure if I was ready for those answers. Regardless, I knew our reunion was going to be explosive no matter their thoughts about the baby.
My body and heart ached for all of them. Vas and Sacha’s controlling, dominating ways. The crazy laugh of Oli’s that always made me burst out in laughter along with him. Bodhi’s sweet and mischievous expression. Rhodes’ possessive command of me when we were alone. Alexei’s unfailing patience and Maksim’s bluntness… God, I missed them.
I wiped the back of my hand across my lips as I flushed the toilet and sat down on the floor.Alone.I’d been alone so much of my life. Even as a child, I’d been surrounded by people but alone all the same. I had never felt as lonely as I did right now, pregnant and puking, and the emptiness of the room beyond the bathroom almost mocked me.
Sleep. That’s what I need.These emotions and nostalgic thoughts wouldn’t get me back to them sooner. I needed to get my fucking shit together and kick some ass. I’d need every fucking guard up and steady before I went back to the place I never wanted to revisit.
Home.
Oliver
Sunday
“Well, Maksim and I found some really fucking interesting and sick things during our search yesterday,” I said by way of greeting as I walked into the compound. Maksim was beside me, being his usual bubbly, talkative self. Surprisingly, we had worked together pretty well. He listened to my bullshit commentary as I dug into the trafficking ring and stayed silent, focused on the task at hand. It worked out for both of us.
We had gone to one of my hiding places off the grid to hack and reach out to darknet contacts about the names we had gotten. But it had taken so long, and both of us hadn’t slept at all the night before, so we ended up crashing on the couches in the rundown apartment for the day. Luckily, I had managed to text Bodhi to tell him the change of plans before I couldn’t stay awake any longer.
“What did you find?” Rhodes and Sacha asked at the same time. Both of them were sitting in Rhodes’ office. Rhodes was leaning back in his chair behind his desk while Sacha was in the chair across from him. The older man had a glass in hand, though it didn’t look like he had drunk much yet, which was good. It looked like they had been discussing something, but as soon as we walked in, they had quieted, their gazes fixated on us.
“They are definitely part of the trafficking ring here in Ashview,” Maksim started, running a hand over his buzzed hair. “Both had similar cash withdrawals around the same time and bookings at the hotel you guys found in Millfield.”
“There were also phone calls and texts between the same three numbers for both Karen and Tim,” I added, grabbing the free chair beside Sacha and flopping down. “We checked out the numbers, but they were burners, and we couldn’t find any info on them. From the looks of things, there’s a website for this ring. I couldn’t find it while we were gone, so I honestly think I’ll need to go underground for a while to get it. I’m sure they have crazy security, but if we find even ahintof the trail to get there, then I can get in.”
Digging into them would cost me. Hell, even this small dive had made me grab a few of Maksim’s cigarettes—thankfully something he didn’t care about. The walls I’d had up for so long were dust now. Memories of my captivity were slowly coming back, and I hated it. I’d do this for Nic, which showed how much I felt for her, but that didn’t mean I wouldn’t make her pay for it later.
“But there’s something else. They’re both missing,” Maksim dropped our biggest bombshell with his usual bluntness. “They both went missing around the same time, and their families are frantic. Thousands are being offered as a reward for information.”
“Interesting,” Rhodes murmured, carefully setting the glass down on his desk as he thought that over.
“That’s all we get?Interesting?” I snarked, arching an eyebrow.
Rhodes didn’t take offense; humor flashed through his gray eyes as he stared at me. “That’s how you described it when you came in here. I was just agreeing with you. How many is that now? Ten people from the trafficking ring that we’ve tried to get ahold of only to find them missing.”
It took a minute for my brain to catch up to what he was hinting at, then my jaw dropped. Lust hit me with surprising strength. The thought of what was happening to those sick fucks shouldn’t turn me on, but fuck, itreallydid.“You think Nic is responsible?”
“She ran,” Sacha said softly, staring off in the distance. “For the boy in the picture, who may or may not be her brother, she left all of us behind, and she might be pregnant. All of those things could make her snap. Not that she needed to snap to be able to do this… but so many big things, so fast… She had plenty of motivation.”
“Or she could just be really, really fucking pissed,” Maksim said dryly. He was a man of few words, but us all working together to find Nicholette was making him more comfortable around us. Now that we’d spent some time together, we were getting more than one-word answers and snarky commentary. Well, Vas didn’t, but I’d come to realize that that was just how they were with each other. “But we have no proof as to who took them. Maybe the trafficking ring raising their security is because of what’s happening with the F?rstners? Emmerich took over the Family recently, so he could be sending a message to not mess with him.”
“Possibly.” Rhodes inclined his head slightly. “He has been too busy to pick up his own shipments. Apparently.”
A throat clearing made us all look up to find Razor, one of Rhodes’ men, standing in the doorway. “We just had a delivery. It has all of your names on it.”
“What?” Rhodes questioned as he stood up.
“It’s not just for you, Pres. All of you that are with Nicholette, your names are on it,” Razor said, his stoic expression breaking for a minute. That only showed how concerned he really was. “It’s not going to be good.”
We all shared a look and hurried out of the office, following Razor downstairs and outside to find Alexei, Vas, and Bodhi joining us. Bodhi walked over to stand between Sacha and me, concern in his honey brown eyes as he pushed his long hair out of his face.